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…

Motor learning in the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) and eyeblink conditioning use similar neural circuitry, and they may use similar cellular plasticity mechanisms. Classically conditioned eyeblink responses undergo extinction after prolonged exposure to the conditioned stimulus in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus. We investigated the…

The murine vibrissae sensorimotor system has been scrutinized as a target of motor learning through trace classical conditioning. Conditioned eyelid responses were acquired by using weak electrical whisker-pad stimulation as conditioned stimulus (CS) and strong electrical periorbital stimulation as unconditioned stimulus (US). In addition,…

This publication is a compilation of monographs offering practical suggestions for teachers of adapted physical education. It contains numerous suggestions on teaching techniques, activity adaptations, equipment modifications, programming information, coaching hints, skill development strategies, and curriculum data. The five sections offer…

Mildly mentally retarded (N=36), moderately mentally retarded (N=39), and normal (N=37) adolescents were compared on measures of sensorimotor learning ability to determine whether retarded adolescents can learn to perform a vocationally meaningful task as efficiently as normal adolescents. Three measures of sensorimotor learning ability were…

In an effort to clarify understanding of the concept of critical learning periods, this paper discusses problems that people concerned with the motor development of children have had determining relationships between critical periods and learning, and a "readiness model" is offered as a solution that could enhance understanding of critical…

Man's phylogenetic development has resulted in a potential for environmental interaction in a symbolic and conceptual manner. There are ontogenetic requirements to develop such potential. The process by which man learns is sequential and involves perceptual-motor-cognitive abilities. There is an optimum respectivity period at each developmental…

This publication contains speeches and discussions presented at the conference "Perceptual-Motor Development: Action with Interaction" held in Cincinnati, Ohio, October 1970. The conference, sponsored by the Physical Education Division of the American Association for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, provided educators with the…

Hyperactivity continues to be one of the major symptoms presented to the school psychologist when children are referred for help. This paper discusses the development of a program of sequential motor exercises to train and develop the inhibitory function of the hyperactive child. The inhibitory training program is designed to follow the natural…

Evidence was found to indicate that training to improve the speed of saccadic eye movement (movement from one fixation point to another) also resulted in observable changes in batting performance among a sample group of high school girls. (MJB)

Results of this investigation indicate that both male and female, nondelayed children receiving the Developmental Activities Program gained more significantly in motor skills than did children receiving the regular motor program; delayed children failed to demonstrate significant gains. (JD)

The underlying structure of the motor abilities represented by the "Short Form of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency," along with the consistency of the emerging factors by sex and two chronological age (CA) levels, were studied with 765 nondisabled children 4.6 to 14.6 years old. (Author/SEW)

Reports on a longitudinal study of gross-motor development in 10 congenitally blind children during their first 3 years. Compared to developmental norms for sighted children, five full-term blind children showed slight delays in postural development but greater delays in locomotor development. Five preterm blind children showed major delays in all…

Discusses the renaissance of motor skill acquisition studies that are affording new insights into the processes by which infants and children learn to control their bodies. The article explains how studies are now focusing less on how children perform and more on how the components cooperate to produce stability or engender change, thus making…

Three experiments examined vision's role in infants' grasping of horizontally and vertically oriented rods. Found that infants differentially oriented their hand regardless of lighting and similar to control conditions where they could see rod and hand throughout reach. Findings suggest that infants may use current sight of object's orientation or…