Gross Motor Coincidence Timing by Children with Learning Difficulties and Children Matched on Mean Chronological and Mental Age

Abstract

This study examines the learning by children with learning difficulties of a gross motor coincidence timing task, compared with that by children of average intelligence of an equivalent chronological age and mental age. The gross motor coincidence timing response was seen as representative of a particular task category. Using a task classification scheme based on the mobility or otherwise of the environment, the total body and the body parts, the two movement responses required of the children were seen as characteristic of the “environment in motion, total body in motion, body parts stationary” class, the difference between the two lying in their ballistic or controlled nature. The findings suggest that, as a group, the children with learning difficulties perform at a level lower than either of the matched groups. Differences in the nature of the errors for the two response patterns were particularly evident for the group of children with learning difficulties.     

External ankle taping does not alter lower extremity side-step cut and straight sprint biomechanics in young adult males

Abstract

Lateral ankle sprains (LAS) are one of the most common musculoskeletal injuries and as a response, clinicians often use external ankle taping prophylactically to reduce the prevalence of injuries. External ankle taping techniques have been shown to significantly reduce passive ankle range of motion; however, there is limited research on the effects of external ankle taping on lower extremity kinematics or kinetics during sport specific tasks. Therefore, our objective was to compare the effects of external ankle taping on ankle, knee and hip kinematics and kinetics compared to no taping during an anticipated sidestep cutting task and a straight sprint task. We conducted a cross-over laboratory study with 16 healthy males. Three-dimensional kinematics and kinetics were collected with a motion capture system and in-ground force plate during 5 trials of a sprint and anticipated side-step cut with or without external ankle taping. Group means and associated 90% confidence intervals were plotted across 100 data points for each task, significance being identified when the confidence intervals did not overlap for three consecutive data points. No significant kinetic or kinematic differences were identified between conditions for the tasks. External ankle taping does not influence lower extremity biomechanics during a control cutting task.     

Attentional capture by spoken language: effects on netballers’ visual task performance

Abstract

In two experiments, participants performed visual detection, visual discrimination and decision-making tasks, in which a binary (left/right) response was required. In all experimental conditions, a spoken word (“left”/“right”) was presented monaurally (left or right ear) at the onset of the visual stimulus. In Experiment 1, 26 non-athletes located a target amongst an array of distractors as quickly as possible, in both the presence and absence of spoken cues. Participants performed superiorly in the presence of valid cues, relative to invalid-cue and control conditions. In Experiment 2, 42 skilled netballers completed three tasks, in randomised order: a visual detection task, a visual discrimination task and a netball decision-making task – all in the presence of spoken cues. Our data showed that spoken auditory cues affected not only target detection, but also performance on more complex decision-making tasks: cues that were either spatially or semantically invalid slowed target detection time; spatially invalid cues impaired discrimination task accuracy; and cues that were either spatially or semantically valid improved accuracy and speeded decision-making time in the netball task. When studying visual perception and attention in sport, the impact of concomitant auditory information should be taken into account in order to achieve a more representative task design.     

Images of the Body from Popular Culture: Engaging Adolescent Girls in Critical Inquiry

The purpose of this paper is to highlight how I use images from teen magazines to engage girls in critical inquiry about the body. This process is about co-constructing bodily knowledge and reflecting critically on this knowledge. The analysis is broken into three main parts: (a) tapping girls' interests; (b) helping girls name how they experience their bodies; and (c) using images to critique dominant stories of the body. Within each of these sections, I will foreground the process by looking at the curricular tasks as well as the verbal engagement through which the girls and I negotiated the tasks together. The data are used to illustrate the pedagogical possibilities of engaging girls in critical inquiry on body. I conclude the paper by discussing the pedagogical possibilities for studying the body with adolescent girls that emerged and reflect critically on the struggles involved in the process of engaging girls in critical inquiry.     

Coeducational and single-sex physical education: students’ situational interest in learning tasks centred on technical skills

Background: A student’s choice to engage in a learning task is highly related to the student’s environmental stimuli and his or her perception of interest. From this perspective, the construct of situational interest (SI) has been used to interpret students’ motivation in task engagement. SI is assumed to be transitory, environmentally activated, and context specific. It has been conceptualized as a multidimensional construct with five dimensions: instant enjoyment, exploration intention, attention demand, novelty, and challenge. Few prior studies have compared SI between girls and boys in physical education (PE) contexts, and these studies have offered contrasting findings. They were conducted in coeducational (coed) or single-sex contexts and used learning tasks centred on a variety of outcomes: technical or tactical skills, creativity and cultural understanding.

Purpose: In the context of the debate on single-sex and coed classes in PE, this study aimed to estimate the effects of single-sex and coed PE classes on students’ situational interest (SI) within learning tasks centred on technical skills. The researchers decided to study learning tasks centred on the development of students’ technical skills, since these tasks are often used by teachers in PE.

Participants: The sample consisted of 177 Swiss secondary school students, aged 11–17 years (M?=?14.07, SD?=?1.41, 96 boys, 81 girls).

Data collection: The students completed the French 15-item SI Scale after practising a technical learning task in single-sex and coed PE contexts. The researchers chose five physical activities (i.e. athletics, basketball, dance, gymnastics, and volleyball), which are commonly taught in the state of Vaud (Switzerland) and provide a balance between masculine and feminine activities.

Data analysis: A two-way repeated-measures MANOVA was performed to examine the main and interaction effects of student sex and class sex composition on the five SI dimensions.

Findings: The results showed a main effect of class sex composition on student SI but no main effect of student sex and no interaction effect of student sex and class sex composition. More precisely, the scores for three SI dimensions (i.e. instant enjoyment, exploration intention, and attention demand) were higher in the coed context than in the single-sex context.

Conclusions: This study encourages teachers to propose coed PE classes to enhance students’ motivation and engagement when practising learning tasks centred on technical skills. This study offers supplementary evidence of the teacher’s role in promoting student SI. Beyond accounting for students’ dispositional factors (e.g. sex), PE teachers can significantly impact students’ SI in technical learning tasks through instructional choices.     

Cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness associations with older adolescent cognitive control

Background:Participation in physical activity supports greater cardiorespiratory fitness(CRF),a correlate of cognitive control.However,the relationship between muscular fitness(MF)and cognitive control is less clear.The present study investigated the differential relationship of CRF and MF with cognitive control in older adolescents.Methods:This cross-sectional study involved students(15
17 years old,n=541,43%female)from 20 secondary schools who completed tests of inhibition(modified flanker task),working memory(n-back task),CRF(Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run),and MF(standing long jump and push-up test).Multilevel analyses tested the association between CRF or MF and cognitive outcomes while accounting for the influence of the other fitness variable and relevant demographic factors.Results:CRF predicted response accuracy during incongruent flanker trials,the condition requiring greater inhibition.For the working memory task,CRF predicted greater target accuracy and greater d’scores on the 1-back task,requiring lesser amounts of working memory.In the 2-back task,which requires greater amounts of working memory,CRF also predicted greater target and non-target accuracy and d’scores.Comparatively,MF did not predict any cognitive outcomes after adjustment for CRF.Conclusion:CRF was selectively related to better performance during task conditions that require greater amounts of inhibition and working memory.This finding suggests that CRF,but not MF,may benefit cognitive control in older adolescents.This selective influence of CRF on older adolescents’cognition highlights the value of aerobic physical activity.     

The influence of exercise-induced fatigue on cognitive function

Abstract

Although anecdotal reports suggest that information processing and decision making is impaired immediately following prolonged periods of physical activity, results obtained from laboratory studies of exercise-induced fatigue have been inconsistent. Fatigue effects may be task specific and related to the time of post-exercise testing. The present study examined the effects on adults' performance of two cognitive tasks that differed in processing demands over an 80-min period of fatigue. Thirty young adult men and women were randomly assigned to either an exercise group and completed a 60-min bout of cycle ergometry at 90% ventilatory threshold or a control group and rested for 60 min. Following interventions, each participant completed a simple and complex version of a visual perceptual discrimination test, a 40-min memory-based vigilance test and a repetition of the visual perceptual discrimination tests. Those who exercised evidenced significant decrements in performance on complex perceptual-discrimination tasks compared to participants who rested. The response time of exercisers during a memory-demanding vigilance test were significantly slower than those of participants who rested; however, detection performance did not differ between groups neither was there a decrease in target detection across the vigil. The effects of exercise-induced fatigue may be task specific, with greater effects on perceptual tasks, which involve relatively automatic processing, compared to effortful memory-based tasks.     

Training and Contextual Interference Effects on Memory and Transfer

Abstract

An experimental intervention program to train subjects on coincidence anticipation and prediction skills was administered to novice females. An attempt was undertaken to study the effects of this sports training and training on laboratory tasks. According to Battig' s predictions on the structure of practice sessions, both random and blocked contexts were presented. These acquisition contexts were viewed as orienting tasks that preceded sports training. The effects of high-contextual interference and sports training on acquisition, retention, and transfer were investigated. Practice conditions in the intervention were selected because of processing demands similar to random acquisition. Other research has shown that acquisition in random is influenced by sport-skill expertise and further indicates that processing of events occurring outside the laboratory influences performance of laboratory tasks. Observed results supported prior theoretical predictions and empirical findings on contextual interference. Predicted hypotheses were supported, and the effects of sports training were most profound during retention and transfer if the acquisition context for the trained subjects was random. Supported by prior research, activities performed outside the laboratory influenced performance on laboratory tasks. These results shift more emphasis on the learner as an active processor of information, which relates to Lee's (1988) views on transfer-appropriate processing.     

A Study of Rhythmic Ability and Movement Performance

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate selected spatial and temporal characteristics of movement. Forty-one subjects were administered the rhythm test of the Drake Musical Aptitude Tests. From the resulting distribution of scores, 10 subjects with a high level and 10 subjects with a low level of rhythmic ability were filmed while performing a simple rhythmic movement task. The task, done to a fixed metronomic rate of 66 beats/minute, consisted of a forward lunge in which the arm was swung forward and upward until the hand was directly in line with a target. The subject had to stop the motion of her arm in such a position that her hand was in line with the target on every other beat of the metronome, and recover to a starting position on the alternate beats. The subjects responded to eight beats while standing in place and to eight while responding in the described manner. The movement task was recorded on film; deviations in the time and space at the moment of the stimulus were estimated in a frame-by-frame analysis of the film. An analysis of variance of time and space scores was made using 9 subjects in the low group and 10 subjects in the high group. It was concluded that the true means of the absolute deviations in time and space of high and low performers on the Drake Rhythm Test were the same.     

Agonist and Antagonist Muscle EMG Activity Pattern Changes with Skill Acquisition

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to investigate the modifications in the control of the biceps brachii (agonist) and triceps brachii (antagonist) muscles during the learning of two elbow flexion tasks in sixteen college-age women. A positioning and a coincidence task were each performed at 40° and 200° per second angular velocity while bipolar surface electrodes recorded the electromyographic (EMG) activity of the muscles involved. Data on the EMG activity, angular kinematics, and timing and angular displacement error were quantified and subjected to statistical analyses. The results of the error analyses indicated that subjects did learn the various tasks over the 120 trials. Because there were no significant changes in the angular velocity patterns over trials, the EMG activity modifications are suggested to reflect differences in the control of the muscles monitored during the movements. In addition, EMG activity pattern modifications which occurred in discrete portions of the movements in both muscles indicate an increased cocontraction of the opposing muscles as subjects learned the tasks. Temporal periods in which modifications were observed appear to represent the critical periods in each movement task.     

Visual attention in orienteers at different levels of experience

Abstract

This study explored how differences in orienteering experience are related to differences in how visual attention is allocated to the map, the environment and to travel. Twenty more experienced and 20 less experienced individuals orienteered while wearing a head-mounted video camera with microphone. The participants verbalized what they were attending to (map, environment or travel) at any given time. Each recorded film was coded at each point in time in terms of what the participant was attending to and whether the participant was moving or stationary. More experienced orienteers attended to the map markedly more while moving and spent less time stationary than less experienced orienteers. The participants' performance was significantly related to the ability to attend to the map while moving. The strategic control of attention is proposed to explain this ability. It is proposed that attentional training might enhance performance in sports characterized by multiple and dynamically varying elements.     

A Comparison of Accelerometers for Predicting Energy Expenditure and Vertical Ground Reaction Force in School-Age Children

In this pilot study of 16 children, we evaluated the reliability and validity of three accelerometers (Mini-Motionlogger [MML], Computer Science Applications, Inc. Actigraph [CSA], and BioTrainer) as indicators of energy expenditure and vertical ground reaction force. The children wore 2 of each type of monitor while they walked, ran, and performed 2 jumping tasks on a force plate and walked, jogged, and ran on a treadmill. Intrainstrument reliability of the monitors ranged from .64 to .98 across the treadmill tasks and from .69 to .98 across the force plate tasks, with the MML and CSA appearing more consistent than the BioTrainer. Analyses of variance were conducted to compare activity counts with criterion measures (oxygen utilization and force plate scores). All of the monitors generally differentiated among the treadmill tasks, mirroring the change in oxygen utilization. The CSA monitors corresponded more closely to the changes in force plate scores than the BioTrainer or the MML. Simple regression analyses indicated that count scores from all of the monitors were associated with oxygen utilization, with the MML and CSA exhibiting stronger relations (R values = .81 and .83, respectively) than the BioTrainer (R= .60). Similar analyses between the activity monitors and the force plate scores were also significant but the relations were not as strong as for oxygen utilization (R values = .46, .51, and .52, respectively). Based on backward elimination regression analyses, caloric expenditure on the treadmill tasks was predicted significantly with each of the MML (37 and 38% of variance) and CSA (39 and 42% of variance) units when body mass was included in the model. For the BioTrainer counts to provide the best prediction of caloric expenditure, both body mass and height were retained in the model, resulting in 20 and 25% explained variance. Future research to evaluate the utility of accelerometers should employ tasks that prevent the confounding of force and caloric expenditure.     

多点摄像与解析方法在跳台滑雪技术分析中的应用

在运动影像解析技术领域里,为了准确地获取运动目标的三维空间坐标位置,一般使用定点、定焦摄像方式。对于大范围运动的动作解析,需要多台摄像机在多点位置进行定点、定焦动作捕捉。跳台滑雪运动是一个比较典型的、在较大范围内动作复杂的运动项目。对于优秀跳台滑雪运动员的三维动作解析问题是我国冰雪体育科研领域的前沿研究项目,其中如何捕捉和获取大范围运动信息是分析过程的关键环节之一。通过研究多点摄像解析方法在跳台滑雪运动中的应用,为处理大范围运动的动作捕捉与解析研究提供理论参考。     

A New Motor Learning Task: The Foot-Twist Tracking Task

Abstract

Sixty college men were tested on a new motor learning task: the foot-twist tracking task. They were given 35 one-min. trials; each consisted of 30 sec. of work followed by 30 sec. of rest. A 5-min. rest period was interpolated between trials 25 and 26 to allow for the dissipation of reactive inhibition accrued during prerest performance. The results supported the expectation that practice on the new task would result in significant amounts of learning. However, the improvement in performance, while fairly large (21%), is substantially less than that found on the pursuit rotor and other large muscle motor coordination tasks. The expectation of reliable learning scores is also supported by the present results (r = .77). This learning reliability is relatively high when compared with those obtained on other large muscle motor learning tasks.     

On-target trajectories and the final pull in archery

Abstract

At the end of the aiming phase, an archer pulls the arrow back a little bit before he releases the shot. This pulling back of the arrow is called the “final pull”. Simultaneous with the final pull, the archer has to hold the bow calm. The aim of this paper was to examine the motion of the bow and the final pull in highly skilled archers. From a technological point of view, we wished to develop a system to measure the draw-length in the final pull that could be used during archers’ normal training. Seven archers (two males, five females), all of whom were participants at the Junior World Championships and German National Championships, performed 66 shots indoors at a target 30 m away. Each archer shot the same bow as used in competition. On-target trajectories of the aim point movement were measured. Also, the alterations of the draw-length in the final pull were determined. The results suggest that irregularities in the final pull have a negative influence on archers’ scores. Intra-individually, a smaller range of motion of the bow in the last second before the shot appears to have a positive influence on archers’ scores.     

Distribution of Practice in Motor Skill Acquisition: Different Effects for Discrete and Continuous Tasks

Abstract

Research on the benefits of distributed practice for the acquisition and retention of motor skills has a long history. The majority of this research has involved skill acquisition of continuous tasks. However, there is some evidence to suggest that distribution of practice effects are quite different for discrete tasks than for continuous tasks. In the present study, we used a single task, formed discrete and continuous versions of the task, and examined how acquisition and retention were affected by the length of inter-trial interval. The basic task was a movement timing task that involved either one timing estimate per trial (the “discrete” version) or twenty successive estimates per trial (the “continuous” version). Separate groups of subjects learned one version of the task under either distributed (25 s inter-trial intervals) or massed (0.5 s inter-trial intervals) practice conditions. Both massed and distributed retention trials were performed on the same version of the task according to a double transfer design. The results confirmed the apparent disparity: Acquisition and retention were facilitated by distributed practice on the continuous task, but by massed practice on the discrete task. These results were discussed in terms of the role of the inter-trial interval in discrete and continuous tasks.     

The effects of task constraints on the organization of interception movements

In the light of the intensity coupling effects reported in the literature, subjects' capacities for independently controlling the absolute velocity of their movement at the point of interception was evaluated by asking them to learn to propel orthogonally approaching balls, varying in their speed of approach, into target boxes placed at various distances from the interception point. As required for successful accomplishment of the task, movement velocity was found to be adapted to the distance to be covered, with the near target giving rise to lower velocities and the far target giving rise to higher velocities even when the conditions were presented in random order. Nevertheless, even though target distance accounted for a substantial proportion of the total variance, a small but significant effect of ball approach speed on movement velocity was found, suggesting that intensity coupling is a persistent but modulable phenomenon in interception tasks.     

A Method for Identification of Some Components of Judging Springboard Diving

Abstract

This article presents a method to analyze the scoring of judges in springboard diving by identifying some of the components of a dive which are useful in predicting the scores of the judges. A videotape recording of 26 divers doing the front dive half-twist was made at the 1979 men's A.A.U. prequalifying meet, held at Ohio State University. The method of measurement involved the use of clear plastic grids placed over the video monitor. The maximum height of the diver above the board, distance out from the board, size and duration of splash, numerous body angles at various times during the dive, as well as deviation of twist from 180 degrees were measured. A Stepwise Multiple Regression program was used to generate a prediction equation using a subset of these variables which would best predict the total score of the judges for each dive. The equation generated included height, distance, twist, and lower body angle at the point when the diver's head was opposite the board; the equation predicted the scores of the judges with a multiple correlation coefficient R = .80. The particular variables identified would of course be different for other types of dives, and might very well differ for a new set of data for the front dive half twist. However, the method presented provides the diving community with a procedure for identifying some of the components in a particular dive that partially explain what is in the judge's mind.     

The Role of Interference and Task Similarity on the Acquisition,Retention, and Transfer of Simple Motor Skills

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to determine if two levels of task similarity influenced acquisition, retention, and transfer performance of three simple motor skills. Sixty right-handed subjects were randomly assigned to one of five (n = 12) experimental conditions. Each subject performed 72 trials during acquisition. Twenty-four trials were recorded for each movement task. Following a 5-min unfilled retention interval, subjects performed 4 trials on each task before completing 12 transfer trials of a novel movement. Contextual interference effects for acquisition and retention were supported for low but not high similarity tasks. Further, the results suggest that a different memory representation exists for high and low similarity tasks.