The Effectiveness of Intervention using Psychological Tools on Cognitive Functions of Martial Arts Athletes

The application of technology-based psychological aids has become a growing approach in sports training, particularly in supporting the mental and cognitive development of athletes. In the context of this research, technology is specifically defined as psychological aids designed to stimulate cognitive function, not sophisticated hardware-based sports technology. This research centers on evaluating the influence of implementing psychological aids on improving the cognitive function of martial arts athletes, highlighting the lack of use of sports technology to overcome challenges that often make it difficult for athletes to persist and overcome these problems. The method used was an eight-week experiment with a quantitative approach, involving 60 martial arts athletes separated into two groups. Cognitive function was measured before and after the intervention using the stroop color and word test, which is a validated neuropsychological tool for assessing executive functions such as attention, transmission and reasoning. The treatment in the form of training using psychological tools for 6 weeks was used on subjects in the experimental group, while subjects in the control group carried out psychological training without using psychological tools. Data analysis through the Shapiro-Wilk test and t-test was used in this study. The research findings indicated a significant increase within the intervention group (18%) relative to the comparison group (2%), with a statistically significant difference, and therefore this study concluded that the application of psychological instruments had a positive effect on improving the cognitive function of athletes. Therefore, the application of psychological tools is highly recommended for integration into athlete training programs, along with other training programs, including physical, technical, and strategic, as they have been proven to provide positive benefits.