The ability to adjust movements in response to perturbations is key for an efficient and mature nervous system, which relies on two complementary mechanisms -- feedforward adaptation and feedback control. We examined the developmental trajectory of how children employ these two mechanisms using a previously validated visuomotor rotation task,…

Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the combined effects of perceptual-motor exercises and vitamin D[subscript 3] supplementation on the reduction of stereotypical behavior in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods: In this study, 100 eligible children with age ranging from 6 to 9 years were randomly selected and…

Objectives: The aim of the study is to distinguish between perceptuomotor and cognitive inflexibility as the source of set-switching difficulties in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods: Seventeen adolescents with ASD and 17 neurotypical controls were presented with a computerized sequencing game using colored shapes. The sequence…

Background: The innate ability for typically developing children to attain developmental motor milestones early in life has been a thoroughly researched area of inquiry. Nonetheless, as children grow and are required to perform more complex motor skills in order to experience success in physical activity and sport pursuits, the range of…

This paper interrogates the role children's indigenous games of Africa can play in the development of fundamental movement skills relevant in modernized sports. On a daily basis, children in Africa play varieties of traditional games that vary between tribes, communities and distances. However, the efficacy of these games in the development of…

The effects of a perceptually oriented physical education program (PPE) on perceptual-motor ability and academic ability were studied using kindergarten and first-grade children. The four groups of kindergarten children varied the number of periods of PPE per week which then met--0, 1, 2, and 3 times per week. The four groups of first-grade…

Tested children's transfer of training in performance of coincidence-anticipation task. At an experimental apparatus, children attempted to intercept a fixed or moving target by pressing a button or by sliding a disk (the criterion task). Found that improved accuracy in intercepting the moving target by sliding the disk occurred only when children…

Perceptual-motor functioning is a cyclic process involving: (1) organizing incoming sensory stimuli with past or stored perceptual information; (2) making motor (internal) decisions based on the combination of sensory (present) and perceptual (past) information; (3) executing the actual movement (observable act) itself; and (4) evaluating the act…

Compared coupling characteristics of clapping simultaneous with walking or galloping, consistency across trials, and phasing variability among 4-, 6-, 8-, and 10-year-olds. Found that for walk/clap tasks, children adopted adult-like coupling patterns by age 8 and with the same consistency by age 10. Across age, children became less variable in…

Physical education programs at the nursery and elementary school levels should stress the development and refinement of fundamental movement patterns and a wide variety of sport skills instead of dealing with specialized skill development through refined performance experiences. The developmental model of physical education is based on the…

Students in 24 perceptual development classes for the minimally brain injured were studied to determine the effect of structured physical activity on motor skill development, to compare this effect with the effect of unstructured activity, and to determine the effect of an increased amount of time of physical activity. The Johnson Test of Motor…

Nineteen people (ages 11-21) with profound mental retardation and multiple handicaps were given visual stimulation in a blacklight environment. Results indicated that students performed better under conditions of blacklight than normal light for tracking and reaching, as the blacklight removed distracting stimuli and exaggerated critical features.…

THE FIRST OF A 3-VOLUME PERCEPTUAL MOTOR CURRICULUM, THE BOOK DESCRIBES A PROGRAM BASED ON A THEORY OF MOVEMENT WHICH THE AUTHOR LABELS MOVIGENICS (THE STUDY OF THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF PATTERNS OF MOVEMENT IN MAN AND THE RELATIONSHIP OF THESE MOVEMENTS TO HIS LEARNING EFFICIENCY). TEN BASIC CONSTRUCTS OF MOVIGENICS ARE OUTLINED, AND THE…

A plan is described for effective parent involvement in occupational therapy for the child with sensory integrative dysfunction. Consideration is given to levels of parent-child interaction and parents' ability to accept the child's difficulties. Purposes of parental participation are outlined and a model for evaluation and intervention is…

This research bulletin includes reports of research in progress or recently completed from September 1975 through February 1976. Each entry includes information concerning the investigators, purpose, subjects, methods, duration, cooperating groups, and findings (if available). The reports are listed under several topical headings: (1) Long-Term…