The Bender Gestalt protocols of 134 rural and 140 children (6-18 years old) found to have IQ scores in the slow learner range (IQ 70-84) were compared. The Bender Gestalt Test, used in psychoeducational evaluation to determine eligibility for special education placement, was administered to determine Ss' level of visual motor skills. Rural slow…

The eventual role that educational and clinical sport psychologists may play in assisting high-level athletes is discussed. An example of research on Olympic-level rifle and pistol shooters is presented as an example of how sport scientists can be involved in influencing policy for Olympic athletes. Obstacles which prevent the applied potential of…

Relaxation training helps the individual handle tension through concentrating upon efficient use of muscles. A program of progressive relaxation can be easily incorporated into elementary and secondary schools. Objectives of such a program include the following: (a) to learn to relax technically for purposes of complete rest (deep muscle…

A taxonomy of response processes has been developed to facilitate the designing of training programs; each kind of task presumably would require a different set of training methods for greatest efficiency, so classifying a task would be part of determining which methods to use. A pool of response distinctions was collected, with special attention…

This paper describes a 1998 evaluation conducted by one Texas school district of its K-5 physical education (PE) program. The director of PE developed a plan for gathering information on scheduling; student performance (motor skills, fitness, and social skills); and teachers' use of best instructional practices. Teachers assessed student…

This study, conducted in Ankara, Turkey, compared motor development in 48 normal children (ages 3 to 6), 12 children (ages 5 to 7) with Down syndrome, and 33 children (ages 3 to 7) with hearing impairments. The Motor Development Section of the Portage Early Childhood Educational Program checklist was administered to all the children. Results…

Conservation ability, spatial motor ability, age, and gender were used as predictive variables in a study of 26 kindergarten children's computer programming ability. A preliminary pilot study with first graders had suggested that programming success was related to the ability to reverse thought processes. In both studies, children were taught to…

Studies have suggested that field independent (FI) dental dents perform better in pre-clinical laboratory courses than field dependent (FD) students. A study was conducted to determine the relationship of cognitive learning style to academic performance with 66 second year dental students at Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond). A brief…

An experimental study was conducted to discover the relative effectiveness of five different instructional strategies on the acquisition of four psycho-motor skills associated with four physical sports (continuous volleying in volleyball, zig-zag dribbling in field hockey, headstand in gymnastics, and sail long jump in athletics). The subjects…

Baumeister's (1968) hypothesis that mentally retarded children exhibit depressed levels of performance and greater intra-individual variability when compared to intellectually non-handicapped children of similar chronological age was investigated. Eight 10-year-old educable mentally retarded boys and 16 non-handicapped boys, matched by either…

Cognitive aging research needs to clarify whether or not there are functional or ability declines with aging and, if so, to understand and mediate these declines. Recent research which has demonstrated declines in cognitive functioning with age has involved episodic memory and rehearsal-independent forms of such memory. It is not known how much of…

A two-year behavior-modeling training program focusing on attention processes, retention processes, motor reproduction, and motivation processes was implemented to increase the accuracy of free throw shooting for a varsity intercollegiate women's basketball team. The training included specific learning keys, progressive relaxation, mental…

The effectiveness of three basic approaches to sport skills analysis instruction were examined. Ninety-two physical education majors were allocated to four groups and randomly assigned to one of four instructional frameworks: Observational Model (OM), Common Errors (CE), Correct Only (CO), and Control (C). It was hypothesized that the OM group…

This paper explores the nature of the aging process by providing an overview of the available evidence relating to the body systems that are most critical to biological function. Each system is treated separately to more clearly describe various aspects of the aging process and then integrated in a discussion of the theories of biological aging.…

In this study, free play with toys having unambiguous functions was examined to test the hypothesis that a basic cognitive metamorphosis is associated with the new competences displayed in children at about 12 months. Functional play was observed in 64 children at 9 1/2, 11 1/2, 13 1/2, and 15 1/2 months of age. Six sets of toys with 36…