Publication Date

1983

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Zimmerman, M. Nadine

Degree Name

M.S. Ed. (Master of Education)

Legacy Department

Department of Physical Education

LCSH

Motor ability in children; Sex differences; Ball games--Competition

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to compare the effects of employing tasks emphasizing competition and tasks emphasizing cooperation on the overhand throwing performances of first-grade children, and to compare the overhand throwing performance of boys and girls. Subjects for the study were 68 first-grade children, 35 boys and 33 girls, who attended Holmes Elementary School in Warrenville, Illinois during the 1982-83 school year. Subjects were grouped by first-grade reading sections. The three reading sections were randomly assigned to three treatment groups: (a) cooperative, (b) competitive, and (c) control. A modified form of Cratty's Ball Throwing Test was used as the pre- and posttest. The training period consisted of 15 sessions, each 20 minutes in length. All activities in the cooperative and competitive groups consisted of tasks involving overhand throwing or factors which contribute to throwing, such as the development of leg and arm strength. The control group was given no tasks which involved overhand throwing. Tasks for the cooperative and competitive groups were the same, but the goals were different. All activities in the cooperative group emphasized cooperation; everyone could be successful. All activities in the competitive group emphasized competition, and only a limited number of individuals could achieve success. There was no emphasis on either cooperation or competition in the control group. Raw data were subjected to a 2 x 3 factorial analysis of covariance. Results indicated that the main effect of environment (cooperative, competitive, control) was nonsignificant. The interaction of environment and sex also was nonsignificant. The main effect of sex was significant, F (1,61) = 8.40, p<.01, with boys performing better than girls. Tukey’s follow-up test showed that the boys in the cooperative group performed significantly better than the girls in that group and significantly better than the girls in the control group. It was concluded from this study that there is no difference in the overhand throwing performance of first-grade children taught by tasks emphasizing cooperation, and those with no training or practice in the overhand throw. There was a significant difference between the overhand throwing performance of first-grade boys and girls with the performance of boys being superior. The boys in the cooperative group performed significantly better than the girls in that group and better than the girls in the control group.

Comments

Bibliography: pages 62-67.

Extent

viii, 83 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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