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Sequence Structure Has a Differential Effect on Underlying Motor Learning Processes

Shikha Prashad, Yue Du, and Jane E. Clark

Current methods to understand implicit motor sequence learning inadequately assess motor skill acquisition in daily life. Using fixed sequences in the serial reaction time task is not ideal as participants may become aware of the sequence, thereby changing the learning from implicit to explicit. Probabilistic sequences, in which stimuli are linked by statistical, rather than deterministic, associations can ensure that learning remains implicit. Additionally, the processes underlying the learning of motor sequences may differ based on sequence structure. Here, the authors compared the learning of fixed and probabilistic sequences to randomly ordered stimuli using a modified serial reaction time task. Both the fixed and probabilistic sequence groups exhibited learning as indicated by decreased response time and variability. In the initial stage of learning, fixed sequences exhibited both online and offline gains in response time; however, only the offline gain was observed during the learning of probabilistic sequences. These results indicated that probabilistic structures may be learned differently from fixed structures and have important implications for our current understanding of motor learning. Probabilistic sequences more accurately reflect motor skill acquisition in daily life, offer ecological validity to the serial reaction time framework, and advance our understanding of motor learning.

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Functional Movement Proficiency’s Association to Actual and Perceived Motor Competence

Cheryl A. Coker and Brittney Herrick

The adoption of compensatory movement patterns occurs when limitations in mobility, stability, or motor control prevent proper motion from occurring. These dysfunctional movements may inhibit fundamental motor skill development and negatively influence perceived movement competence, impeding the development of physical literacy. Therefore, this study examined the relationship between functional movement and perceived and actual motor skill competence in young adolescents. Functional movement proficiency was determined using the Functional Movement Screen (FMS), which provides three variables of interest: (a) FMS total score, (b) number of asymmetries, and (c) number of movement pattern dysfunctions. Perceived physical competence was assessed through the Children and Youth Physical Self-Perception Profile. Finally, the Get Skilled: Get Active process-oriented motor skill assessment was used to evaluate vertical jump, kick, run, and overhand throw proficiency. A significant positive correlation between FMS total score and vertical jump performance was found. A positive relationship was also found between the number of asymmetries and overhand throw performance. The Children and Youth Physical Self-Perception Profile constructs of body attractiveness and physical condition were positively associated with FMS total score, and physical condition was also shown to be inversely related to the number of movement pattern dysfunctions. Results suggest that functional movement may underpin movement competence and confidence.

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Missing Data Reporting and Analysis in Motor Learning and Development: A Systematic Review of Past and Present Practices

Priya Patel, Seungmin Lee, Nicholas D. Myers, and Mei-Hua Lee

Missing data incidents are common in experimental studies of motor learning and development. Inadequate handling of missing data may lead to serious problems, such as addition of bias, reduction in power, and so on. Thus, this study aimed to conduct a systematic review of the past (2007) and present (2017) practices used for reporting and analyzing missing data in motor learning and development. For this purpose, the authors reviewed 309 articles from five journals focusing on motor learning and development studies and published in 2007 and 2017. The authors carefully reviewed each article using a six-stage review process to assess the reporting and analyzing practices. Reporting of missing data along with reasons for their presence was consistently high across time, which slightly increased in 2017. Researchers predominantly used older methods (mainly deletion) for analysis, which only showed a small increase in the use of newer methods in 2017. While reporting practices were exemplary, missing data analysis calls for serious attention. Improvements in missing data handling may have the merit to address some of the major issues, such as underpowered studies, in motor learning and development.

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Volume 8 (2020): Issue 3 (Dec 2020)

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The Effects of Online Motor Skill Assessment Training on Assessment Competence of Physical Educators

Wesley J. Wilson, Ali Brian, and Luke E. Kelly

Novice teachers struggle with assessing fundamental motor skills. With growing time constraints, not to mention the current COVID-19 pandemic, professional development needs to be streamlined, asynchronous, and online to meet the needs of current teachers. The purpose of this study was to test the feasibility and efficacy of the Motor Skill Assessment Program (MSAP) in increasing the assessment competency of the underhand roll among physical educators and to examine which factors associated with posttest assessment scores. Twenty-nine physical educators (female = 21, male = 8) completed the program. Paired sample t tests were used to determine the efficacy of the program in improving assessment accuracy from pretest to posttest. Associations between posttest scores assessed which factors predicted success within the program addressing feasibility. Program completion resulted in significantly better posttest assessment scores among participants. Guided practice attempts and average scores on guided practice tests correlated most strongly and positively with posttest scores. The assessment training program increased the assessment competency of physical educators. Guided practice and using practice tests best predicted participant learning. Now that the MSAP results with teacher learning and is feasible, this efficacy trial should be scaled up to feature a control group and more skills.

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Developing Social Skills of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder for Physical Activity Using a Movement-Based Program

Jihyun Lee, Seung Ho Chang, and Jerred Jolin

The motor and social skill difficulties experienced by many children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can create challenges when participating in age appropriate physical activity contexts. Although behavioral interventions can increase the general social communicative skills of children with ASD, often the skills targeted are not relevant to physical activity contexts. Thus, this pilot study utilized a movement-based intervention program to support children with ASD in learning both social and movement skills that are relevant to physical activity contexts. Nineteen children with ASD with a mean age of 9.3 (±3.0) years participated in this program for 8 weeks, twice a week, at a recreation center as an afterschool activity. Six object control skills were selected and tested before and after the intervention because these gross motor skills were considered to elicit human interactions and place demands on social skills. Ten social skills were selected, aligned to each program context, taught, and evaluated. This intervention resulted in significant improvements in object-control skills for the participants. Additionally, there were significantly more participants who demonstrated improvements in their performance of the target social skills than who did not demonstrate improvements. These preliminary findings provide support for the feasibility of developing interventions that address social skill deficits in the context of physically active settings for children with ASD.

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A Clinical Trial Based on Reward Contingency to Improve Prone Tolerance and Motor Development is Feasible in 3- to 6-Month-Old Infants

Tanya Tripathi, Stacey C. Dusing, Peter E. Pidcoe, Yaoying Xu, Mary S. Shall, and Daniel L. Riddle

Aims: The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends “parents to incorporate supervised, awake ‘prone play’ in their infant’s routine to support motor development and minimize the risk of plagiocephaly”. The purpose of this feasibility study was to compare usual care to a reward contingency–based intervention, developed to increase prone tolerance and improve motor skills. Methods: Ten full-term infants, 3–6- months old, with poor prone tolerance were randomized to either the Education group or Reward contingency group. Each group participated in three parent education sessions and 15 intervention sessions, over the period of three weeks. Infants in the Reward contingency group used the Prone Play Activity Center, a technology developed to reinforce motor behavior of infants in prone position. Intervention frequency and parent feedback data determined the feasibility of the interventions. Results: Infants in the Reward contingency group practiced a median of 12 of the 15 anticipated intervention sessions in the Prone Play Activity Center. These infants used the device for a mean of 18 minutes per day. Parents of infants in the Education group practiced a median of 10 sessions of the 15 anticipated intervention sessions. Conclusion: The reward contingency–based intervention is feasible for use in a future clinical trial with some modifications.

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Fine Motor Skills and Unsystematic Spatial Binding in the Common Region Test: Under-Inclusivity in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Over-Inclusivity in Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Christiane Lange-Küttner and Ridhi Kochhar

Introduction: The Common Region Test (CRT) is useful for predicting children’s visual memory as individual object-place binding predicted better object memory while objects-region coding predicted better place memory. Aim: To test children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with regards to spatial binding in the CRT. Methods: 19 children with ASD and 20 children with ADHD were gender-matched with 39 typically developing children by chronological age and with another 39 children by verbal mental age as control groups (N = 117) and tested with the CRT and Bender Gestalt test.  Results: Children with ASD and ADHD showed more unsystematic coding than typically developing children. This was due to lower fine motor skills, and in children with ADHD also because of reduced verbal naming. Almost all children with ASD presented the less mature under-inclusive Type I unsystematic coding which included object-place binding, while children with ADHD showed the over-inclusive Type II unsystematic coding that was overriding the Gestalt-like properties of proximity and similarity. Conclusions: It was demonstrated that the CRT is a useful screening instrument for ASD and ADHD that shows that their spatial categorization varies in their unsystematic visuo-spatial classification due to fine motor skill deficiencies.

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The Role of Quiet Eye Duration and Its Components in a Complex Far-Aiming Task

Samira Moeinirad, Behrouz Abdoli, Alireza Farsi, and Nasour Ahmadi

The quiet eye is a characteristic of highly skilled perceptual and motor performance that is considered as the final fixation toward a target before movement initiation. The aim of this study was to extend quiet eye–related knowledge by investigating expertise effects on overall quiet eye duration among expert and near-expert basketball players, as well as to determine the relative contribution of early and late visual information in a basketball jump shot by comparing the timing components of quiet eye duration (early and late quite eye). Twenty-seven expert and near-expert male basketball players performed the jump shots. Gaze was recorded with the SensoMotoric Instruments eye tracking glasses and shooting performance accuracy was evaluated by scoring each shot on a scale of 1–8. Six infrared cameras circularly arranged around the participants were used to collect the kinematic information of the players. The performance accuracy, gaze behavior, and kinematic characteristics of the participants during the test were calculated. The experts with longer quiet eye duration had better performance in a basketball jump shot compared to the near-experts. Also the experts had longer early and late quiet eye duration than the near-experts. The results revealed a relationship between quiet eye duration and performance. The combined visual strategy is a more efficient strategy in complex far-aiming tasks such as a basketball jump shot.

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TGMD-2 Short Version: Evidence of Validity and Associations With Sex, Age, and BMI in Preschool Children

Paulo Felipe Ribeiro Bandeira, Michael Duncan, Maria Luiza Pessoa, Ívina Soares, Larissa da Silva, Jorge Mota, and Clarice Martins

Aim: To analyze the evidence of validity and reliability of the Test of Gross Motor Development, Second Edition (TGMD-2) for low-income preschoolers; and to investigate the associations between the final model with sex, age, and body mass index (BMI). Methods: 368 preschoolers (3–5 years old [M = 4.80, SD = 0.48]; 176 boys) located in deprived areas were assessed for anthropometric measures and motor competence via the TGMD-2. A two-factor model (12 skills) was used and confirmatory indexes were calculated. The Bayesian criteria and the Composite Reliability were employed to evaluate alternative models. Relationships between the final model proposed with age, sex, and BMI were calculated using a network analysis (Mplus 8.0; Rstudio). Results: A two-factor model (locomotion and object control) with adequate values (>0.30) for the six skills (gallop, leap, slide, strike, throw, and roll) presented excellent indexes. Relationships between sex and throwing (r = −.22), and strike (r = −.21), indicated better performance for boys. Positive relationships were found for age with slide (r = 0.23) and hop (r = 0.28), and for BMI with throw (r = 0.18). Conclusion: Validity of a TGMD-2 short version for low-income preschoolers was present. The machine learning analysis to associate fundamental movement skills with gender, age, and BMI seems useful to optimize future interventions.