Solving Bernstein's Problem: A Proposal for the Development of Coordinated Movement by Selection

In recent years, many established concepts in the theory of human motor development have undergone profound change, and our knowledge has increased greatly. Nevertheless, some outstanding problems remain unsolved. A central problem concerns the redundancy of effective movements, first pointed out by N. A. Bernstein. The human motor system is mechanically complex and can make use of large number of degrees of freedom. The controlled operation of such a system requires a reduction of mechanical redundancy, effectively by reducing the number of degrees of freedom. More recent work has shown that this problem is hard to solve explicitly by computing solutions to the equations of motion of the system. Equally challenging to traditional computational approaches is the fact the motor systems show remarkable adaptability and flexibility in the presence of changing biomechanical properties of motor organs during development and when faced with different environmental conditions or tasks. Solutions to these problems would have a large impact on a variety of issues in child development. In this article, we stress the importance of the somatic selection of neuronal groups in maps for the progressive transformation of a primary movement repertoire into a set of motor synergies and adaptive action patterns. We present results from computer simulations of a simple motor system that works according to such selectional principles. This approach suggests a provisional solution to Bernstein's problem and provides new parameters to guide experimental approaches to the development of sensorimotor coordination.     

Health literacy and consumer health information

The rigours of the past few years have demonstrated the importance of good health literacy levels with the imperative of being able to obtain and interpret information to maintain and improve one's health never more apparent. With this in mind, this issue is focused on consumer health information, the gender and population group differences that exist in information seeking behaviour, the challenges of understanding medical explanations and terminology, and existing criteria to assess and ultimately produce better consumer health information.     

The Effectiveness of the Responsive Teaching Parent-mediated Developmental Intervention Programme in Turkey: A pilot study

The case study was conducted to examine the feasibility of an early intervention curriculum called Responsive Teaching with two five-year-old children from Turkey who had significant developmental delays. This study determined whether Turkish mothers might be successful in learning to become more responsive to their children, and whether this would result in significant improvements in their children’s development. Both dyads received 28 individual parent–child intervention sessions which were conducted over a four-month period of time. Pre-, mid-, and post-assessments indicated improvements in the mothers’ responsiveness to their children and the children’s levels of engagement with their parents. There were also improvements in the children’s language and personal social development. Mothers reported that Responsive Teaching helped them learn to interact more effectively with their children and that this resulted in longer and more enjoyable interactions with them. Results from this investigation are discussed in terms of their implications for providing developmental services to preschool-aged children with disabilities in Turkey.     

Sport,Homelessness, and Capability: Voices from the Street

ABSTRACT

To what extent does soccer increase the capability of the homeless and those living on the street? This study addresses this question by focusing on the ways in which the Homeless World Cup and Street Soccer (Scotland) have impacted upon the lives of some individuals. Primary source data obtained from a series of interviews are situated within Sen’s capability approach to social choice theory. The implications of the study contribute to policy by supporting the idea that sport can contribute as a resource of hope through the development of capability that impacts upon life chances and choices. It adds to a growing number of applied studies of sport that have critically used the work of Sen and it advances the way in which this body of work has been utilized in sport and related areas.     

Factors which comprise salary

A linear causal model is postulated and path analysis procedures are used to examine the direct, indirect, and total influence of 39 variables (grouped into eight general measures) on the salaries of 24.461 faculty members associated with virtually every discipline and type of postsecondary institution in the academic community. The results show wide variation in the relative influence of characteristics of postsecondary institutions and the personal and professional characteristics of faculty members on faculty salaries. The implications of these findings are discussed and specific guidelines are provided to assist those interested in examining the external and internal consistency of the faculty salary structures of their respective institutions.     

Relating early childhood teachers’ working conditions and well-being to their turnover intentions

High turnover rates of early care and education teachers reduce the quality of education; unsatisfied teachers, suffering from stress or emotional exhaustion, are less equipped to promote children’s development and more likely to leave the classroom. We used data from a national survey of US early childhood educators (n?=?1129) to examine associations between teachers’ working conditions, well-being, and motivation with professional commitment and turnover intentions to move, leave, or remain. Multiple regression analyses revealed that more intrinsically motivated teachers were more likely to report intentions to move over leave, emotionally exhausted teachers were more likely to report intentions to leave, and lower teacher-reported working conditions predicted intentions to move or leave the field over staying. The results suggest that teachers’ well-being and perceived working conditions relate with their intentions to remain at their job or within the field and to their commitment to the profession.     

Producing PhD Graduates in Australia for the Knowledge Economy

Using survey and interview data on PhD student course experience, career plans and views on university-industry research links, this paper evaluates the success of Australian research-intensive universities in producing PhD graduates for the knowledge economy. Student satisfaction with their course experience is surprisingly low and this appears to be strongly linked with the quality and effectiveness of thesis supervision. Although the PhD degree is meant to provide high level research career training, only slightly more than half the respondents expect to follow research careers. Many PhD students have negative views about academic careers based particularly on their perceptions of the impact of reduced government funding levels on universities and the increased workload pressures on supervisors. On the other hand, a high proportion of students hold positive views about university-industry research links, with students with industry research funding showing higher levels of course satisfaction than other students.     

Samples of stimuli,responses, and reinforcers: Effect of incongruent sample type,serial position,and mode of presentation

In two matching-to-sample experiments, pigeons’ performance with samples of stimuli (red and green), number of responses (1 and 20), and reinforcers (food and no food) was assessed. Samples of red, 20 responses, and food were associated with the red comparison stimulus, and samples of green, 1 response, and no food were associated with the green comparison stimulus. On interference trials, three sample types were presented on each trial, and two of the samples (congruent) were associated with the correct comparison and the third sample (incongruent), with the incorrect comparison. Performance on interference trials was compared with that on control trials in which either two (Experiment 1) or three (Experiment 2) congruent samples were presented. It was found that presentation of an incongruent sample reduced matching accuracy markedly, and about equally, whether samples were presented successively or in compound. Although the type of sample that was incongruent was without effect, matching accuracy declined strongly as the recency of the incongruent sample increased. Serial position of the incongruent sample also influenced the shape of the retention function on interference trials. Presentation of the incongruent sample either first or second resulted in accuracy decreasing across the retention interval, whereas presentation of the incongruent sample last in the input sequence resulted in increasing accuracy across the retention interval. The theoretical implications of the findings are considered.