Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of massed practice and distributed practice on the acquisition and retention of the balance skill. Sixty samples; 30 males and 30 females, were selected by simple random sampling from 250 mathayom suksa one students from the Demonstration school of Kasetsart University. They were randomly assigned into 3 groups, as equal to sex and numbers, as to the massed practice group, the distributed practice group, and the mixed practice groups. All groups practiced the balance skill on a stabilometer with their own courses for eight days of 5 minutes. The massed practice group continuously performed the balance skill for five minutes. The distributed practice group performed the balance skill four trials of one minutes with a rest interval of 30 seconds. The mixed group performed the balance skill with the massed practice for four days and distributed practice for four day, conversely. After a 3-day retention interval, they were tested on the retention of balance skill for three trials of 30 seconds. The obtained data were, them, analyzed into means and standard deviation. One-way analysis of variance, two-way analysis of variance, and Newman-Keuls multiple range test were employed to determine if there were any significant differences. It was found that: 1.In the acquisition phase of balance skill, the massed practice group, the distributed practice group, and the mixed group showed significant difference from the first day to the eight day. When considering the performance averages, the distributed group significantly out-performed the massed group and the mixed group at the .05 level, whereas, the massed group and the mixed group were not significantly different at the .05 level. 2. In the retention phase of balance skill, there were significant differences among the massed practice group, the distributed practice group, and the mixed group at the .05 level