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Purpose: The presumed link between lateralized habitual motor activity and bilateral skeletal asymmetry, as result of bone functional adaptation, is the basis for inferences about bone mine...

Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) is an instructional context that uses a computer as the mean for teaching pupils in individualized settings. CAI has been proposed as a compensatory instructional strategy among others for pupils with attentional, impulsivity and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This brief literature review synthesizes the outcomes of CAI to improve academic performance in various school disciplines for children with ADHD. First, it addresses research that studies the impact on academic disciplines performance of elementary school individuals with ADHD. Second, it considers methodological and pedagogical aspects of the studies reviewed. Finally, comments and recommendations, either in instructional and research context are made. Most of the studies reviewed suggested that CAI is an effective strategy in order to improve academic skills of pupils with ADHD. Moreover, an improvement in on-task and a decrease on error and off-task behaviors emerged as a byproduct of CAI intervention in some of those studies.&nbsp

Dysphagia is the clinical expression of disruption of the synchronized activity surrounding the normal swallowing mechanism. It results from a large number of causes including neurologic, myopathic, metabolic, inflammatory/autoimmune, infectious, structural, iatrogenic, and psychiatric diseases. It can have a significant impact on social and psychologic levels, as well as overall health, and is crucial to a patient's sense of well-being. Dysphagia is very common and is presently considered an alarm symptom that requires immediate attention. This article reviews current literature on the subject and summarizes the state of knowledge regarding the prevalence, classification, identification, management, and treatment of this condition. It also considers the diverse effects of cultural variables on dysphagia service delivery and capacity. Implications for practice are targeted to the members of a dysphagia multidisciplinary team, including several professional domains: speech and language pathologists, occupa...

The impact factor is a bibliometric index that reflects the frequency with which the “average article” of a scientific journal has been cited in subsequent publications. The purpose of the present study was to examine the current trends of the impact factor of the sport sciences journals, its relative position in relation to journals belonging to other scientific fields, and its temporal stability. Scientific journals' impact factors classified under the “Sport Sciences” subject category of the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) database from 2000 to 2006 were included in the present study. Results showed that during that period of time, 78 journals appeared in the “Sport Sciences” subject category. The mean impact factor rose from 0.851 (median=0.747) in 2000 to 1.178 (median=1.155) in 2006, following a linear trend or even a quadratic trend. The overall mean impact factor of the “Sport Sciences” category was 0.954 (median=0.876). In relation to the other 172 subject categories of the Science Editio...

The objective of this study was to examine the impact of an intervention programme that manipulated task, authority, recognition, grouping, evaluation and time (TARGET) structures on the cognitive and affective response of students to their physical education (PE) lesson. The sample consisted of 374 high school students ( M age = 13.8, S.D. = .73) assigned to either an intervention or a control group. The students completed measures of perceptions of motivational (task- and ego-involving) climate, dispositional achievement goals (task and ego orientation), intrinsic motivation and trait anxiety (cognitive processes, somatic anxiety and worry). The questionnaires were administered at the beginning and at the end of the academic year, that is, within a period of seven months. In between the two measurements, PE teachers taught the intervention group using the TARGET structures. The results of a Multilevel Random Coefficient Modelling indicated that students in the intervention group reported higher levels of teachers' emphasis on learning orientation, students' learning orientation, students' task orientation, enjoyment and perceived competence, and lower levels of worry after the intervention. These findings support the positive influence of TARGET structures on cognitive and affective responses of the students to PE lessons.

Self‐determination theory provides an integrated conception of school‐ and academic motivation. The theory proposes a continuum comprising three types of motivation: intrinsic motivation (IM), extrinsic motivation (EM), and amotivation (AM), characterised by seven dimensions (IM = to know, to accomplish and to experience stimulation, EM = external regulation, introjection and identification, and Amotivation). The purpose of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) with Greek high school students. Two studies were conducted to examine the factorial, construct, concurrent and predictive validity of the scale along with its reliability properties. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the proposed seven‐factor structure. The scale showed satisfactory levels of internal consistency and temporal stability. Additionally, indices of the scale’s construct, concurrent, and predictive validity were in the desired direction. These findings support the use o...

The objective of this study was to investigate the link between footedness and the existence of corns and callus in the lower extremities. To achieve this objective, hyperkeratotic data was collected from 115 right-footed male adult habitual runners with no record of specific congenital anatomical variants or functional abnormalities that can influence threshold values for skin adaptation and injury to the skin and soft tissue layers. From the results, it appears that there was a significant difference in frequency of corn and callus formation in relation to footedness ( x 2 =8.5, P t =2.76, P

This study was done to test the psychometric properties of the modified version of the Sport Motivation Scale adapted for children in physical education. Participants were elementary school students ( N = 452, Mage = 13.9 ± 1.04) who responded to the Sport Motivation Scale for Children. The scale assesses three types of motivation at the contextual level, namely, Intrinsic Motivation, Extrinsic Motivation, and Amotivation. Results supported the construct validity ( CFI = .95), and internal consistency of the scale (Cronbach α>.65). Correlations indicated Sport Motivation Scale for Children simplex pattern exhibiting higher correlations among adjacent subscales than subscales farther apart. The concurrent validity, examined through correlations with scores on the Physical Self-description Questionnaire was satisfactory. Sex differences were examined to assess the discriminant validity. Boys were more intrinsically motivated than girls. Overall, the scale seems a useful one for assessment of motivation in physical education.

Sports officials have recently received some attention in the academic literature. The aim of the present study was to examine sources of perceived psychological stress among certified Greek team handball referees. For this purpose, participants evaluated the intensity of 17 acutely stressful game situations on two occasions within a period of seven months. To explore the factor structure of the Handball Officials Sources of Stress Survey, 84 team handball officials completed the questionnaire. The analysis yielded a 4-factor structure (Evaluation, Fear of Physical Harm, Interpersonal Conflicts, and Fear of Appearing Incompetent), which accounted for 70% of the total variance. Age, education, rank, and years of experience as a handball player were unrelated to the referees' scores on the survey. To confirm the factor structure, 93 handball officials completed the survey seven months later. A confirmatory factor analysis supported the factorial structure of the scale. Sources and intensity of stress for handball referees are comparable to those identified in previous studies of referees' stress in other team sports.

Background Williams (WS) and Down syndromes (DS) are two genetic disorders that involve intellectual disability (ID) and have been extensively studied over the past decades because of the unique linguistic profiles they exhibit. Recent investigations seek to explore the fractionation of linguistic components within the cognitive system using genetically based neurodevelopmental disorders such as WS and DS and to identify different profiles of linguistic function in these two groups of individuals. Method The ‘expressive vocabulary’, ‘receptive vocabulary’, ‘word opposites’ and ‘word definitions’ subtests (Level 1) of the Test of Word Knowledge (TOWK) were used to assess lexical skills in six children with WS and five children with DS. Results Our findings indicate that the two syndromes exhibit substantial differences on linguistic tasks with individuals with WS performing at a higher level compared to those with DS and producing atypical responses in word definitions. The pattern of errors for each syndrome is qualitatively different suggesting that their underlying linguistic mechanisms are distinctive even though ID is similar. Conclusions This study supports the differential outcome of two chromosomal disorders with similar ID. It also argues in favour of the large within group variability of the two syndromes that is not related to mental age but rather to different underlying mechanisms supporting language. These findings are discussed in the light of the current evidence concerning linguistic knowledge of neurodevelopmental and genetic disorders.

Secondary musculoskeletal complications, resulting in glenohumeral subluxation, stiffness and shoulder pain, are particularly common after stroke. Estimated prevalence of stroke patients with shoulder pain of up to 84% have been cited, and shoulder pain is recognised as a substantial cause of poor recovery of upper limb function after stroke. Pain occurs either as a result of muscle imbalance with loss of joint range, impingement of the shoulder capsule through the range of movement, improper muscle stretching, tendonitis, altered sensitivity, or sympathetic changes. Several neurophysiological mechanisms, such as weakness, muscle imbalance, spasticity or abnormal patterns of activation, have been identified as the underlying causes behind the clinical manifestations of shoulder pain. It seems that a number of neurophysiological mechanisms, as well as a wide range of clinical conditions are masked under the term 'hemiplegic shoulder syndrome'. Careful differential diagnosis, early intervention, and standardisation of terminology amongst health professionals seem to be the key to more effective management, and a better outcome for such patients.

The field dependence-independence of normally developing and mentally retarded boys of low and upper/middle socioeconomic status was examined. To test the cognitive style, the 96 young participants were subdivided into four groups ( n = 24 per group) matched on mean mental age, using the Raven Colored Progressive Matrices. Two groups of mentally retarded boys (Groups A and B) and two groups of normally developing boys (Groups C and D). Groups A and C were matched on mental age at 5.6 yr.; Groups B and D were matched on mental age at 7.6 yr. Each pair of groups differed significantly in mean chronological age. Within each subgroup, 12 boys came from upper/middle socioeconomic status families and 12 from low socioeconomic status families. Analysis indicated absence of significant differences between Groups A and C on field dependence-independence, but there were statistically significant differences between Groups B and D. Moreover, analysis showed that boys from families of upper/middle socioeconomic status, both normally developing and mentally retarded, were consistently more field independent than boys from families of low socioeconomic status. Finally, conclusions were drawn concerning the empirical and theoretical benefits for psychology and education, which arise from the study of field dependence-independence of mentally retarded individuals.

This study aimed to test the applicability of a simplified version of the service quality model, proposed by Brady & Cronin (2001) in the context of a health club, and test the degree to which service quality perceptions and customer satisfaction predict psychological commitment and word‐of‐mouth communications. One hundred and seventy five members of a private health club in Greece participated in the study, and completed: a) a service quality scale (measuring interaction quality, physical environment quality, and outcome quality); b) the Sport Commitment Scale (Scanlan et al., 1993); c) an adjusted version of Oliver's (1997) customer satisfaction scale; and d) a three‐item scale measuring word‐of‐mouth communications. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) provided support for the factorial validity of the three primary dimensions. The psychometric properties of all the scales were satisfactory. The results also revealed an adequate fit of the structural model, which accounted for 29% of the variance. The...

The purpose of the study was to examine whether older adults (>60 years old) who participated in physical activity programs provided by a senior center in Greece perceived certain constraints as limiting reasons for their participation and whether perceived constraints could predict individuals’ intentions to continue participation. The sample of the study consisted of 125 adults age 60 and older. The principal-component analysis of the leisure-constraint scale revealed 4 constraint dimensions: facilities/services, individual/psychological, lack of partners, and accessibility/financial. The results revealed significant differences in the perception of constraints between frequent and infrequent participants in the individual/psychological and accessibility/financial constraints. The constraint dimensions were also shown to predict a significant and fairly high (40%) proportion of the variance in older adults’ intention to continue participation. The individual/psychological and accessibility/financial constraint dimensions were shown to be the major predictors. The implications of these results for promoting physical activity programs among older adults are discussed.

This study aimed to investigate the influence of constraint dimensions on intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation and amotivation. The self-determination theory and the hierarchical model of int...

A case of phantom smelling (phantosmia) is described in a 28-yr.-old man who developed permanent bilateral anosmia after a serious injury to olfaction-related brain structures at the age of 25 years. The findings indicate that, even years after loss of input from olfactory receptors, the neural representation of olfactory perception can still recreate olfactory sensations without any conscious recall of them. This indicates that the neural representation of olfactory sensations remains functional and implies that neuronal activity in the olfactory organ or in other brain structures gives rise to olfactory experiences perceived as originating from the perception of original odor substances. The report suggests the intriguing possibility that the olfactory perception is not a passive process that merely reflects its normal input from the olfactory system but is continuously generated by a neural representation in the olfactory organ or in other olfaction-related brain structures, based on both genetic and sensory determinants. To the author's knowledge this is the first reported case of its kind.

This study compared the weight-discrimination sensitivity of 41 congenitally blind and 41 normally sighted adults. The superior weight-discrimination sensitivity of the congenitally blind subjects suggests that blindness from birth can cause compensatory adaptations within the cutaneous modality.

A body-image disturbance observed in most patients who undergo amputation of a limb is the perception of having the missing limb. The phenomenon is known as ‘phantom limb’. Despite a vast clinical literature on painless and painful phantom limb sensations, little is known about their origin. In fact, the precise mechanism responsible for the generation of these phantom feelings has not yet been determined. However, there have been a number of attempts to explain, within a theoretical framework, the origin of phantom limb sensations and related phenomena. This paper reviews some of the most tenable explanations, along with the work completed on this issue to date. With regard to painful phantom limb sensations and their management, a number of treatment techniques, employed by neuroscientists with varying degrees of success, are presented here.

To investigate the effect of physical exertion on simple reaction time and continuous attention of sport participants, an experiment was conducted with 46 male university students and 12 male cyclists. The subjects were assigned to three experimental and two control groups. The subjects of the experimental groups were asked to perform, following a 5-min. period of warming up, a high intensity exercise protocol for 5 min., on a mechanically braked cycle ergometer (Group A) or a moderate intensity exercise protocol for 30 min. on the same cycle ergometer (Groups B and C). Shortly before and immediately after the physical exercise subjects of all groups were asked to perform a test of simple reaction time and continuous attention. The subjects of the control groups were asked to perform at rest both tests of the simple reaction time and the continuous attention twice, with a 10-min. and a 35-min. interval between the first and second attempts, respectively. The results did not support the notion that exercise of moderate or high intensity influences significantly the cognitive performance of aerobically trained or untrained subjects. The results are discussed in the light of the current research findings concerning exertion and human psychomotor performance.

Down syndrome (DS) is a genetic disorder caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21 (triso‐ my 21), with an incidence in 1 in 700 live births. The third chromosome causes a series of physical, biological and behavioural characteristics that are syndrome-specific including in‐ tellectual disability, heart defects, problems in the endocrine and immune system and other medical conditions (Epstein et al., 1991). Moreover, there is established evidence for the lan‐ guage difficulties in people with DS particularly in expressive vocabulary and grammar. Re‐ search on language has documented a specific pattern of cerebral lateralization that commonly characterizes these individuals, that is unique to the syndrome compared to typi‐ cally developing individuals and individuals with intellectual disability (ID) non-DS. This realization has triggered the interest of neuropsychologists to investigate atypical hemi‐ spheric dominance in DS.

Down syndrome (DS) is the most common genetic disorder with a prevalence that ranges from 1:700 to 1:100 live births and accounts for 25–30% of people with intellectual disability (Nadel, 1999; Rogers, Roizen, & Capone, 1996; Rondal, 1988, 1998; Rondal, Perera, & Nadel, 1999). Trisomy 21, one of the three forms of DS, is caused by the presence of a third chromosome at band 21q22 of the long arm. The other two forms, namely translocation 21 and mosaicism, account for only 6% of children with DS (Rogers et al., 1996). Recent medical advances suggest that over 300 genes are affected, making the genetic etiology of DS a complex mechanism that implicates gene interactions that are not clearly understood (Pennington, Moon, Edgin, Stedron, & Nadel, 2003; Antonarakis et al., 2004). The syndrome is characterized by specific phenotypic characteristics, health related problems, cognitive and language impairments, neuromotor dysfunction and early aging, often associated with increased prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease. Interest in the cognitive profile of DS has been robust during the past decades, with a large number of published studies discussing the atypical and unique profile of cognitive abilities in this population. Yet, there is no clear understanding of the cognitive profile of individuals with DS and how this differentiates from other forms of intellectual disability. The uniqueness of the cognitive make-up of individuals with DS will contribute to a better understanding of the specific strengths and impairments of this population, as well as to the development of more effective educational programs suitable for them. This chapter will focus on language and visuo-spatial abilities of individuals with DS from a cognitive neuroscience perspective. The chapter is organized in four parts. The first part discusses language abilities in individuals with DS, with particular emphasis on expressive and receptive vocabulary and grammar. In the second part, research in visuospatial abilities in individuals with DS is reviewed. The third part deals with the concept of atypical cerebral laterality (ACL) in DS individuals and, in particular, how ACL may affect their language and visuospatial abilities. Finally, the last part discusses the contribution of laterality research in understanding the unique pattern of cognitive abilities in DS.

Language ability in patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) and normal control subjects (NC) matched on age, sex, education and socioeconomic status (SES) was investigated. The two groups of subjects were tested on eight sentence types in Greek in the form of main and complement clause with eight matrix verbs. These matrix verbs were ask (ask information), promise (commissive meaning), tell1 (order, command) and tell2 (give information) in sentences with no semantic constraints, and confess, sell, trust and scold in sentences with semantic constraints (implicit causality). The results show that language ability, despite relative preservation is significantly impaired in PD patients as compared to that of NC. More specifically, syntax with semantic constraints was the most effective independent variable to classify PD patients and NC subjects into two distinct groups according to a Logistic Regression Analysis. To restrict the algorithmic process in sentence comprehension, PD patients seem to make use of the minimal distance principle (MDP) and the "experiencer constraint" heuristic strategies. Possible similarities in language behavior between PD patients and aphasics, in general, are suggested.

Spontaneous synchrony emerges between individuals performing together rhythmic activities while communicating by means of sensory feedback. In this study, we examined the nature of interpersonal synchrony mediated by light fingertip contact when individuals sway rhythmically in the sagittal plane. The effect of traditional dance expertise on interpersonal synchrony was investigated. Sixty participants (30 dancers, 30 novices) formed three types of couples (10 expert couples, 10 novice couples, 10 mixed couples) and performed a rhythmical sway task (40 s) that was either self or metronome paced (frequency: 0.25 Hz). Cross spectral analysis of the center of pressure (CoP) displacement signals revealed that during self-paced sway fingertip contact evoked a decrease of the dominant sway frequency difference between partners, an increase in the coherence between the sway signals and a concentration of relative phase angles towards the in-phase (0°–20°) region. In metronome paced sway however, only expert dancers were able to benefit from haptic contact to further improve interpersonal synchrony. These findings suggest that haptic contact can stabilize the spontaneous coordination dynamics of two persons performing rhythmic sway together. The strength of the emerged synchrony depends on the individuals’ expertise to integrate tactile and auditory information about sway.

Klinefelter syndrome (KS) is a genetic disorder in males characterized by the presence of an extra X chromosome. Its most consistent endocrinological manifestations include lower testosterone production and impaired spermatogenesis. KS individuals have a general typical appearance with taller stature, and they demonstrate a characteristic cognitive phenotype involving weaknesses in verbal processing. Anomalous cerebral lateralization involves the inverse or weak dominance of hand, language, and visuospatial abilities and has been associated with the cognitive deficits of KS individuals. This article summarizes the ongoing research in this field, discusses the main findings, and attempts to provide a thorough description of the cause of the observed functional and anatomical cerebral asymmetries associated with the syndrome. Nonetheless, efforts have been directed to incorporate evidence for and against theoretical accounts that explain the experimental findings, to discuss issues involving the implications of the chosen methodology, and present key research areas for future empirical research.

This study investigated hemisphere-specific processing of visually aimed movements and associated postural adjustments while controlling for handedness and eyedness. Eleven right-handed, right-eyed and right-footed healthy adult volunteers performed, from a standing position, an aiming task under two hand (right and left hand) and three visual conditions (binocular vision, right and left eye monocular vision). Centre of pressure (CoP) displacement, hand kinematics and the target's position were synchronously recorded during performance of the aiming task. Analysis revealed a lower RMS error, a later postural adjustment onset and a smaller centre of pressure dispersion when aiming was performed with the dominant right compared to the non-dominant left hand. On the other hand, no differences on either aiming performance or postural adjustments were noted under the three visual conditions. These results suggest a strong handedness and absence of an eyedness effect on the accuracy of aiming and associated postural adjustments.

The present study investigated the construct validity of the Physical Education State Anxiety Scale with the employment of multitrait–multimethod analysis with regard to responses of the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2. 233 high school students ()Wage= 13.6 yr., SD .9) completed the Physical Education State Anxiety Scale and an adapted physical education version of Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2. Examination of fit indices and anxiety dimensions' correlations indicated satisfactory convergent validity (significant difference in χ2 and CFI emerged). Convergent validities were higher than correlations among other variables suggesting fairly good discriminant validity; however, the fit indices of the confirmatory factor analyses showed relatively low discriminant validity (nonsignificant 6, χ2 and a small CFI difference emerged). Present findings provide evidence on the construct validity of the adapted version and suggest it can be used with high school students to assess state anxiety in physical education.

This study investigated lower limb laterality for stabilising and mobilising actions in 10 right- and 10 mixed-footed participants by determining, via the Waterloo Footedness Questionnaire--Revised (WFQ-R), the preferred foot in carrying out a range of stabilising and mobilising activities and by recording foot performance on standing balance and ball juggling. The log odds ratio (lambda score) was used to quantify the degree of laterality in task performance. Differences between the stability and mobility scores and the two groups were analyzed using a 2 (Group) x 2 (Task) ANOVA model with repeated measures on Task. Right- and mixed-footed participants differed significantly in the stability but not in the mobility items of the WFQ-R. No significant between-group differences were noted in either ball-juggling or standing balance performance. Mixed-footed participants had a significant right-left foot difference in standing balance, whereas both groups had a significant right-left foot difference in ball juggling. It is concluded that preference is not a steady attribute across the mobility and stability items of the WFQ-R and appears to be dependent on the behavioural context of a particular task. Results further indicated a lack of concordance between questionnaire and performance-based measures suggesting that these two methods of measuring laterality may be indicators of different underlying factors.

It has been proposed that the ratio of the second to fourth digits (2D:4D) may be a proxy of prenatal androgen exposure, such that low 2D:4D ratio is associated with high prenatal androgen exposure. The aim of the present study was to measure the 2D:4D ratio in 100 right- and non-right-handed individuals with intellectual disability of unknown idiopathic origin and compare them to a control group of 85 typically developing individuals. We also sought to determine whether sexually dimorphic traits, such as 2D:4D ratio, tend to be more pronounced on the right hand of these groups than on the left. Our results indicated that males had lower 2D:4D ratios than females in both groups, and individuals with intellectual disability had higher ratios only in their right hand compared to typically developing individuals. Further, right-handed individuals had lower ratios in both hands compared to non-right-handed individuals. Our results are discussed in relation to the "Geschwind-Behan-Galaburda theory of cerebral lateralisation" and Witelson's callosal hypothesis that differential levels of prenatal testosterone exposure will cause atypical cerebral laterality in individuals with intellectual disability, and the suggestion that this atypicality will become evident in the 2D:4D ratio (Manning, Scutt, Wilson, & Lewis-Jones, 1998).

This study aimed at investigating the effect of motivational dimensions proposed by Pelletier, et al. in 1995, both on sport participation levels and on intention for continuing participation among adult recreational sport participants. Two hundred and fifty-seven adult individuals, who reported participation in some type of sport and physical activity, completed the Sport Motivation Scale and a scale measuring intention. The study provided evidence to suggest that increased motivation leads to increased participation. Amotivation significantly decreased from the least to the most frequent participant groups, while both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation followed the reverse pattern. The results also indicated that increased intrinsic motivation to gain knowledge and accomplishment and extrinsic motivation (introjected regulation) are positively correlated with individuals' intentions to continue participation, while amotivation is negatively related. These results provide limited support for the self-determination theory. Implications for sport participation promotion are discussed.

Although understanding of the organization and control of visually guided reaching and aiming movements is still sketchy and incomplete, evidence from behavioural studies supports the contention that right-handed individuals typically execute aiming movements with better speed, smoothness and consistency, and with a greater degree of spatial precision when performing them with their right hand. Creative attempts to account for the superiority of the right hand on a variety of visually guided reaching and aiming tasks have focused on the processing characteristics of the contralateral or left cerebral hemisphere. This brief review summarizes the research conducted over the last few decades on the subject, highlights the theoretical interpretations offered to explain manual asymmetries in the organization and control of goal-directed movements and identifies directions for further empirical research. The theoretical and practical implications of laterality research efforts along the lines of goal-directed behaviour are discussed.

Background Williams syndrome (WS) and Down syndrome (DS) are two neurodevelopmental genetically based disorders which exhibit mental retardation with a unique cognitive profile. Naming in individuals with WS and DS has been investigated in several studies, with results indicating that the performance of children with WS and DS is at a similar level and below mental age expectations on naming tasks. Method Speed of naming pictures, colours, numbers, letters and words was assessed in 8 individuals with WS, 10 individuals with DS, and 18 mental age controls. All stimuli were presented on a computer monitor and reaction times for naming were recorded. Results Our results indicated that speed of naming in children with DS and WS is not statistically different to that of mental age controls. However, error analysis in naming words and pictures revealed qualitative differences between the three groups. Conclusion These results challenge the tenet of increased naming speed in children with WS compared to mental age controls. The findings are discussed in the light of current evidence concerning the linguistic abilities of children with neurodevelopmental disorders and those with typical development.

The aim of the present study was to develop a measure of state anxiety for school physical education. The Physical Education State Anxiety Scale was designed to assess the basic anxiety dimensions plus the related cognitive processes. High school students ( n = 631) completed the scale just prior to a test on two track and field tasks, in order to create a stressful condition. Data from the sample were randoml y split in two and subjected to exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, which supported the proposed three-factor structure of Worry, Cognitive Processes, and Somatic Anxiety. Internal consistency coefficients were acceptable. Moderate correlations among the subscale scores supported its construct validity. Results provide preliminary evidence for validity and reliability.

This study examined the effect of neurodevelopmental treatment (NDT) and differences in its intensity on gross motor function of children with cerebral palsy (CP). Participants were 34 children (12 females, 22 males; mean age 7y 3mo [SD 3y 6mo], age range 3 to 14y) with mild to moderate spasticity and hemiplegia (n=10), diplegia (n=12), and tetraplegia (n=12). Gross Motor Function Classification System levels were: I (n=10), II (n=10), and III (n=14). The paired sample, which was obtained by ratio stratification and matching by sex, age, and distribution of impairment from a total of 114 children with CP, was assigned randomly to two groups: group A underwent NDT twice a week and group B five times a week for 16 weeks. The outcome measure used was the Gross Motor Function Measure, which assessed the performance of the children before and after intervention. The paired-sample t-test revealed that gross motor function of children from both groups improved significantly after intervention (p

In the past two decades, laterality in sports has become clearly established. In particular, the concept of motoric dominance in sports has been a fertile area for laterality research. The literature is consistent with the view that in certain sporting skills, sporting competitors with specific motoric-dominance patterns enjoy an advantage over other competitors and are overrepresented in some sports. Two theoretical interpretations have been offered to explain this imbalance of motoric-dominance distribution among sporting individuals: hypotheses of “innate superiority” and “strategic advantage.” This paper presents an overview the two hypotheses, along with relevant work so far reported and identifies directions for further empirical research. The theoretical and practical implications of research on laterality in human motor performance are discussed.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Coaching Efficacy Scale, which measures coaches' beliefs about their capacity to affect the learning and performance of their athletes on Game Strategy, Motivation, Teaching Technique, and Character Building. 230 Greek male team coaches ( M = 37.6 yr. ± 6.2) with 5.5 yr. ( SD = 4.8) of experience completed the Greek translation of the scale. A first-order confirmatory factor analysis supported the basic factorial structure of the scale. Examination of a higher order model of an overall coaching efficacy factor showed satisfactory fit, using second-order confirmatory factor analysis. Moreover, the scale showed satisfactory Cronbach α of .82 and 30-day test-retest reliability of .73. Significant differences between experienced and less experienced coaches, defined by mean score, were found on Teaching Technique and overall self-efficacy factors, with more experienced coaches having significantly higher scores. Results supported the reliability and validity of the Greek version of the scale.

This study concerns the distribution of footedness among professional soccer players ( n = 415) and nonsporting university students ( n = 430). Chisquared showed that there were statistically significant differences between the proportion of mixed-footedness in the two groups ( p

This study assessed handedness distributions among (a) sporting competitors ( n = 1,112) and nonsporting university students ( n = 1,112), (b) sporting competitors engaging in interactive ( n = 576) and in noninteractive sports (n = 536), and (c) sporting competitors engaging in direct interactive ( n = 219) and indirect interactive ( n = 357) sports. Chi-squared showed that there were statistically significant differences in proportions of left-handed persons in (a) sporting competitors and nonsporting university students, (b) sporting competitors engaging in interactive and noninteractive sports, (c) sporting competitors engaging in interactive sports and nonsporting university students, and (d) sporting competitors engaging in direct interactive and indirect interactive sports. It appears that left-handers are more common among those who engage in competitive manual activities. This superiority of the left-handers may be fully explained by a consideration of tactical or strategic factors associated with handedness during sporting interactions. The results with important implications for the measurement and evaluation of handedness are discussed in the light of the current findings on laterality.

Seventy-three subjects with mild and moderate intellectual disability (ID) of an unknown/idiopathic nature, who had no record of specific deficits in motor control, and 73 normal controls, matched for chronological age and sex, underwent evaluation of handedness. The results confirmed the previously reported excess of non-right handedness among subjects with ID, and suggested that this finding might be indicative of a deviant cerebral organization or atypical lateralization of cerebral representation of function in this group. However, it was noted that further research is needed to clarify how far this is a function of level of motor skill and how far is a syndrome-specific pathological phenomenon.