STUDY REGARDING RELEVANT ABILITIES OF THE INFORMAL LEADER IN THE CASE OF HANDBALL PLAYERS THROUGH COMPUTERIZED ASSESSMENT

The main scope of this study was to identify important psychomotor abilities and cognitive capacities of the informal leader in the case of preadolescent handball players. The participants were sorted, in conformity with the individual status scores (after performing a peer assessment, regarding the sport-related competence), in three categories: popular, neglected/ controversial and rejected. The study was carried out on 45 junior female handball players, aged between 11-12 years old, from three different handball teams. Each team included 15 players (all having a training experience of 3- 4 years) and represented the „reference group“, within which preferential status was established. In order to conduct the research concerning the quality of the female athletes’ psychomotor and cognitive behavior we used computerized tests: CMA (Attention Concentration and Mobility) test, RCMV (Motor reactivity, interlimb coordination, vigilance) test and TRS (Simple reaction time) test, all part of the PSISELTEVA system of psychological testing and assessment, created by RQ Plus. Following the application of the Kruskal-Wallis test, statistically significant differences were disclosed, between the results registered by the investigated groups, for: attention efficiency coefficient, interlimb coordination and vigilance (appreciated through associated parameters: operant/procedural memory coefficient, performance coefficient and resistance to disruptive factors coefficient) and simple reaction time. The results underline important intellectual and psychomotor features of the informal leader, which may positively influence a successful social integration of the athletes in the handball team.