A Research-based Community Theater Performance to Promote Ageing: Is it More than Just a Show?

Research-based community theater can address important life issues in a safe and entertaining environment. This study investigated using a theater performance about widowhood as a medium for facilitating older people's engagement with key life events and countering negative stereotypes. Quantitative questions incorporating semistructured qualitative sections were conducted with 29 older people from a group of 250 audience members who attended the performance. The majority of participants found the performance true to life, enjoyable, of high quality, and a useful learning tool. This study illustrates the potential for wider application of research-based community theater for promoting healthy ageing in older adults.     

The Veering Tendency of the Arm,When Drawing a Straight Line without Vision

Abstract

Fifty-seven male and female university students were seated individually at a table, blindfolded, and asked to draw a straight line directly away from the center of their bodies. Results indicated that performances with the right hand were, in general, more accurate than those with the left hand. The data also indicated that lines drawn with the right hand veered slightly to the left, while those drawn with the left hand tended to veer to the right. Hand dominance had no effect upon the accuracy of the line-drawing performance.     

A Field-Based Testing Protocol for Assessing Gross Motor Skills in Preschool Children: The Children's Activity and Movement in Preschool Study Motor Skills Protocol

The purpose of this study was to develop a valid and reliable tool for use in assessing motor skills in preschool children in field-based settings. The development of the Children's Activity and Movement in Preschool Study Motor Skills Protocol included evidence of its reliability and validity for use in field-based environments as part of large epidemiological studies. Following pilot work, 297 children (3–5 years old) from 22 preschools were tested using the final version of the Children's Activity and Movement in Preschool Study Motor Skills Protocol and the Test of Gross Motor Development (2nd Edition). Reliability of the Children's Activity and Movement in Preschool Study Motor Skills Protocol and interobserver reliability were determined using intraclass correlation procedures (intraclass correlation coefficients; ANOVA). Concurrent validity was assessed using Pearson correlation coefficients to compare the Children's Activity and Movement in Preschool Study Motor Skills Protocol to the original Test of Gross Motor Development (2nd Edition). Results indicated that test reliability, interobserver reliability, and validity coefficients were all high, generally above R/r = .90. Significant age differences were found. Outcomes indicate that the Children's Activity and Movement in Preschool Study Motor Skills Protocol is an appropriate tool for assessing motor development of 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children in field-based settings that are consistent with large-scale trials.     

Answer Preference and Answer Conflict in Children's Completions of Concrete Operational Stories

Abstract The procedures used in presenting many concrete operational problems have two drawbacks: children may fail through misunderstanding the questioner's intention and there is a biasing towards a unidimensional interpretational of the question. Story completion procedures were used here in an effort to circumvent these problems. In the first experiment six and seven year‐old children had to select one of four completions of a story of traditional style and content. Selection of completions that involved the coordination of perceptual dimensions was associated with separately‐assessed ability in conservation and in class inclusion. This was interpreted as showing that success and failure on these standard tasks reflects answer preferences which are not specific to the procedures used in the tasks. The second experiment attempted to equalise the biasing towards the unidimensional answer in conservation tasks. The problem was presented through a narrative in which the answers of a nonconserving and of a conserving protagonist came into symmetrical conflict. Selection of the conservation completion by the four and five year‐old subjects was far more common than in the standard situation, suggesting that when the biasing is removed a more basic form of conservation competence is revealed.