Forty-seven children (ages 6 to 14) with mild mental retardation, of whom 27 also had an articulation disorder, were evaluated to identify distinguishing characteristics. Task performance results successfully discriminated 89.3 percent of the children with articulation disorders and 80 percent of the children with normal articulation. Fine motor…

Researchers compared psychomotor skill performance in isolation and in competitive game situations with seventh grade boys taught basketball using Bloom's mastery learning model or nonmastery procedures. Mastery subjects surpassed control and nonmastery groups on all skills performed in isolation. No significant differences existed in skill…

Contributions of motor skill and cognition to sport performance change across age, expertise, and sports. Knowledge and decision making should not limit the development of expertise. Specific strategies for teachers may help students develop expertise. The paper discusses the contribution of knowledge and skill to expertise and its development.…

Currently, little is known about knowledge and cognitive skills that underlie expertise in learning, performance, and instruction of sport and physical activity. The paper makes research suggestions, encouraging the exploration of expertise and the translation of research about expert knowledge and cognitive and motor skills to the design of…

Described is a computer program that, by means of a simple motor task, provides a context that enables students to learn about motor coordination. The effects of alcohol, drugs, or solvents on the motor task can be investigated using a delay in the feedback loop. A description of the hardware and software is included. (KR)

The development of two temperamental characteristics--the tendency to approach (uninhibited) and the tendency to avoid (inhibited) unfamiliar events--may be partially controlled by genetic predisposition. Discusses the results of a study indicating that the level of motor responses and crying in response to unfamiliar stimuli in four month olds…

Describes the use of activity boxes with 43 young children with blindness, deaf-blindness, or severe learning disabilities and visual impairments. Discusses the contribution such boxes make to intellectual development, particularly the development of voluntary hand function from the integration of the primitive grasp-and-release instincts shown by…

Discusses ways to integrate students with disabilities into gross motor activities within inclusive physical education classes, noting reasons why students with disabilities have similar needs to students without disabilities. The paper recommends the use of peer tutors, describes different adaptations, and lists potential needs of students with a…

Reflective physical education (PE) teachers should use developmentally appropriate pedagogy (DAP) to include students with diverse skill levels in their PE classes. DAP is a prerequisite to successful inclusion. This paper explains the importance of breaking down skills, age appropriateness, individual appropriateness, and interactive teaching in…

Draw-a-Person (DAP) samples from 108 adolescents and adults with mental retardation were scored using Naglieri's cognitive and emotional disturbance scoring systems. Visual-motor skills emerged as the best predictor of DAP cognitive scores, more predictive than intelligence. Findings suggest caution in using DAP as an index of intelligence or as a…

Investigates the effects of a year-long program of vocal instruction on measures of respiration (vital capacity, peak flow, duration) and singing performance (high pitch, low pitch, total range, pitch accuracy) among general music students in elementary grades. Charts the specific psychomotor skills most influenced by instructive measures. (MJP)

Presents information on physical activity levels in young children. Provides guidelines for appropriately promoting physical activity in early childhood classrooms, focusing on movement concepts of body, space, effort, and relationship. Includes appropriate teaching strategies and activities. Concludes that guided movement instruction helps…

Our purpose in this report is to evaluate scientifically that body of literature relating the effects of prenatal and postnatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) upon neurobehavioral, health-related, and cognitive deficits in neonates, developing infants, children, and adults. The data derive from seven cohorts: six cohorts of mothers…

Environmental restriction or deprivation early in development can induce social, cognitive, affective, and motor abnormalities similar to those associated with autism. Conversely, rearing animals in larger, more complex environments results in enhanced brain structure and function, including increased brain weight, dendritic branching,…

The purpose of this investigation was to assess the effects of a cooperative learning strategy in physical education on academic learning time, the percentage of correct trials, the total number of trials, and the number of correct trials. A cooperative learning strategy, PACER (Performer and Coach Earn Rewards), was implemented in a sixth-grade…