Efficacy of cognitive attentional focus instructions and training schedule on cognitive performance in elderly men

Introduction: Cognitive-motor skills form a large part of human life, and for many years researchers and educators have attempted to identify factors that influence their implementation. Aim: The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive attentional focus instructions and exercise schedule on cognitive performance in elderly men. Method: The present study was a semi-experimental method with a pretest-posttest design and 4 experimental groups. Sixty elderly men from Ahvaz city aged 60-80 years were selected by voluntary random sampling in 2020 and randomly divided into four experimental groups (variable practice-internal attention, variable practice-external attention, constant practice-external attention, and constant practice-internal attention). The dartboard attached to the wall served as a tool. The research groups had 10 sessions and each session consisted of 3 blocks of 10 trials. Thus, the test was performed 48 hours after the subjects' last training session. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and mixed repeated measures analysis of variance. Results: The results of one-way ANOVA showed that there was a significant difference between the groups in the posttest phase (P=0.001, F=11.43). Tukey's post hoc test was used to test the differences. The results showed a significant difference between the variable practice-external attention group with variable practice-internal attention (P=0.011), constant practice-external attention (P=0.001), and constant practice-internal attention (P=0.001) groups. However, no difference was found between the other study groups at this stage. Conclusion: Based on the research results, the combined group with variable practice-external attention performed better than the other groups. Considering that the variable practice-external attention training group showed better cognitive performance, geriatric sneakers and professionals are recommended to use the combined advantage of these two methods in their training plans.