Showing papers on "Psychomotor learning published in 1969"

Deficits in Sensory Integration in Educationally Handicapped Children

Abstract: Sixty-four neuromuscular, perceptual, and cognitive measurements made on 36 children with educational handicaps were subjected to Q-technique factor analysis. The two major patterns of deficits associated with low academic achievement were (1) auditory, language, and sequencing, and (2) postural and bilateral integration. Both of these syndromes were differentiated from syndromes of apraxia and tactile defensiveness.

Effect of mental and physical practice on the learning of three motor skills.

Abstract: Three separate experiments involving (a) the pursuit rotor, (b) a soccer kick for accuracy, and (c) a modified jump shot, were conducted in three Philadelphia junior high schools to investigate the effect of different schedules of mental and physical practice on the learning and retention of three motor tasks. Seventh grade boys (N = 212) served as subjects in the study. In each experiment four groups practiced for seven successive school days. Three of the groups followed schedules which included different proportions of mental and physical practice, while one group engaged in physical practice only. Findings from the three experiments led to the conclusions that: up to 50% of the practice time (or trials) in mental practice can be as effective as 100% of the time in physical practice; for subjects within the normal intelligence range, IQ scores are not indicative of one's ability to benefit from mental practice; seventh grade boys respond favorably and conscientiously to the suggestion of menta...

Effects of Mental Practice on the Acquisition of Motor Skills of Varied Difficulty

Abstract: Male volunteers (N=80) were randomly assigned to either a control or a mental practice group for the learning of three motor skills, the hock swing to a horizontal bar, jump-foot, and soccer hitch kick. All subjects were tested individually on each of the skills but one group engaged in five directed mental practice sessions spaced over a period of 5 days prior to being tested. Significant differences between groups in initial trial success were obtained for the hock swing but not for the other two skills. After physical practice was introduced, the mental practice group required fewer trials to achieve success in the hock swing and the jump-foot but not in the soccer hitch kick. It was concluded that the effectiveness of mental practice without prior physical practice is specific to the skill and is more pronounced for simpler skills.

Relationships Between Written Spelling, Motor Functioning and Sequencing Skills

Abstract: The research was carried out on a representative sample of normal third-grade school children to investigate whether or not there were any meaningful relationships between spelling ability, motor functioning, balance, handedness, visuo-spatial ability (independent of motor activity), and various auditory and vocal (articulemic) skills.The results reported in this paper and the subsequent discussion refer mainly to the relationship between spelling, psycholinguistic skills and motor functioning. The latter term is used here in its widest meaning in that it includes balance, vocal activity, writing and to some extent handedness. Obviously, kinesthetic sensory feedback is essential to muscular action and therefore it, too, is implicated.

The Bender Gestalt with Children: Research Implications

Abstract: 1 Presented in part at the American Psychological Association Convention, San Francisco, 1968. The Bender Gestalt (Bender, 1938) is commonly used in a variety of educational and clinical settings. Considered a projective test for personality interpretation or a test of brain damage for adults, the Bender has also had wide application with children, and is an integral part of most psychologists’ test batteries. Used with children in clinical and educational

Rhythmic Abilities and Their Measurement

Abstract: MY INTEREST IN rhythmic abilities arose from the observation of students in the fields of both music and dance. The general aim of my study has been to investigate more fully the nature of rhythmic abilities in their various forms and the extent to which these forms are related. The first part of the investigation was carried out with the students at a specialist women's college of physical education, who were tested on four separate aspects of rhythmic ability:

A Pilot Study in the Diagnosis and Remediation of Special Learning Disabilities in Preschool Children

Abstract: The purposes of the present study were twofold: first, to determine the feasibility of early identification of the perceptually-handicapped, and second, to compare the effectiveness of two remedial programs - one emphasizing language and cognitive development, and the other focusing on visual-motor functioning.

Teaching motor skills to the mentally retarded.

Abstract: While motor ability is significantly important to the normal child, it is of paramount significance to the mentally retarded child. Benton (1964) states that a genius can afford to be a "motor moron," but a person with an IQ score of 50 cannot. The retarded person's ability to perform motor skills may well determine whether he will attain a reasonable degree of social competence. For this reason, assessment of motor capacity should be an aspect of psychological evaluation for prediction, identification, guidance, and training. Beck (1956) has pointed out that for the mentally retarded in the primary grades, the special education teacher carries on the physical education instruction; during the intermediate years, the physical education instructor plays a significant role, and finally takes complete charge of students 14 years and older. Thus, it would seem important for physical education and classroom teachers as well as special education personnel to be aWare of the information available concerning the development of motor skills in the mentally retarded. Considerable information has been collected concerning the learning of motor abilities of the mentally retarded. In the absence of experimental studies, however, past experience based on observation of experts should be employed until basic research is conducted. The follOWing techniques should be useful to the beginning teacher for instructing the mentally retarded in the area of motor skills.

Effects of serial versus sequence practice on performance level

Abstract: Frequently it is advantageous to perform a motor skill in a number of different ways such as being able to execute a task using either the preferred or non-preferred hand. Since practicing a skill in various ways offers an opportunity for different orders of practice, ir seems imperative in the interest of economy and efficiency to determine whether or not the order in which tasks are practiced has a significant effect on performance level. Therefore, it was the purpose of this study to investigate the effect of order of practice on performance of a simple motor skill. Forty right-handed male high school volunteers who ranged in age from 17 to 17 yr. served as Ss. The pursuit rotor had a turntable 37.5 cm. in diameter which rorated clockwise ac a speed of 60 rpm. A circular brass target 1.8 cm. in diameter was set flush with the surface of the turntable, with the center of the target 11.75 cm. from the center of the turntable. The stylus had a 12-cm. long wooden handle, 1.3 cm. thick and a 14.5-cm. long extension of a .4-cm. brass rod. The extension was hinged to the handle and had a 90\" bend 2.5 cm. from the end. During operation, duration of contact between the stylus tip and target was recorded in .O1 sec. units on a Stoelting timer. Ss were assigned to one of four different practice groups. ( 1 ) The preferred serial group began with the right hand and alternated hands until they had performed 1 0 20-sec. trials with each hand. ( 2 ) The non-preferred serial group employed the same design but began wirh the left hand and concluded with the right. ( 3 ) The preferred sequence group practiced 10 20-sec. trials with the right hand followed by 1 0 with the left. ( 4 ) The non-preferred sequence group practiced first with the left and then the right hand. Intertrial rests for all groups were 20 sec. Means (and standard deviations) in seconds were 6.57 (3.81) for the preferred serial group, 5.81 (2.59) for the non-preferred serial, 5.66 (3.33) for the preferred sequence, and 6.01 (2.83) for the non-preferred sequence. A two-way classification analysis of variance yielded F ratios of 1.19 for the interaction, 0.25 for hand and order of practice and 0.32 for serial and sequence orders of practice. None of these F ratios were significant ( p > .05), suggesting order is not important. Correlations between Ss' righrand lefthand performance were 0.59 for total time on target and 0.71 for the highest performance with each hand. These values suggest that ability to perform this pursuit-rotor task righthanded and left-handed appears task specific for total time on target. The relation is only moderate for S's highest performance, but n = 1 0 per group.