Perceptual and Motor Skills最新文献

Higher motor competence and fundamental motor skill levels have been linked to stronger executive and attentional functions in early childhood. Still, this evidence base is drawn almost entirely from high-income, so-called WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, Democratic) settings. In sub-Saharan African contexts, developmental opportunities are often shaped instead by informal outdoor play, household activity, active commuting, and uneven access to structured physical education. Therefore, it is unclear whether motor-cognitive associations described in WEIRD samples extend to this setting in the sub-Saharan African children's population. This exploratory cross-sectional study examined associations between motor performance and seven cognitive functions in 56 Zambian preschool children (mean age 4.80 ± 0.57 years; 22 boys, 34 girls) recruited from three government preschools in Lusaka. Motor performance was assessed with the Standing Long Jump, 4 × 5 m Shuttle Run, Lateral Jumps, Shifting Platforms, Right- and Left-Hand overarm throws, and the 20 m shuttle run(BEEP) test; cognition was assessed with the seven subtests of the Intelligence and Development Scales - Preschool (IDS-P). Linear regression models, stratified by age group (3-4.9 and 5-6.9 years) and adjusted for age and sex, identified six motor-cognitive associations that reached nominal significance, most consistently between faster Shuttle Run performance and higher Selective Attention scores in both age groups (older group: standardised β = -0.56, p = .003, R² = .37) and between Standing Long Jump and Visual Processing in the older group (β = 0.55, p = .003, R² = .32). None of these associations remained significant after false discovery rate (FDR) correction. The findings should be interpreted as preliminary, hypothesis-generating signals rather than confirmatory evidence of specific motor-cognitive pathways. Larger longitudinal and intervention studies that measure nutritional status, parental education, socioeconomic circumstances, home stimulation, habitual physical activity, sleep quality, and preschool context are needed in sub-Saharan African preschool populations.

Early childhood is characterized as a period of extensive development. It is during this period that children begin to develop Fundamental Motor Skills, Executive Functions, and the perception of motor competence.Background/ObjectivesThe aim of this research is to identify the relationship between Fundamental Motor Skills and Executive Functions in children from different clusters of Motor Competence Perception.MethodsThis study is a quasi-experimental, quantitative research with a cross-sectional design of descriptive and associative nature. 190 children aged 3 to 5 years from the city of Juazeiro do Norte participated, who met the inclusion criteria.ResultsThe results showed reasonably well-defined clusters, where Motor Competence Perception appeared in distinct forms between the groups. The network topology showed differences between the 3 clusters: cluster 1 had median connections, cluster 2 was the most disconnected and had the variable 'number' that did not connect to any other, and cluster 3 had the most connections. The highest values of expected influence were inhibitory control in clusters 1 and 2, and locomotion in cluster 3. This means that these variables have a greater tendency to modify the network, so a targeted intervention is important to improve the development of skills in these children.ConclusionsThese analyses are necessary because they provide more information about child development that can be useful for physical education professionals during classes, to intervene effectively in children's needs.

Objective: The objective of this study was to analyze the test-retest reliability of the Holistic Motor Competence Test (HOLMOT) and examine sex- and age-related differences in HOLMOT section and total completion times in young adults. Methods: A total of 333 participants, aged 18-29 years, completed HOLMOT, which integrates cognitive-motor, locomotor, and manipulative tasks. Section completion times and overall test time were recorded. A subsample of 198 participants completed the test twice with a one-week interval to assess reliability. Results: Men exhibited significantly shorter completion times than women in all HOLMOT sections and in Total Time (all p < .001). No statistically significant age-group differences were detected, although the small 24-29-year group (n = 40) limits interpretation. Test-retest reliability was good to excellent (ICC = 0.806-0.906), despite significant learning effects in the Cognitive-Motor and Manipulative sections and Total Time, suggesting that a separate familiarization session is required for accurate baseline measurement. Bland-Altman analyses revealed small mean biases, although heteroscedasticity in the Locomotor Section indicated greater test-retest variability among faster performers. Conclusion: These findings provide initial evidence for the test-retest reliability of HOLMOT and support its feasibility for assessing integrated, time-based motor performance, although its broader validity remains to be established.

The sense of force can be defined as the awareness of the force produced by the neuromuscular system. Compared with other modalities, sense of force has been less studied, and whether it can be trained remains an open question. This study investigated whether short-term training can improve force sense and whether such gain is force-level specific and transferable to the contralateral untrained limb. The sense of force was assessed in thirteen healthy adults with a force-reproduction task performed with the first dorsal interosseous muscle at 5% and 20% of their maximal force (MVC). The study design involved a 3-week control period followed by a 3-week training program (nine sessions) consisting of performing force-matching tasks at submaximal intensities (from 2.5 to 22.5% MVC). Absolute error (AE) and signed error (SE) were assessed before and after the two periods (control and training). No change was observed after the control period, regardless of the contraction intensity and hand. In contrast, training significantly reduced AE [before: 36 (16)%; after: 19 (14)%, p = 0.002] and SE [before: 35 (20)%; after: 13 (19)%, p = 0.022] at 5% MVC in the trained hand, with a trend for improvement in AE at 20% MVC. No change was observed in the contralateral hand, regardless of the contraction intensity. This study is the first to show that the sense of force is trainable, with improvements mainly confined to low-force conditions and specific to the trained effector. These findings open promising avenues for future research into its application in rehabilitation settings.Significance statementThis study shows, for the first time, that short-term training can improve the sense of force, revealing intensity and effector specificity.

Balance is reliant on key sensory information to maintain postural control. Proprioception is one of the key sensory inputs that influence postural control during static balance tasks. Poor proprioception can lead to impaired balance, which may be amplified under dual-task balance conditions. This study investigates this relationship between proprioception and dual-task balance performance and how it may be affected by age. Proprioception was measured for each ankle using Active Movement Extent Discrimination Assessment (AMEDA), a protocol which determines ankle kinaesthesia acuity through active, weight-bearing ankle inversion movements. Participants completed 12 static dual-task balance conditions (feet together, tandem stance) paired with a cognitive task (control task, digit span forward, and backward). Balance performance was measured by centre of pressure trajectories. Relationships between ankle kinaesthesia and dual-task balance were analysed with linear mixed effects models accounting for age, balance condition and cognitive task. Thirty participants (mean age 52.4, SD 16.4) were recruited. Mixed effects models showed significantly greater sway with tandem foot position (compared to feet together, p < .001) in all models. Higher AMEDA score was associated with lower body sway area (p = .025). AMEDA score was not related to mediolateral or anteroposterior sway range. Older age was associated with greater maximum sway range in the mediolateral (p = .019) and anteroposterior directions (p = .032) and approached significance for body sway area (p = .058). Superior mean ankle kinaesthesia is associated with less body sway area under dual-task conditions, while older age is associated with a greater sway range. Findings suggest proprioception influences dual-task balance performance, such that the ability to control body sway is greater when ankle kinaesthesia is greater. Future studies should consider incorporating single leg stance under dual-task conditions to investigate if the influence of proprioception varies for individual ankle kinaesthesia and limb dominance.

Handedness affects cognitive processing strengths. Consistent with the predominant right hemisphere motor control of the left hand, left-handed older adults have superior immediate and delayed visuospatial memory in comparison with right-handers. Investigations of handedness effects on verbal memory in older adults are, however, scarce and the findings inconsistent. The present study thus examined whether left-handed, right-handed and ambidextrous older adults differ in their subjective and objective verbal memory performance. Data were drawn from Wave 9 of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), including measures of handedness, self-rated memory, immediate verbal recall, and delayed verbal recall from 51,206 older adults (Females = 28,461, Males = 22,745; M age = 72.1, SD = 7.3, range 60-102). General linear modelling examined the effects of handedness and gender on subjective and objective memory, using age as a covariate. Handedness influenced self-rated memory, with ambidextrous participants rating their memory ability higher than right-handers; however, handedness had no effect on either immediate or delayed recall scores. In contrast gender predicted objective memory performance, with females scoring higher than males for both recall tasks, though not for self-rated memory. Overall, these results suggest that while ambidextrous people are more optimistic about their own memory, handedness does not influence verbal memory performance in older adults.

PurposeThis study extends previous basketball shooting research by providing a comprehensive phase-specific kinematic analysis of the stride-stop jump shot (SJS) across different skill levels, addressing a critical gap in understanding how movement coordination varies with expertise. Specifically, the aims were to (i) identify phase-related kinematic differences among players of varying skill levels and (ii) determine key biomechanical features associated with higher-level SJS performance.MethodsThirty-six male basketball players were categorized into high-level (HLG), mid-level (MLG), and low-level (LLG) groups. Each participant performed five successful SJS trials while wearing a full-body inertial motion capture system. Phase durations, temporal coordination parameters, ball-release characteristics, and joint angles were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models with Bonferroni-adjusted post hoc comparisons.ResultsGroup effects were observed for catch-preparation, stabilization, release-phase, and follow-through durations (p = 0.001-0.042). The largest between-group difference in phase duration was observed during catch preparation, with LLG exceeding MLG by 0.103 s. HLG spent 0.033 s longer in stabilization and 0.013 s longer in follow-through than LLG. For temporal coordination, T₁ was 0.075 s shorter in HLG and 0.067 s shorter in MLG than in LLG (p ≤ 0.024), whereas T₄ showed an overall group effect without significant pairwise differences. Shooting-hand release height was 0.223 m higher in HLG and 0.165 m higher in MLG than in LLG, and spin rate was 0.360 and 0.434 rev/s higher, respectively (p ≤ 0.035). Key HLG-LLG joint-angle differences ranged from 8.48° to 14.34° across hip, shoulder, trunk, and wrist variables.ConclusionHigh-level players showed shorter bilateral landing intervals than low-level players, longer stabilization and follow-through phases, higher shooting-hand release height and ball spin rate, and distinct phase-specific joint-angle characteristics during the SJS. These findings describe temporal and kinematic patterns associated with higher skill levels and may provide potential reference values for technique analysis, skill development, and inform talent identification and player selection practices. Practitioners may consider these descriptive features when evaluating footwork synchronization, shooting-hand release height, and upper-limb coordination in developing athletes.

Performance anxiety remains a persistent barrier in higher vocal education because it can undermine both technical control and expressive delivery during public singing. This study examined whether a chatbot-delivered, ABMT-informed intervention could reduce performance anxiety among student vocalists and improve selected performance outcomes under routine training conditions. The study included 203 fourth-year vocal students assigned to either a psychologically active Shim chatbot condition or a neutral-script chatbot control condition over a four-month intervention period. Pretest-posttest outcomes were evaluated for situational distress, music performance anxiety, and three rated dimensions of vocal performance, while post-intervention measures assessed self-disclosure, perceived interpersonal closeness, and total interaction time. The revised analysis treated pre-post outcomes using mixed repeated-measures models and post-intervention interaction outcomes using between-group comparisons. The active Shim condition was associated with a marked reduction in music performance anxiety (53.38 to 29.46 vs. 52.67 to 51.78) and a stronger increase in performance confidence (3.67 to 4.21 vs. 3.58 to 3.64) than the neutral-script control condition. The active condition was further associated with lower situational distress, stronger vocal accuracy gains, and higher self-disclosure, perceived interpersonal closeness, and total interaction time, whereas musical expression did not show a clear intervention-specific benefit. These findings suggest that a psychologically active chatbot may be a useful adjunct for reducing short-term performance anxiety in higher-education vocal students and for supporting conditions associated with more confident performance. However, the results do not indicate that chatbot use alone improves expressive interpretation, and the relational outcomes should be interpreted cautiously because the two dialogue conditions differed in content as well as psychological activity.

BackgroundAI chatbots are increasingly used in language education, but their adoption for pronunciation and handwriting instruction remains underexplored. This study examined factors influencing Chinese K-12 foreign language teachers' adoption of AI chatbots for these perceptual-motor teaching tasks. MethodsSurvey data were collected from 615 teachers, with 526 valid responses analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling.ResultsTeachers mainly used AI chatbots for lesson planning and assignment design, while direct use for pronunciation and handwriting instruction was limited. Perceived ease of use positively predicted perceived usefulness, trust, self-efficacy, and behavioral intention. Perceived value strongly predicted perceived usefulness. Trust and self-efficacy predicted behavioral intention, which predicted actual use, whereas perceived usefulness had no significant direct effect on behavioral intention.DiscussionAdoption was influenced more by usability, trust, and implementation confidence than by perceived usefulness alone.ConclusionTeacher training should emphasize evaluating AI-generated feedback and translating chatbot outputs into reliable corrective guidance and repeated practice.

This study investigates the developmental trajectory of visual-motor integration skills among primary school children in Grades 1 to 4 using two standardized task-based assessments: shape copying and symmetry completion. A total of 270 students from public schools completed both tasks, which were scored with a rubric capturing spatial accuracy, contour control, proportionality, and symmetry processing. ANOVA and repeated-measures analyses revealed a significant developmental increase in visuomotor accuracy up to Grade 3, followed by a relative plateau. Students consistently performed better on symmetry completion than on shape copying, suggesting differential cognitive and motor demands across tasks. These findings highlight the sensitivity of accuracy-based visuomotor tasks for detecting age-related differences in motor coordination and spatial processing during middle childhood. The results also provide evidence for the use of rubric-based assessments as practical tools for monitoring visuomotor development in school-aged populations.