The influence of live- vs. video-model presentation on the early acquisition of a new complex coordination

Background: Demonstration is a widely used method in sports teaching and coaching, based on the assumption that it is more beneficial than verbal instructions or trial-and-error methods for skill acquisition. Although in teaching/coaching situations, the demonstration is usually carried out in front of the learners, in a research context, it is most often presented via a video. However, a direct comparison between these two types of model has rarely been undertaken in a motor context.

Purpose: In this study, we aimed to compare the effectiveness of the observation of a live and a videomodel for the early acquisition of a complex judo movement.

Research Design: Participants observed either a live or a videomodel executing the task. After observation, they practised for three minutes taking five trials and then performed it for analysis. This procedure was repeated three times. The form and technique of each participant's execution were evaluated using a technical score.

Main results: The results indicated a significant improvement in the task execution by the end of the practice session. However, this improvement occurred only for the video-model group between the second and third blocks of practice.

Conclusions: The video demonstration seems more effective than the live one for the early acquisition of a completely new complex coordination. This may be due to the simplification of the visual information in the former condition because of its two-dimensionality. This simplification may allow the observer to identify the more key elements that would guide him/her for the subsequent performance of the task.     

#Handsupdontshoot: connective images and ethical witnessing

In the years since Michael Brown’s death, the hashtag #HandsUpDontShoot has been criticized for supposedly misrepresenting forensic evidence as framed by the Department of Justice. However, an expressive pull has kept alive both the hashtag and the sentiment behind it. The images of #HandsUpDontShoot are compelling in that they offer a glimpse into lived experiences that are often dismissed, ignored, or refuted. In this essay, I trace the aesthetic features of the #HandsUpDontShoot images, which foreground shocking juxtapositions between nonviolent protesters and militarized police forces, to the hashtag’s historical analogue: antilynching photography. Antilynching photography often utilized the aesthetic techniques of remediation, recontextualization, and juxtaposition—aesthetic features used prominently in today’s digital and remix cultures. By noting #HandsUpDontShoot’s use of these same techniques, I illuminate the ways in which Twitter’s connective affordances shape the viewer’s encounter with the images to engender ethical witnessing by affectively linking Brown’s death to shared material experiences of racial minorities. Such encounters propel witnesses beyond distanced objectification and toward an embodied reckoning of those experiences.     

Family Income Dynamics,Early Childhood Education and Care,and Early Child Behavior Problems in Norway

The sociopolitical context of Norway includes low poverty rates and universal access to subsidized and regulated Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). In this context, the association between family income dynamics and changes in early child behavior problems was investigated, as well as whether high‐quality ECEC buffers children from the effects of income dynamics. In a population‐based sample (N = 75,296), within‐family changes in income‐to‐needs predicted changes in externalizing and internalizing problems (from ages 18 to 36 months), particularly for lower income children. For internalizing problems, ECEC buffered the effect of income‐to‐needs changes. These findings lend further support to the potential benefits of ECEC for children from lower income families.     

Prenatal Caloric Intake and the Development of Academic Achievement Among U.S. Children From Ages 5 to 14

Few studies have examined the relation between maternal caloric intake during pregnancy and growth in child academic achievement while controlling for important confounding influences. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, the current study examined the effects of reduced prenatal caloric intake on growth in scores on the Peabody Individual Achievement Test from ages 5 to 14. While models controlling for within‐family covariates showed that prenatal caloric intake was associated with lower reading and mathematical achievement at age 5, models controlling for between‐family covariates (such as maternal IQ) and unobserved familial confounders revealed only a statistically significant association between siblings differentially exposed to prenatal caloric intake and mathematical achievement at age 5.