Showing papers on "Psychomotor learning published in 1983"

Cognitive Loss and Recovery in Long-term Alcohol Abusers

Abstract: • The nature of the memory and visuospatial defects associated with chronic alcoholism, and the recovery of these functions, were investigated in a large group of alcoholic men and well-matched nonalcoholic controls. Both young and old alcoholics displayed significant impairments on tasks requiring the learning of novel associations and the holding of information in memory over longer delay intervals. The recovery of cognitive skills was found to depend on the length of abstinence and the particular behavioral functions examined. Whereas psychomotor skills and short-term memory improved significantly with prolonged abstinence, long-term memory was impaired even after seven years of continuous sobriety. We propose that recovery of short-term memory reflects reestablishment of cortical functioning, while the persistent long-term memory defect indicates more permanent damage to diencephalic structures.

Evaluation of 20 Workload Measures Using a Psychomotor Task in a Moving-Base Aircraft Simulator:

Abstract: The sensitivity and intrusion of 20 pilot workload assessment techniques were compared using a psychomotor loading task in a three degree-of-freedom moving-base aircraft simulator. The primary task was an instrument landing system approach and landing, with measures taken between the outer and middle markers. Three levels of psychomotor load were obtained by combined manipulation of random wind-gust disturbance level and pitch stability. Two rating scale measures and one control movement measure demonstrated sensitivity to all levels of load. Additionally, one time estimation measure and one pulse rate measure demonstrated sensitivity to some levels of load. No intrusion was found. The results of this experiment indicate that the sensitivities of workload estimation techniques vary widely, and that only a few techniques appear sensitive to psychomotor load.

Psychomotor effects of diazepam in anxious patients and healthy volunteers.

Abstract: Psychomotor effects of diazepam, 5 and 10 mg, were compared to placebo in 30 highly anxious, nonpsychotic outpatients and age and sex-matched healthy volunteers. Diazepam did not reduce anxiety according to psychiatrists' ratings, but 10 mg of diazepam three times a day reduced the scores of the self-rated visual analogue scale for anxiety compared to placebo. Diazepam, 5 mg, was devoid of adverse psychomotor effects, but diazepam, 10 mg, impaired tracking and divided attention task performance in patients and volunteers alike. Plasma, erythrocyte, and saliva diazepam and N-desmethyldiazepam concentrations did not correlate with the impairment of psychomotor skills over time.

Physical activity and the healthy mind

Abstract: Physicians should seek to enhance the quality rather than the quantity of human life. Physical activity programs can increase life satisfaction through an immediate increase of arousal and a long-term enhancement of self-esteem and body image. In the young child competition can cause excessive arousal, but long-term adverse effects are rare. In the adult a reduction of anxiety and stress and a general feeling of well-being reduce the frequency of minor medical complaints, generating important economic benefits. Physical activity programs also help to correct the reactive depression that accompanies conditions such as myocardial infarction. Interest in physical activity should be stimulated from the earliest years of primary school. The allocation of curricular time to physical education does not hamper academic achievement. Rather, through its impact on psychomotor learning, it enhances the total process of intellectual and psychomotor development.

Microbehavioural analysis of the choice reaction time response in senile dementia

Abstract: Microbehavioural analysis of the human button-press response in a choice reaction time task enabled us to observe the traditional components of reaction time performance and also several additional indicators of psychomotor organization. The principal finding reported here is that in normal subjects stimulus conditions of varying difficulty differentially affect segments of the button-press response not ordinarily associated with cognitive demands of the task. This observation suggested the presence of a certain interaction between cognitive demands of the task and the subsequent motor output control. In a comparison of normal elderly and demented subjects, we demonstrated that the slower reaction times of the demented represent a virtual psychomotor disintegration. The apparent disintegration is interpreted as an inability of demented subjects properly to prepare, organize, and execute the response. The degree of disintegration is most evident during the motor time, which represents a transition between resting state and actual response completion.

Hypersensitivity to Procaine, Tetracaine, Mepivacaine, and Methylparaben: Report of a Case

Abstract: Differentiation between allergic and psychomotor reactions to local anesthetics is imperative if the patient is to receive local anesthesia for dental therapy.

Method for psychomotor training of physical skills

Abstract: A technique for training a subject to successfully perform a physical task and thereby acquire a skill in the performance of that task involves analyzing the action characteristics of the subject and, from that analysis, establishing an optimal sequence of movements to be carried out by the subject that are associated with particular patterning of the subject's body parts. In particular, a movement analyst observes the movement of a subject to identify that subject's particular actioning modality and, from that identification, develops an action form sequence that is appropriate for the subject's psychomotor process. Once the body part for initiating a movement within the action form sequence has been identified, it is coordinated with the effective psychomotor function, so that by training a subject with respect to his/her aligning, contouring or balancing sensibilities, the subject will be able to develop optimal action form sequencing.

Transfer of student learning in medical education.

Abstract: Transfer of learning among the cognitive, psychomotor, and affective domains and among three clinical disciplines--medicine, pediatrics, and surgery--was examined in the final year of a medical student clerkship program. Rather than following the traditional psychological approach, the authors used a model based on ethnographic analysis followed by performance measurement. The general assumption that what students learn in one subject area is transferred to another area was questioned. A total of 120 medical students were assessed in knowledge, skills, and attitudes prior to and after three clinical rotations. The results indicated that learning was discipline-specific as well as specific to the learning domain studied. Therefore, no generalizations can be made from the study of one subject area or one specific aspect of student learning to another. The use of an alternative methodology to study complex behavior rather than the traditional paradigm is suggested.

Neuropsychological testing of Huntington's patients: clues to progression

Abstract: A battery of neuropsychological and academic tests was administered to 16 patients with Huntington's chorea, several of whom received multiple testings. Generalized mental impairment was evident for most of the present sample of patients, but performance IQ was more affected than verbal IQ. Comparisons of impairments on the different tasks relative to expectations for normal adults suggest that measures requiring psychomotor problem solving, sequencing, and memory were most impaired. Sensory, fine motor, and visual motor tasks, however, also revealed relatively severe deficits. Elementary language and academic skills showed least impairment. Follow-up data were congruent with these trends. Results are consistent with other findings in the suggestion they offer for commonalities in the progression of mental impairment associated with this disease. The scarcity of severe impairment in elementary language and academic functions also supports the view that focal deficits are uncharacteristic of Huntington's dementia.

Psychomotor skills and technical ability in dental school.

Abstract: Graduating dental students were grouped according to technical ability and compared with regard to admissions variables and a variety of psychomotor skills. Neither class of variable differentiated the groups. This article discusses implications for efforts to identify technically marginal students.

A Comparison of the Motor Music Skills of Nonhandicapped and Learning Disabled Children

Abstract: The purpose of this research was to compare the motor music skill development of children who are learning disabled with that of their nonhandicapped peers. The research sample included 103 children ages 5 through 9 attending Colorado public schools. Data were collected via individual administration of the Motoric Music Skills Test (MMST). Resulting descriptive data indicated that improved skills were related to age, and that normal subjects attained a better average performance on every subtest except compound factors. Multivariate analysis of variance confirmed the significance of differences related to age and handicap; this analysis revealed an interaction between age and handicap, as defined primarily by performance on the criterion variable eye-hand. Results are discussed in terms of the performance problems of learning disabled subjects on eye-hand coordination tasks, and the implication from MMST performance that the manner in which educational materials are arranged and presented can overcome the...

Left brain, right brain, super brain: The holistic model

Abstract: Learning to read and write is a highly complex, cognitive process; yet too often literacy instruction treats it simplistically by emphasizing visual/psychomotor skill learning to the exclusion of thought development. Despite nearly three decades of research into cognitive processes which has yielded a plethora of information about how we learn (Russell, 1959; Hyden, 1969; Dalby and Gibson, 1981), classroom application lags seriously behind theory. Recently, research in metacognition, or how learning is regulated by the individual, suggests that knowledge of specific cognitive processes can aid teachers in improving the cognitive performance of students (Guthrie, 1982). How such improvement might take place through a holistic approach to education is the subject of this paper.

Cortical blindness in infancy: a follow-up study

Abstract: Clinical data of 6 cases of cortical blindness in infancy were analyzed. The underlying brain damage was a result of hypoxic events occurring in the pre- or perinatal period, or shortly after birth. The long-term follow-up of the children showed that some visual recovery occurred but capacity of recognition remained impaired. Early diagnosis of this entity and adequate education will help the visual and psychomotor development of the child.

Triazolam as a hypnotic for geriatric patients. A double-blind cross-over comparison of nitrazepam and triazolam regarding effects on sleep and psychomotor performance.

Abstract: Triazolam 0.25 mg was compared with nitrazepam 5 mg as a hypnotic for 26 geriatric inpatients in a double-blind cross-over study. Sleep quantity and quality and psychomotor performance were studied. The sleep quantity and quality were similar for both drugs. There were no statistically significant differences between the two drugs in the psychomotor tests. The results are in contrast to results from other studies and might be explained by the composition of the patient material in the present study.

Early Intervention: A Conflict of Therapist and Educator:

Abstract: Given the motor problems of infants and young children who have cerebral palsy, increasing emphasis is being placed on early therapeutic strategies, such as neurodevelopmental treatment. Although the underlying rationale for neurodevelopmental treatment is the inhibition of abnormal motor development, this approach may in fact also limit the child's interaction with the environment, a prerequisite for subsequent intellectual development. There may be potential conflict for an interventionist who must make a decision between focusing on motoric gain for children with motor problems and facilitation of their cognitive development.

Mental practice as a technique to improve laboratory skill development

Abstract: This paper reports recent research into the design and application of physical and mental practice techniques for the development of laboratory psychomotor skills of freshman chemistry students.

Acute psychological effects of marihuana in man, including acute cognitive psychomotor and perceptual effects on driving

Abstract: There is a general consensus that marihuana does detract from or impair driving; even though marihuana does impair driving, many reports lack (experimental) evidence; and there is increasing evidence that marihuana, used alone or in combination with other drugs (particularly alcohol), is directly implicated in traffic accidents and fatalities. Propective paradigms include; psychomotor tasks that are presumed or known to be related to driving skills, driving simulators, traffic-free courses, and road tests. The following conclusions can be made: psychomotor studies can only examine specific subsets of the complexity of behavioral demands for driving. While many such studies report dose-related findings, there is a real question about generalizing to driving per se; driving simulators have the advantage of enabling control of variables, but are nevertheless experimental artifacts. The studies to date have operationally defined variables such as speed errors, acceletator errors, brake errors, risk-taking in terms of passing, passing-time judgements, and visual signal detection. Whereas dose-related effects have been reported, here again there is a question about generalizing to driving per se; there is a desperate need for replication of studies showing dose-related effects; the dose-related effects reported derive from the one and only study that has been completed to date. Investigators should turn their attention to: driving studies on city streets, in urban areas: replication of relevant published studies; including alcohol in the experimental paradigm; and including night as well as day driving as a variable. (Author/TRRL)

Teaching Athletic Skills to Students Who are Mentally Retarded

Abstract: P.L. 94–142 provides the right to physical education for handicapped pupils including nonacademic and extracurricular activities such as athletics. Despite the legislative mandate for physical educ...

Motor Learning and Control

Abstract: (1983). Motor Learning and Control. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance: Vol. 54, No. 9, pp. 30-32.

Development of the pre‐school child: the validation of a psychomotor screen, and the influence of the home environment on psychomotor development

Abstract: The present study was designed to validate and standardize a short psychomotor screening test on Australian four-year-old-preschool children and to assess their home environment using Caldwell's HOME Inventory. The Adelaide Psychomotor Screen (APS) is a short, 10-15 minute screening test which uses 13 separate items to assess "General" development, "Gross Motor" development, "Social/Emotional Behaviour" and "Speech". In the area of "General" development, 12 children screened as "abnormal" and 54 children screened as "normal" were further assessed by a psychologist on the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities. There was a high correlation between the APS "General" scores and the McCarthy (General Cognitive Index) scores (r = 0.75, p less than 0.001 for the younger children, and r = 0,90, p less than 0.001 for the older children). Caldwell's HOME Inventory takes an hour to complete, and involves a visit by the assessor to each home. The correlation between the HOME total scores and the McCarthy (General Cognitive Index) scores was r = 0.06, p less than 0.001. It is suggested that the HOME Inventory may be more valuable as a predictor of a child's future development than an index of his present developmental status. It is suggested that nurses and teachers used the APS as a screening test of the individual child, and use the HOME inventory as an assessment of the home environment.