Examination of the Finger Tapping Test and Mental Rotation Achievement Level of the Orienteering Athletes


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Bastık C., Şahin Ş., Şahin E., Pancar S., Sağdilek E., Kızıltan E.

European Journal of Physical Education and Sports Science, cilt.4, sa.7, ss.49-58, 2018 (Hakemli Dergi)

Özet

The purpose of this study is to assess the cognitive skills and the audio visual perceptions of orienteering athletes and to research the relationship between these two. 17 male athletes, who have been playing orienteering sport for at least 2 years, whose average age is 16.3 ± 1.6 years, participated voluntarily in our study. Reaction time test, mental rotation tests were implemented to the participants on successive days, during the same time zone, and in a quiet environment favorable for testing. The "Finger Tapping Test” (FTT), in which the speed of consecutive motor movements was evaluated was implemented via a computer program and the athletes were asked to press the specified key consecutively for 20 seconds. The obtained data was recorded. In conclusion, it was determined that the random-interval audio visual reaction times are longer than the Fix-interval audio visual reaction times. It was concluded that each question was answered in 8.7 seconds on average during the mental rotation test implemented in the study; whereas it was discovered that the correct answer average was 9.8 in the MR test, which consists of 16 questions. When the answers given by the athletes to the test questions were examined, it was determined that 4 athletes, who answered each question approximately in 3 seconds and completed the test in under 1 minute, are not successful in terms of accuracy and duration. These results indicate that the mental rotation performances of the orienteering athletes are not at a good level.