Does God Make It Real? Children’s Belief in Religious Stories From the Judeo‐Christian Tradition

Four- to 6-year-old children (N = 131) heard religious or nonreligious stories and were questioned about their belief in the reality of the story characters and events. Children had low to moderate levels of belief in the characters and events. Children in the religious story condition had higher levels of belief in the reality of the characters and events than did children in the nonreligious condition; this relation strengthened with age. Children who used God as an explanation for the events showed higher levels of belief in the factuality of those events. Story familiarity and family religiosity also affected children's responses. The authors conclude that God's involvement in a story influences children's belief in the reality of the characters and events in that story.     

Parental interactions with Latino infants: variation by country of origin and English proficiency

This study examined variation in mother-infant interactions, father engagement, and infant cognition as a function of country of origin, socioeconomic status, and English language proficiency in a national sample of Latino infants (age 9 months) born in the United States and living with both biological parents (N=1,099). Differences between Mexican-American infants, who had lower mother-infant interaction scores and less father physical play than did the other Latino infants, were associated with differences in acculturation (both parents' English proficiency). Indicators of acculturation and paternal reports of happiness with partner were associated with paternal engagement. Indicators of acculturation were also related to mother-infant interactions. Infant cognitive scores were associated with maternal interaction but not father engagement, and maternal but not paternal mental health.     

Verbal-behavioral dissociations in development

Verbal and behavioral measures of children's knowledge are frequently dissociated. These situations represent a largely untapped but important resource for furthering an understanding of human cognition. In this paper, verbal-behavioral dissociations in children are discussed and analyzed, drawing from a wide range of domains. The article explores what might lead to different responses in different modalities, and it is proposed that children's goals may be an important factor. It is concluded that a variety of factors are involved in producing these dissociations, and that a richer picture of development will result from attention to these factors.     

Classwide consultation in preschools: A case study of comprehensive supports

Classwide supports were used to increase children's early literacy skills for Head Start morning and afternoon classrooms within a preschool Response to Intervention (RtI) model. Support included interventions to improve child outcomes for letter naming fluency (LNF) and teachers' instructional and managerial variables. Targeted activities included circle (a group instructional activity) and center times (also instructional time with children's choices about activities). Support for teachers included adding a “letter of the week” activity with active responding and other literacy activities and providing direct feedback to teachers about classroom managerial interactions. Results show positive classwide improvements for LNF, an increase in the prevalence of instruction, and improvements in positive and instructional managerial methods. Social validity appraisal indicated that the support methods were highly acceptable. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Elbow joint kinematics during cricket bowling using magneto-inertial sensors: A feasibility study

Magnetic and inertial measurement units (MIMUs) may provide an accessible, three-dimensional, in-field alternative to laboratory-restricted marker-based motion capture. Existing upper limb MIMU models have predominantly been validated with low-velocity motion and their suitability for use with sport-based movements remains relatively untested. We propose a MIMU system approach to enable the estimation of anatomically meaningful and participant-specific elbow kinematics with considerations for use with cricket bowling. A novel standardised elbow reference posture of 90 degrees flexion and 0 deg pronation, and functional definition of elbow joint axes of rotation calibrated the MIMU method model before it was validated across three experiments: (1) simple elbow rotations with a mechanical linkage; (2) low-velocity elbow rotations in human participants; and (3) low-medium velocity sport-based movements in human participants. The proposed MIMU method demonstrated high elbow kinematic measurement agreement when compared with a criterion measure across all three conditions. However, during experiment 3, sensor components neared their measurement capacity and the MIMU method elbow flexion measurement variability increased. We conclude that the proposed MIMU method can estimate anatomically referenced, participant-specific joint angles, however, the hardware specifications of currently available systems may limit application in high-velocity/acceleration situations, preventing the measurement of cricket bowling in-field for now.     

Different visual stimuli affect muscle activation at the knee during sidestepping

Increasing knee stability via appropriate muscle activation could reduce anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury risk during unplanned sidestepping. High-level athletes may activate their knee muscles differently from low-level athletes when responding to quasi-game realistic versus non game-realistic stimuli. Eleven high-level and 10 low-level soccer players responded to a non game-realistic arrow-planned condition (AP), a quasi game-realistic one-defender scenario (1DS) and two-defender scenario (2DS), and an arrow-unplanned condition (AUNP), that imposed increasing time constraints to sidestep. Activation from eight knee muscles during sidestepping was measured during pre-contact and weight-acceptance. Knee flexor-extensor co-activation ratios were established. Muscle activation levels increased by approximately 27% solely in the 1DS in both sidestepping phases. In the 2DS, the shift from a flexor dominant co-activation strategy in pre-contact toward extensor dominance in weight-acceptance commenced earlier for the high-level players. Quasi game-realistic information allowed for anticipatory increases in knee muscle activation regardless of expertise levels but only when the time demands to respond were low (1DS). High-level players were better at interpreting complex game-realistic information (2DS) to activate their knee extensors earlier in preparation for single-leg landing during weight-acceptance.     

The association of bike fitting with injury,comfort, and pain during cycling: An international retrospective survey

Although bike fitting is recommended to help reduce injury risk, little empirical evidence exists to indicate an association between bike fitting and injury incidence. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of bike fitting on self-reported injury, comfort, and pain while cycling from a worldwide survey of cyclists. A total of 849 cyclists completed an online questionnaire between February and October 2016. Questionnaire collected data on respondent demographics, cycling profile, bike fitting, comfort and pain while cycling, and injury history. The main predictor variable was bike fitting (yes, by the respondent, i.e. user bike fitting; yes, by a professional service; or no). Covariates included demographic and cycling profile characteristics. Logistic regression models estimated the odds of injury within the last 12 months, reporting a comfortable body posture while cycling, and not reporting pain while cycling. Odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were reported. User bike fitting was associated with increased odds of reporting a comfortable posture (OR?=?2.28, 95%CI: 1.06, 4.68). User (OR?=?2.35; 95%CI: 1.48, 3.84) and professional bike fitting (OR?=?2.35; 95%CI: 1.42, 3.98) were both associated with increased odds of not reporting pain while cycling. No associations were found between bike fitting and injury within the last 12 months. In conclusion, we found an association between bike fitting and reported comfort and pain while cycling. We recommend integrating bike fitting into cycling maintenance. However, further studies with longer follow-up are necessary to determine the presence of an association between bike fitting and injury.     

Targeting associated mechanisms of anterior cruciate ligament injury in female community-level athletes

This study aims to determine if biomechanically informed injury prevention training can reduce associated factors of anterior cruciate ligament injury risk among a general female athletic population. Female community-level team sport athletes, split into intervention (n = 8) and comparison groups (n = 10), completed a sidestepping movement assessment prior to and following a 9-week training period, in which kinetic, kinematic and neuromuscular data were collected. The intervention group completed a biomechanically informed training protocol, consisting of plyometric, resistance and balance exercises, adjunct to normal training, for 15–20 min twice a week. Following the 9-week intervention, total activation of the muscles crossing the knee (n = 7) decreased for both the training (? ?15.02%, d = 0.45) and comparison (? ?9.68%, d = 0.47) groups. This decrease was accompanied by elevated peak knee valgus (? +27.78%, d = ?0.36) and internal rotation moments (? +37.50%, d = ?0.56) in the comparison group, suggesting that female community athletes are at an increased risk of injury after a season of play. Peak knee valgus and internal rotation knee moments among athletes who participated in training intervention did not change over the intervention period. Results suggest participation in a biomechanically informed training intervention may mitigate the apparent deleterious effects of community-level sport participation.