The variety of hand grips of 12 children, most of whom were moderately or severely retarded, were classified in order to begin an analysis of hand function. Test reliability was not as great when items were presented to the children as compared to when children were observed or rated by videotape. (FG)

Five infants were studied longitudinally from 18 to 36 weeks of age to determine the extent to which infants use a predictive strategy when reaching for moving objects. (Author/DB)

This study was designed to examine the relationship between conceptions of ability and understandings of the meaning of effort. Participants practiced a novel task and completed an ability conceptions questionnaire prior to instruction and a meaning of effort survey after practicing the task. The majority of participants believed in the efficacy…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether motor activity, previously assumed necessary to induce visual imagery in young children's associative learning, actually has to be executed in order for children to generate images. The results of an experiment with 96 kindergartners clearly suggest not: in conditions where subjects simply planned…

The distribution of intermanual discrepancies on three motor tests (Grooved Pegboard, Finger Tapping and Dynamometer) were examined in normal and unilateral brain lesion samples. Considerable variability in the intermanual discrepancies was observed in all three samples. Therefore, the consistency of discrepancies across tasks was examined. The…

Details are presented regarding the essential elements of an effective early childhood physical education curriculum. Components include movement awareness, fundamental locomotor skills, fundamental nonlocomotor skills, fundamental manipulative skills, and health-related fitness. (CB)

Observed drawing by toddlers and preschoolers using primary and standard markers, pencils, and crayons to determine the influence of implement diameter on children's drawing products, performances, and preferences. The relationship between drawing and early home manipulative experience was also investigated. Confirmed findings of previous studies…

Two studies involving stereotypic hand gazing revealed that: (1) a dramatically increased therapy program substantially reduced a 35.4 month-old boy's hand gazing and augmented his toy manipulation skills; and (2) both glasses and toys effectively reduced hand gazing by two visually impaired 30.3 and 17.9 month-old children. (Author/CB)

Examined infants' ability to retrieve an object from atop a slightly larger object. Found that even 5-month-olds could retrieve objects close in size and fully contiguous with their bases when demands on reaching skill were reduced. Proposed that when they fail this task, it is because they lack the skill to reach the top object without…

Tested infants in their second year with a box task to determine whether they would show a hand preference in solutions involving complete differentiation of roles for the two hands. (HOD)

Compares the manipulative exploration of objects of 30 nine-month-old preterm infants with that of 20 nine-month-old full-term infants. Although no difference between the preterms and the full terms was noted, a high-risk preterm subgroup manipulated objects less. A relationship was found between manipulative exploration at nine months and later…

Studied the early development of exploratory behavior in 99 infants of 2-5 months. Results show that there are significant changes in spontaneous multimodal exploration of a novel object between 2 and 5 months. (RJC)

Human toddlers demonstrate striking failures when searching for hidden objects that interact with other objects, yet successfully locate hidden objects that do not undergo mechanical interactions. This pattern hints at a developmental dissociation between contact-mechanical and spatiotemporal knowledge. Recent studies suggest that adult non-human…

One of five McDonald's Action Packs, this teacher's guide and activity sheets describe an early childhood-level program that introduces basic movement and guides students and teachers into the process of learning through moving. Basic movement skills necessary for sports and games, gymnastics, and dance are developed through eight themes, each…

Influential factors on the elementary students' proficiency in the fundamental skill of catching include: ball size, ball and background color, ball velocity, adjustive movements, and trajectory angle. (CJ)