Students' motor performance can be enhanced through the use of mental imagery. This article presents nine ways that physical education teachers and coaches can use mental imagery to accomplish various outcomes. These include imagery for: learning, performing, focusing, self-confidence, motivation, arousal, changing negatives into positives,…

Used National Maternal and Infant Health Survey data to examine effects of poverty and maternal depression on child development. Found that maternal depression and poverty jeopardized development of very young children. Affluence somewhat buffered the deleterious consequences of depression. Chronic maternal depression had severe implications for…

This article reviews the literature on the state of physical fitness among students with deafness, which indicates that students with deafness have poorer balance skills and cardiorespiratory fitness than their hearing peers, and describes an exemplary physical education program that was implemented at a school for students with deafness.…

Examines how categories of race have been historically constructed and applied to science, reviewing research comparing black and white infant motor development from 1931-92; investigating how scientific studies of black motor precocity were influenced by social views on race and racial differences characteristic of the times; and suggesting that…

Standard two of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education requires students to use cognitive information to understand and enhance motor skill acquisition and performance. This article provides examples of incorporating the standard into K-12 instruction using units based on balance, fitness, and bicycling. Examples illustrate a…

Individuals who are physically active express more confidence in their physical abilities, which leads to stronger motivation to be physically active. Therefore, educators need to find ways to develop confidence among youths in an effort to get them more physically active in and out of school. Self-confidence can be improved with psychological…

Teachers of young children know the importance of designing developmentally appropriate activities to encourage motor development but are not always prepared with the information they need to accomplish this design. When teachers choose movement activities, motor development theory must be understood and utilized in the planning of activities to…

The relation between cognitive and motor performance was studied in a sample of 378 children aged 5-6. Half of these children had no behavior problems; the others were selected for externalizing (38%) or internalizing problems (12%). Quantitative and qualitative aspects of motor performance were related to several aspects of cognition, after…

The purpose was to examine the effect of Brain Gym on learning the overhand throw among 42 first grade students. Participants from two intact classes were randomly assigned to an experimental or control condition. Students were tested before and after a 5-week intervention using the object control subtest from the Test of Gross Motor Development-2…

Child Care Choices is an example of new early childhood research based on a relationship between policy makers and researchers. It is also an example of large-scale longitudinal team-based research into early childhood in Australia. The ongoing study addresses the professional problem for practitioners and policy makers of the increasing use of…

In this study we examined Chinese physical educators' attitudes toward teaching physical activity and fitness. We then compared the Chinese teacher attitudes to their American counterparts. Participants were 330 Chinese elementary, middle and high school physical educators. The Teachers' Attitudes Toward Curriculum in Physical Education (TATCPE)…

Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) constitute approximately six percent of the population, or about two children out of a class of 35. Often referred to as "clumsy" or physically awkward, children with DCD are generally academically able, but have movement difficulties that affect their progress in academics and in activities…

The process of identification of children with delays or disorders in motor development includes developmental screening, examination, and reexamination. Throughout this process, various types of measures are used, including discriminative and evaluative measures. Discriminative and evaluative measures of motor development and function that are…

Over the past decade, cognitive approaches with children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) have been investigated. Although studies have focused on intervention outcomes, few have documented the components of the approach that support the enhancement of children's performance. This study used systematic observation of videotaped…

Concern exists that a constellation of negative maternal emotions during pregnancy generates persistent negative consequences for child development. Maternal reports of anxiety, pregnancy-specific and nonspecific stress, and depressive symptoms were collected during mid-pregnancy and at 6 weeks and 24 months after birth in a sample of healthy…