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Palomo Nieto, MiriamAuthor

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June 9, 2019
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External focus of attention and autonomy support have additive benefits for motor performance in children

Publicated to: PSYCHOLOGY OF SPORT AND EXERCISE. 32 17-24 - 2017-09-01 32(), DOI: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2017.05.004

Authors:

Abdollahipour, R; Nieto, MP; Psotta, R; Wulf, G
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Affiliations

Palacky Univ Olomouc, Fac Phys Culture, Dept Nat Sci Kinanthropol, Trida Miru 117 - Author
Tech Univ Madrid, Fac Sci Phys Act & Sport, Dept Social Sci, Campus Ciudad Univ,Martin Fierro 7 - Author
Univ Nevada, Dept Kinesiol & Nutr Sci, 4505 Maryland Pkwy - Author
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Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the combined effects of external focus instructions and autonomy support on motor performance of children. In addition, we sought to provide evidence for an increased focus on the task goal under the external focus condition by using an inattentional blindness manipulation. Design: Within-participant design. Method: Thirty-six children (mean age = 8.5 +/- 1.3 years) were asked to perform a bowling task with their dominant hand. Each participant performed 8 trials under external focus (path of the ball), internal focus (hand), or control conditions. In each attentional focus condition, they performed half of the trials under a choice (autonomy support) condition, in which they were able to choose among 4 bowling balls, and a no-choice condition (white ball). Results: The external focus instruction resulted in greater bowling accuracy (i.e., more pins knocked down) than internal focus and no instructions (control). Furthermore, choice resulted in more effective performance than no choice. Thus, both factors had additive benefits for performance. There was some evidence for an increased task focus in the external condition. Conclusions: The present results show that, within the same individuals, instructions to adopt an external focus and the provision of a small choice contributed independently to enhance motor performance in children. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Keywords

AccuracyAction selectionBowlingChoiceFeedbackHypothesisInattentional blindnessInstructionsMetaanalysisMotivationSelf-determination theory

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal PSYCHOLOGY OF SPORT AND EXERCISE due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2017, it was in position 9/50, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 2.75. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 13, 2025)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Weighted Average of Normalized Impact by the Scopus agency: 1.12 (source consulted: FECYT Mar 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2026-04-01, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 66
  • Scopus: 34
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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-04-01:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 123.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 123 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 1.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 1 (Altmetric).
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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Czech Republic; United States of America.

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Awards linked to the item

This work was supported by the Czech Science Foundation [GA16-24281Y, GA16-17945S] and the Internal Grant Agency of the Palacky University Olomouc [IGAJTIC2017_008]. The funding sources had no involvement in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication.
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