Accounts of embodied cognition suggest that environmental scene and motor information can be used in a type of neural simulation when generating creative uses for manipulable objects. A scarce amount of studies suggests that the state of the body and environment play a role in people's ability to devise creative uses for objects. In this…

This study explored the connection between gesture and writing in early childhood. Participants were 139 children ages 2 years 6 months to 5 years 11 months attending two U.S. childcare centers serving low-income, urban families. Qualitative methods were used to record adult--child writing interactions in classroom composing events and in a…

This experiment examined how multiple planning constraints affect grasp posture planning in 6- to 10-year-old children (n = 16 in each group) by manipulating the intended object end-orientation (left end-down, right end-down) and initial precision demands (standard, initial precision) of a bar transport task. Results indicated that grasp posture…

Aim: To analyse static-standing-balance of adolescents with Down syndrome (DS). Methods: Thirty-two adolescents with DS aged 10-19 years (DSG); 33 adolescents, age/sex-matched, without DS (CG). Static-standing-balance under four conditions (C1: open-eyes/fixed-foot-support; C2: closed-eyes/fixed-foot-support; C3: open-eyes/compliant-foot-support;…

The postural sway patterns of newly standing infants were compared under two conditions: standing while holding a toy and standing while not holding a toy. Infants exhibited a lower magnitude of postural sway and more complex sway patterns when holding the toy. These changes suggest that infants adapt postural sway in a manner that facilitates…

Adults' and 8-year-old children's perception of emotional faces is disrupted when faces are presented in the context of incongruent body postures (e.g., when a sad face is displayed on a fearful body) if the two emotions are highly similar (e.g., sad/fear) but not if they are highly dissimilar (e.g., sad/happy). The current research investigated…

The current study adopts the PASS theory of information processing to investigate the probable differences in specific motor and cognitive abilities between children with and without developmental coordination disorder (DCD). Participants were 108 5- and 6-year-old preschoolers (54 children with DCD and 54 children without DCD). The Movement…

This experiment was designed to investigate whether and how decreasing the amount of attentional focus invested in postural control could affect bipedal postural control. Twelve participants were asked to stand upright as immobile as possible on a force platform in one control condition and one cognitive condition. In the latter condition, they…

Aim: The present study investigated the effects of varying the cognitive demands of a memory task (a suprapostural task) while recording postural motion on two groups of children, one diagnosed with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and an age-matched group of typically developing children. Method: Two groups, each comprising 38 child…

Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) are two different genetical disorders both characterized, among other features, by muscular hypotonia. Postural control seems to be impaired in both conditions. The aim of the present study was to quantitatively compare postural control in adult PWS and EDS using stabilometric platform…

The present research examined how learning a new ankle-hip coordination influenced the preexisting postural repertoire. Standing participants learned a new ankle-hip coordination mode (relative phase of 90[degrees]). Before and after practice, postural patterns were evaluated in two different tasks. In the required task, specific ankle-hip…

Performing and learning motor skills has been shown to be enhanced if the performer adopts an external relative to internal focus (or no focus) of attention (Wulf, 2007). The present study examined the generalizability of this effect to top-level performers (balance acrobats). Participants performed a balance task (standing on an inflated rubber…

Within the domain-general theory of language impairment, this study examined body posture and hand movement imitation in children with specific language impairment (SLI) and in their age-matched peers. Participants included 40 children with SLI (5 years 3 months to 6 years 10 months of age) and 40 children with typical language development (5…

This report continues and extends the information provided in an earlier report (ED 035 238) by providing design data for students in further and higher education. The principle underlying the work is that equipment dimensions are determined from observation of student performance and that dimensions should be related to body size. Data on the…

Performance of school children in regard to their standing and reach postures are described with dimensions given on the limits of their performance only. The facts of task performances are presented for the following tasks--(1) seeing into a shelf, (2) reaching into a shelf, (3) drawing on a vertical surface, (4) sitting or standing while…