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Enhancing Executive Function in Children and Adolescents Through Motor Learning: A Systematic Review

Madison J. Richter, Hassan Ali, and Maarten A. Immink

Enhancing executive function in children and adolescents can have significant positive impact on their current and future daily lives. Upregulation of executive function associated with motor skill acquisition suggests that motor learning scenarios provide valuable developmental opportunities to optimize executive function. The present systematic review aimed to identify key motor learning features that contribute to executive function enhancement in children and adolescents. A January 2024 database search identified 62 eligible studies, involving a total of 4,163 children and adolescents, aged 3–17 years, from developmentally typical (35 studies) and atypical or clinical (27 studies) populations. Schools (51%), sports (22%), laboratory (11%), or home (5%) settings with 8- to 12-week programs for primarily fundamental or perceptual-motor skills but also sport, dance, and musical instrument skills were implemented to evaluate executive function outcomes in domains including working memory (55%), inhibitory control (55%), attention (48%), and cognitive flexibility (41%). Enhanced executive function was most frequently associated with gross and discrete or serial motor skill characteristics, closed or stationary regulatory environments, and variable practice conditions. Studies frequently omitted the assessment of motor learning outcomes or lacked sufficient methodological detail needed to classify motor skill and practice design features that might contribute to executive function enhancement.

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The Use of OPTIMAL Instructions and Feedback in Physical Education Settings

Thomas Simpson, Lorcan Cronin, Paul Ellison, Thomas Hawkins, Evelyn Carnegie, and David Marchant

In physical education (PE), the use of instruction and feedback is central to children’s motor skill learning. Recently, it has been identified that instruction, and feedback, which promote OPTIMAL theory motor learning factors (e.g., an external focus of attention, enhanced expectancies, and autonomy support) can enhance children’s motor learning. However, it is unclear how PE teachers use OPTIMAL instructional approaches and therefore, was examined in the present study. Verbal statements (n = 5,765) from seven PE teachers (mean age: 39.29 ± 7.19 years) over 10 PE lessons were collected and thematically analyzed. Results indicate that PE teachers use more externally focused (25%) versus internally focused (10%) instructional behaviors. Moreover, PE teachers used instructional approaches that enhanced (35%) as compared with diminished expectancies (8%) in addition to statements which supported (35%) rather than thwarted (23%) autonomy. Overall, PE teachers appear to use instructional behaviors which support OPTIMAL motor learning; however, more efforts are needed to improve the provision of optimized instructional behaviors. Additionally, the findings indicate that OPTIMAL instructions and feedback are rarely delivered in isolation and may be influenced by the contextual factors of PE and sometimes conflict in their delivery (i.e., externally focused and autonomy thwarting).

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Associations Between Sedentary Behavior and Motor Competence in 3- to 4-Year-Olds: A Systematic Review

Nana A. Kwofie, Xanne Janssen, and John J. Reilly

Background: Several studies have reported low adherence to World Health Organization sedentary behavior (SB) guidelines in the early years. The purpose of this review is to examine the associations between time spent in different types of SB (screen time and habitual SB) and motor competence (MC; fundamental motor skills, fine and gross motor skills, locomotor skills, and object control and balance) in 3- to 4-year-olds. Methods: Five databases were searched on the 27th of July 2021, with an updated search conducted on the 30th of September 2023: Web of Science (core collection), PubMed Central, EMBASE (Ovid), SPORT Discus, and ERIC. Studies were included in the review if they reported on an association between time spent in SB at ages 3–4 years and MC. The methodological quality for each of the included studies was assessed using Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tools. Vote counting was used to determine the direction of associations. Results: Of 5,276 total studies found in the search, 16 studies (12 cross-sectional, four longitudinal) from 11 different countries met the inclusion criteria. Seven studies examined the association between screen time and MC, six examined associations between time spent in SB and MC, and three examined the association of both screen time and time spent in SB with MC. The direction of associations was predominantly negative for both screen time and time spent in habitual SB with different components of MC. Quality of evidence ranged from three to seven out of nine for cross-sectional studies and six to nine out of 12 for longitudinal studies. Conclusions: There may be negative associations between time spent sedentary and MC in 3- to 4-year-olds. However, future studies with stronger study designs are required to confirm these associations. Findings from this review should be considered when designing strategies and interventions to promote adherence to SB guidelines.

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The Utility of Head-Mounted Eye Gaze Tracking for Vision-in-Action Assessments to Enhance Skill Acquisition and Sport Performance: A Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats Analysis

Nikki Aitcheson-Huehn and Adam W. Kiefer

Mobile eye tracking technology enables the objective evaluation of what, when, and how athletes use visual information from the environment to control action in service of skilled performance. This review highlights the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) to consider before adopting this technology to evaluate visual–motor control for enhanced skill acquisition and performance in sport. Strengths include increased ecological validity by recording the athlete within their natural performance environment. Weaknesses include diminished tracking fidelity based on the eye’s morphology or squinting, eye tracker movement, and lens fogging. Opportunities consist of novel assessments around research themes such as combatting the negative effects of pressure and performance enhancement through personalized training. The formfitting technologies also introduce recording opportunities during standard practices. Data processing time, synchronization of video streams, and hand coding of variables comprise the threats in addition to the hardware cost and the fees associated with crowdsourcing data coding. Currently, it is also not feasible to provide coaches with a report of their athletes’ data in a timeline suitable to create player-specific drills. Evaluating portable eye tracking technology with a SWOT framework helps translate scientific knowledge to practitioners considering implementing this technology for athlete assessment and development.

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Motor Competence as Key to Support Healthy Development of 3- to 5-Year-Old Children: An Expert Statement on Behalf of the International Motor Development Research Consortium

Clarice Martins, Nadia C. Valentini, Arja Sääkslahti, Eileen K. Africa, E. Kipling Webster, Glauber Nobre, Leah E. Robinson, Michael Duncan, Patrizia Tortella, Paulo F. Bandeira, and Lisa M. Barnett

The first years of life are an optimal time for developing motor competence. However, the evidence regarding motor competence in early childhood is fragmented and needs to be clearly synthesized and presented. To establish effective evidence-based decision making in research, practice, and policy for the early years, this expert statement, on behalf of the International Motor Development Research Consortium, draws together what is currently known about 3- to 5-year-old children on (a) how skilled are children around the world, (b) the link between motor competence and healthy developmental outcomes, and (c) the capacity to improve children’s motor competence through intervention. This expert statement presents a summary of recent evidence for each of these specific points, followed by recommendations for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers.

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Physical Activity and Motor Skills in Parent–Child Dyads: Associations With Indoor and Outdoor Home Space

Stephanie A. Palmer, Katherine Q. Scott-Andrews, Nancy G. Ramirez, Alec McKheen, and Leah E. Robinson

Indoor and outdoor home space may support physical activity (PA) and enhance motor skills (MS). However, there is limited knowledge about how indoor and outdoor home space affect PA and MS parent–child dyads. This cross-sectional study examined whether indoor and outdoor home spaces affect PA and MS in children and their parents. MS was measured with the Test of Gross Motor Development-3, and moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) was assessed using accelerometry in 43 and 48 parent–child dyads, respectively. Indoor and outdoor home spaces were self-reported through an online questionnaire. Multiple regression models were fit to determine the relationship between indoor and outdoor home space and MS and MVPA in children and parents separately. Controlling for theory-based covariates, outdoor home space was positively associated with children’s MVPA (p < .05) and parents’ MS (p < .05) but negatively associated with parents’ MVPA (p < .05). Indoor home space was negatively associated with parents’ MS (p < .05). No other significant findings emerged. Findings suggest indoor and outdoor home spaces may play unique roles in supporting PA and MS among parent–child dyads and should be investigated in more rigorous studies.

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Associations of Outdoor Playtime With Ball Bouncing Skills: A Cross-Sectional Analysis Using the 2022 National Survey of Children’s Health

Ryan D. Burns, Anke Van Roy, and Bradley R. King

The purpose of this study was to examine the associations of outdoor playtime, screen time, and sleep duration with ball bouncing skills in a sample of 3- to 5-year-old children. Participants were young children (N = 11,121; 48.8% female) whose parent/guardian completed the 2022 National Survey of Children’s Health. The dependent variable was one item that asked about the child’s ability to bounce a ball repeatedly. The primary independent variables were the National Survey of Children’s Health items asking about hours of weekday and weekend outdoor play, screen time, and sleep duration. The primary analysis consisted of robust Poisson regression models to calculate adjusted prevalence ratios by regressing competent (high) ball bouncing skills with reported hours of weekday and weekend outdoor play, screen time, and sleep. After covariate adjustment, two or more hours spent in weekday outdoor play was associated with a 15%–41% higher prevalence of competent ball bouncing skills (p < .01), and three or more hours of weekend outdoor play was associated with a 14%–28% higher prevalence of competent ball bouncing skills (p < .05). More hours of outdoor play were associated with competency in ball bouncing skills in young children. Mechanisms for this association are unclear and warrant further investigation.

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Navigating Virtual Collisions: Insights Into Perception–Action Differences in Children and Young Adults Using a Head-On Avoidance Task

Megan Hammill, Victoria Rapos, and Michael Cinelli

Children tend to make more last-minute locomotor adjustments than adults when avoiding stationary obstacles. The purpose of this study was to compare avoidance behaviors of middle-aged children (10–12 years old) with young adults during a head-on collision course with an approaching virtual pedestrian. Participants were immersed in a virtual environment and completed a perceptual decision-making task in which they had to respond to the future direction of an approaching virtual pedestrian once they disappeared. Following the perceptual task, participants walked along an 8-m pathway toward a goal, while avoiding a collision with a virtual pedestrian who approached along the midline than veered toward the left, right, or continued walking straight. Results revealed that children were able to correctly predict the future directions of the virtual pedestrian similar to adults, albeit at a slower response time (0.55 s vs. 0.33 s). During the action task, children initiated a deviation in their travel path later (i.e., closer to the virtual pedestrian) compared to adults (1.65 s vs. 1.52 s). Children were also more variable in their onset of deviation and time-to-contact. Although children appear to have developed adult-like perceptual abilities and can avoid an approaching virtual pedestrian, children employ riskier avoidance strategies and are highly variable, suggesting middle-aged children are still fine-tuning their perception-action system.

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Psychometric Properties of the Turkish Version of the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Movement Skill Competence for Turkish Young Children

Neslişah Yaren Kırcı, Emine Çağlar, Erdem Karabulut, Menekşe Boz, Gıyasettin Demirhan, and Ayda Karaca

The aim of this study was to determine the psychometric properties of the pictorial scale of Perceived Movement Skill Competence for Turkish children. A total of 255 children aged 5–10 years (131 girls and 124 boys) participated in this study. One week later, a random subsample (n = 40) was implemented the scale again for test–retest reliability. We conducted confirmatory factor analysis to test the construct validity of the Turkish version of the scale and calculated the omega (ω) internal consistency and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) to ascertain reliabilities of the subscales. The confirmatory factor analysis showed good fit index values for the model with 13 items indicating a similar factor structure to the original scale’s two-factor structure (χ 2/df = 1.56; root mean square error of approximation  = .048; Tucker–Lewis index  = .97; comparative-fit index  = .97). The test–retest reliabilities were excellent for the perceived locomotor (ICC = .95) and object control (ICC = .93) skills. An adequate internal consistency coefficient was found for locomotor (ω = 0.69) and object control (ω = 0.82) skills. Subsequent analyses supported the construct, metric, partial scalar and strict invariance of responses to the scale as a function of sex. Overall, the pictorial scale of Perceived Movement Skill Competence has acceptable psychometric properties and can be confidently used in research or practice to assess Turkish children’s perceived movement skill competence.

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Effects of Visualization Format and Time of Day on Immediate Recall of Tactical Behaviors

Ghazi Rekik, Yosra Belkhir, Ghada Jouira, Mohamed Jarraya, Cheng-Deng Kuo, and Yung-Sheng Chen

This study examined the effect of time of day on immediate recall of motor skills (i.e., tactical behaviors in basketball) from different external visualizations. First-year students from a public university in sports science (novice practitioners, 18.96 ± 0.57 years) were quasi-randomly assigned to three experimental conditions: video modeling by experts, a sequential-with-tracing presentation of pictures, or a sequential-without-tracing presentation of pictures. Morning and late afternoon sessions were conducted involving study phases and immediate-recall tests (i.e., comprehension and game performance tests). Oral temperature and mood states were also measured at both times of day. The results revealed that participants exhibited better recall performances in the morning, irrespective of the visualization format used. At both time of day, tactical behaviors were better recalled from video modeling rather than the two sequential presentations of pictures. In addition, providing the learner with a permanent visual trace of the previous states improves the immediate recall of tactical skills from a sequential presentation of pictures, at both time of day. Furthermore, morning sessions resulted in lower oral temperature, lower negative mood, and higher positive mood, compared with afternoon sessions. Implications for using external visualizations aimed at the acquisition of motor skills, particularly tactical behaviors, are discussed.