This study evaluated the efficacy of an 8-week (two sessions/week; 60 min/session) adapted soccer intervention on skill performance and retention in 30 adults (18 men and 12 women) ages 17-40 years with autism spectrum disorder, Down syndrome, and intellectual disability. Of these 30 participants, 18 completed a 1-month retention test. The program…

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…

This review addresses the question of a possible specificity of motor development of preterm children with no diagnosis of neurological impairment or major cerebral lesion. With that goal, we proceed with a narrative review on the basis of nine studies. All the studies used standardized assessments of motor abilities with a comparison methodology…

Motor competence as an indicator of gross motor development is characterized by changes in movement patterns and outcomes. The Test of Gross Motor Development-3 consists of six locomotor and seven ball tasks used to assess the quality of fundamental motor skills in children. The purpose of this study is twofold--to produce a Slovenian translation…

Background: Understanding how or whether sedentary behavior affects motor competence in young children is important considering that children spend a lot of time sedentary. The aim of this study was to examine whether sedentary behavior predicts motor competence in young children. Methods: A longitudinal study with a total of 372 children aged 3.5…

The present study explored the effects of gender stereotype threat and conceptions of ability on motor learning and working memory in novice female learners. Sixty participants (M[subscript age] = 21.92 years, SD[subscript age] = 1.74) were randomly assigned into a gender stereotype threat and a control group (neutral; without stereotype threat).…

Improving the development of the social, emotional, and physical domains during early childhood impacts the overall trajectory of a child's well-being. However, researchers often address these independently, leaving a gap for a more integrated approach to promoting development. This study explores the effects of a dual-component intervention on…

Although studies have reported links between parental physical activity and their children's motor and physical activity behaviors, understanding of this link remains incomplete and evidence inconclusive. This study explored whether children's motor coordination, fitness, and sports participation are related not only to mothers' sports…

This study was conducted to determine how total fundamental movement skill (FMS) score and, separately, locomotor skill (LMS), and object control skill scores in children 3-8 years old predicted their specific-intensity physical activity 3 years later. Overall, 441 Finnish children (51.7% female, baseline mean age of 5.6 years) participated in the…

We aimed to investigate the impact of smartphone use during intertrial intervals within a distributed practice regime on mental fatigue, performance, and learning of a balance motor skill. One hundred and thirty-six participants were randomly divided into two groups: the smartphone use group (SMARTPHONE) and the control group (CONTROL). The…

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…

The goal of this study was to expand knowledge on the longitudinal relationships between motor skill competence, physical activity, perceived motor competence, health-related fitness, and weight status and its age dependency in children between 6 and 11 years old. Participants were Dutch primary school children (N = 1,268 children, 49.4% boys and…

This study (a) examined the associations among different performance metrics derived from different strategies (i.e., maximum and average scores) and trials from product-oriented measures of motor skills, and (b) explored how different performance metrics from product-oriented assessments of motor skills change in young children with typical…

Although researchers have consistently demonstrated the potential benefit of an external focus of attention for rehabilitation, research has shown that this finding has yet to be translated into Canadian physiotherapy. Further, specific barriers to external focus use have been reported by Canadian physiotherapists, and as a solution toward…

Manipulation checks are an essential component of quality experimental design in motor learning. Guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses framework, this methodological systematic review examined the utilization of manipulation checks in focus of attention research. Seventy-eight protocols from four…