Motor Performance of Girls Age 6 to 14 Years

Group achievement scores for elementary school girls for the 30-yard run, the standing broad jump and the overarm throw are presented to add to the limited information now available on children in the first three grades (ages 6 through 9 years). Means and standard deviations are reported for grades 1 through 8 and for ages 6 through 14 years. Reliabilities of within-day scores are reported. Correlations of year-to-year scores and of first-grade scores with those of grades 3 through 5 show that individuals tend to remain in the same relative position within the group during the elementary school years. This paper adds to present knowledge of motor performance of elementary school children by reporting observations derived from achievement scores of girls during a five-year period.     

Relationship between Motor Performance and Arousal

Abstract

Forty male subjects were tested on a motor learning task called a stabilometer. Skin conductance was taken prior to the introduction of the task and immediately after each of the learning trials. Subjects were then dichotomized on the basis of initial conductance, final conductance, total change in conductance, conductance after trial one, and changes in conductance from rest to trial one. There was no difference in performance between groups when subjects were divided on the basis of initial conductance, but for all other measures performance was significantly better for the group with higher conductance. These results lend support to the concept of an arousal continuum as proposed by Duffy and Malmo.     

任务性质、结果反馈时机与运动技能的学习

采用键盘敲击任务探讨任务性质、结果反馈时机对运动技能学习的影响.将100名右优势手大学生随机分为开放性和封闭性任务组(男女各25名),两组分别在5种KR条件下,练习开放或封闭任务3天,每天练习108次.第3天练习结束后休息10min,进行不提供KR的保持测试10次.24 h后,进行无KR保持测试10次.结果显示:(1)在封闭性运动技能学习中延迟KR更有利,而即刻KR促进开放性运动技能的学习;(2)提供KR的适宜时机受任务性质影响.与开放性技能相比,操作封闭性技能时,提供KR的适宜时机应延迟.     

Precision of Knowledge of Results: Consideration of the Accuracy Requirements Imposed by the Task

Abstract

To investigate whether spatial assimilation effects are due to premovement control processes or postinitiation feedback processes, surface EMG recordings were made from two agonists and one antagonist during both single and dual movements involving the upper limb(s). In the single condition, subjects (N=7) made 25 Short (20°) and 25 Long (60°) reversal movements using levers in the sagittal plane, in 195 ms to reversal. In the dual condition, both Short and Long movements were performed simultaneously for 75 trials, the last 25 of which were without knowledge of results. Subjects overshot the Short target in the dual condition, showing spatial assimilation effects. Overshooting was associated with increased peak EMG in the initial (premovement) agonist burst, supporting the notion that spatial assimilation effects are modulated via premovement control processes.     

年龄对结果反馈时间点适宜值的影响

采用二维轨迹追踪任务探讨年龄对结果反馈(KR)时间点适宜值的影响。抽取150名右利手的18～22岁、35～39岁、60～64岁各50人,分为3组(每组男女各25名)。三组受试者分别在5种KR反馈条件下,练习两维轨迹追踪任务3天,每天练习30次。第3天练习结束后休息10min,3组受试者进行无KR保持测试。一天后,再进行无KR的保持测试。结果显示:(1)年龄影响延迟KR在运动技能学习中的作用;(2)年龄与KR时间点适宜值存在相互作用,随着个体年龄的增长,年龄与KR时间点适宜值之间呈现U型关系,即延迟4s提供KR利于中年组个体自身觉察错误能力的形成,而即刻提供KR利于青年组和老年组个体自身觉察错误能力的形成。以上结果还提示,自身觉察错误能力形成发展的趋势与个体生长发育的规律相吻合。     

Motor Performance of Girls from Twelve Through Eighteen Years of Age

Abstract

Three hundred girls in Georgia ranging from 12 through 18 years of age and enrolled in physical education from the seventh grade through the freshman year in college were given eight motor performance test items to measure running, jumping, throwing, speed, and agility. The study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that girls do not improve in motor performance after the age of 13.5 years, and also to investigate whether significant differences existed in motor skills according to age-grade level. Analysis of variance was used to test the significance of variation on each of the eight test items for the seven age-grade groups. Significance of differences in means for each test for each age-grade group was also calculated. Since ninth-grade girls, with a mean age of 14.4 years, scored highest on two items, tenth-grade girls scored highest on four items, and college girls scored highest on two tests, the hypothesis that girls generally do not evidence improvement in motor skills after the age of 13.5 was rejected.     

Age and Sex Differences in Motor Performance of 3 through 6 Year Old Children

Abstract

This study examined the relationship of age and sex to the performance of 3, 4, 5, and 6 year olds on seven motor performance test items. Although significant age and sex differences were found on most of the motor tests, it appears that age generally was related more to performance than was gender. Overall, change with age was fairly linear except perhaps for balancing and a general tapering in improvement in the 5 to 6 year old category. On the tests of throwing and balancing, gender was as important as age, or more so, in its relationship to performance. Boys were superior to girls at all ages on the throwing tests; girls were superior to boys at age 6 on the Balance test. Gender differences of a lesser magnitude were found on the Speed Run and Standing Long Jump tests with the performance of boys generally being superior to the performance of girls. Thus, it appears that gender differences in motor performance occur as early as the preschool years. Interestingly, except for the Balance test, on all the tests the 3 and 4 year old boys performed similarly and the 5 and 6 year old boys performed similarly. For the girls there were more significant differences from year to year in performance, with the data generally indicating at least three distinct skill groups for girls from age 3 to 6.     

Age Differences in Children's Ability to Model Motor Behavior

Abstract

In order to investigate the effects of modeling behavior for seven- and nine-year-old children, 30 seven-year-old and 30 nine-year-old females were randomly assigned within age level to three groups. These groups differed according to whether a model was presented at the beginning, midway, or not at all during 12 trials on the stabilometer. Both age groups were found to be similar in performance in the no model condition and, for both age groups, the beginning model condition was found to facilitate performance. However, the introduction of the model after six trials had a detrimental effect on the performance of younger children but facilitated older children's performance. These findings were interpreted in light of a likely increase in the processing capacity of nine year olds as well as an increase in the number of movement schemes that were previously stored in the older girls.     

Effect of Age,Sex, and Type of Feedback on Motor Performance and Locus of Control

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of consistent positive and negative feedback on motor performance and a shift in locus of control. Comparisons of the data were made on the basis of age, sex, type of feedback, and internal–external (I–E) disposition. Extreme internal and external participants were offered positive or negative feedback on a rotary pursuit motor task over 20 trials, twice per week, for 6 weeks (a total of 240 trials). The results were as follows: (a) all eighth-grade (13-year-old) subjects displayed superior motor skill performance as compared to fifth-grade (10-year-old) students; (b) subjects across age groups who received positive feedback performed better than subjects given negative feedback; (c) a significant locus of control by feedback interaction indicated that high internals were superior to high externals under positive feedback conditions but that negative feedback produced inferior performance by internals compared to heightened performance by externals; (d) older subjects were more internal than younger subjects based on locus of control questionnaire data both prior to and immediately following the 6-week experiment; and (e) neither age group demonstrated a significant shift in locus of control in response to both the positive and negative feedback conditions.     

Modeling and Motor Performance: A Developmental Perspective

Abstract

The present study was designed to examine the effects of age, modeling and verbal self-instruction on children's performance of a sequential motor task. Eighty-four children between the ages of 4–0 and 5–11 years and 84 children between the ages of 7–0 and 8–11 years were randomly assigned to one of six instructional conditions in a 2 × 3 × 2 (age × model type × verbal self-instruction) factorial design. Results revealed that older children performed better than younger children on motor, verbal-cognitive, and attentional measures. More importantly, an age by model type interaction revealed that model effectiveness depended on the age of the observer as well as the type of model observed. Specifically, 7- and 8-year-old children performed equally well after observing either a silent or verbal model, while the 4- and 5-year-olds performed best under a verbal model only. The absence of verbal self-instructional effects was attributed to task difficulty, information processing capabilities and methodological procedures. In general, the results supported the notion that developmental factors play a critical role in the modeling process, and both theoretical and practical implications are outlined.     

知识经济时代与全民健身运动的关系研究

知识经济时代实际上就是“科学技术是第一生产力“的时代.知识经济时代将会使人们的健身意识进一步提高,促进全民健身运动的开展;开展全民健身运动可以促进知识经济的发展;知识经济与全民健身运动的关系是相辅相成、相互促进的.     

The Relationship Between Measures of Physical Growth and Gross Motor Performance of Primary-Grade School Children

Abstract

The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to investigate the relationship between strength and achievement in physical education among 200 college women by comparing grip strength with grades in the instructional physical education courses and (2) to compare the results obtained on college women with those of college men in the study by Tinkle and Montoye reported in this issue of the Research Quarterly. A table of random numbers was used to secure the sample. The results indicated that grip strength among college women was significantly related to achievement in physical education instructional courses as measured by grades. Also, grip strength was found to be directly related to and probably dependent upon body weight and only indirectly related to height in college women. The relationship between grades in physical education and grip strength among college women substantiates the results of the college men's study.     

Motor Performance and Induced Muscular Tension

Abstract

Forty-six subjects were each tested on a ball-snatch task at five different preliminary tension levels (0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 pounds). It was hypothesized that motor performance would follow an inverted U-curve trend with increases in muscular tension. Reaction time followed the hypothesized trend; 15 pounds of tension produced the fastest response. Movement time, however, was not facilitated; instead there was a linear trend toward slower speed with increasing tension.     

Relationship of Physique and Developmental Level to Physical Performance

Abstract

A study was made of the relationship of physique and developmental level, determined by use of the Wetzel Grid, to performance of junior high boys on four fitness tests: pull-ups, 50-yd. dash, standing broad jump, and softball throw. Subjects of different physique groups (heavy, medium, and thin) who were alike developmentally (accelerated, normal, and retarded) differed more markedly in performance than did subjects of different developmental levels who were alike with regard to physique. Subjects who were medium in physique and normal in development were the best performers. Subjects of heavy physique (many overweight) were the poorest performers. This would seem to indicate the need for a restudy of classification methods, particularly when norms are to be used for evaluating performance.     

The Effect of Knowledge of Results Delay and the Subjective Estimation of Movement Form on the Acquisition and Retention of a Motor Skill

Abstract

This study examined the effects of knowledge of results (KR) delay and subjective estimation of movement form on the acquisition and retention of a motor skill. During acquisition, four groups of participants performed 60 trials of a throwing accuracy task under the following conditions: (a) immediate KR, (b) delayed KR, (c) immediate KR + form estimation, and (d) delayed KR + form estimation. Retention tests of throwing accuracy and outcome error estimation in the absence of visual KR were administered 5 min and 24 hours following acquisition. Throwing accuracy was significantly higher during acquisition but significantly lower during retention for immediate-KR participants than for delayed-KR participants. However, participants who estimated their movement form during acquisition produced significantly higher throwing accuracy and lower estimation error during retention than those who did not.     

不同年龄射击运动员的运动水平与神经系统特性及其气质类型的关系

采用标准化的BTL-QZ—V1．1气质测试系统对国内107名手枪慢射和步枪运动员进行了神经系统特性和气质类型的测查，结果表明：1）不同运动水平手枪慢射运动员在神经系统灵活性上差异显著，主要表现在国际健将与其他等级运动员之间，随运动水平的升高，神经系统灵活性降低；2）不同运动水平步枪运动员在神经系统抑制性和活动灵活性上差异非常显著，运动水平越高神经系统抑制性越弱，活动灵活性越低；3）神经系统的抑制性和活动灵活性与步枪射击技术中的据枪稳定性、击发稳定性相关非常显著，相关系数在0．6～0．8之间；4）神经系统抑制性和活动灵活性对大年龄（大于等于18岁）步枪运动员运动水平的预测力强。     

The Relationship between Perceptual and Motor Abilities

Abstract

Eighty randomly selected kindergarten pupils were administered one of four figure-ground variations of a gross motor task in order to determine the effects of the various patterns on the performance of the task. All subjects were administered the figure-ground subtest of the Frostig Developmental Test of Visual Perception and the gross motor task which involved walking in a lateral direction between the rungs of a ladder placed in a horizontal position over a floor pattern. An analysis of variance revealed significant differences in the error-time performance among the groups. Pearson product-moment correlation techniques revealed significant relationships between the gross motor task and the Frostig test.