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The article explores the aesthetics of sports, and compares sporting events to music and performing arts. The beauty of gymnastics is discussed, including concepts of balance, strength, agility, proportion, and tempo. Emotional and sympathetic responses of the sporting audience are observed. The ends of professionalism, such as success, winning, fortune, accomplishment, is contrasted to genuine sport, which is sufficient to its own ends, and serves as its own reward. The drama of the sport event is discussed, including tragedy.

The article presents information on the General Serve Problem Solving Model (GSPS) for skill acquisition in tennis serve. The model was based on the General Problem Solving Model (GPS) developed by A. Newell and H.A.Simon. GPS was based on the study of mental problem-solving situations. The GSPS model includes many types of higher mental learning. In GSPS, instructions are given through a computer program for solving a problem. GSPS treats the serving of tennis ball with speed and accuracy as a problem-solving situation. The learning of a complex motor skill involves many small problems within a large problem. The GSPS has also resulted in several hypotheses for teaching.

The article discusses the importance of analysis of motor skills in physical education. Analysis of motor skills are of much importance for a physical educator, because skilled interception is very often involved in physical activity and sport. Interception behavior is described on the basis of coincidence-anticipation. Judgments and acquisitions by a performer occur in the coincidence-anticipation situation. For accurate performance, a participant should ensure that his expectancy is correct. Motor skills need to be studied and analyzed from different angles for formulating teaching strategies in physical education.

The article discusses the effect of environmental conditions and consistency on motor skills. Motor skills need the integration of both, motor responses and sensory information for the attainment of a goal. According to psychologist A.M. Gentile, motor skills have been classified according to the environmental conditions in which performance takes place. Closed skills are those that take place under fixed environmental conditions, whereas open skills take place in changing environment. Movement patterns in the performance of closed skill result in the development of consistency, whereas in case of open skill, result in diversification. According to researcher S.J. Hoffman, practice is a closed skill, and produces greater consistency in performance.

The article discusses some basic concepts related to skill acquisition with practical applications to teaching. The first part of the paper which is organized into three sections identifies the motor patterns to which this working model of skill acquisition is pertaining. The second section presents the nature of skill acquisition and in the last section, application is made to teaching strategies. During early stages of skill acquisition, some aspects of teacher behavior, such as the added complexity of structuring open skill environments are affected by the type of movement involved. However, during stage two, the type of movement to be learned determines the nature of teacher behavior. Therefore, the analysis of the nature of the skill to be learned is required for the effective teaching.

The article presents information on a paper explaining the theoretical model of skill acquisition with application to teaching which was presented by A. M. Gentile so as to suggest the appropriate information feedback that should be provided by the teacher for skills performed in either open or closed environments. The teacher can provide the student with information regarding either his movement or his goal-attainment for both open and closed skills. This investigation provides a potential direction for video-tape research involving open skills.

The article presents information on a pilot study which was designed to develop and test a method for externalizing decisions within the motor learning process and also to gain a clear understanding of how a simple motor problem is solved by a learner in an environment in which extrinsic feedback is not available. It was found that if the questions that will elicit responses with the requisite qualities of reliability and intelligibility are devised, then the utility of verbal reports which have been used for investigating the aspects of skill acquisition potentially is great. It also recommends to all the teachers that observing a student practice a motor skill for forty minutes without any kind of intervention is a therapeutic experience.

The article presents information related to the acquisition of perceptual-motor skills. It presents a thorough and specific critique of the article "A Working Model of Skill Acquisition with Application to Teaching," by A. M. Gentile. The basic emphasis in both the articles, in this article and in Gentile's article, is to consider man as an information-processing system. Much of the work on skill which is being done currently is concerned with input characteristics only and as a result the output side is being neglected. Gentile's work is speculative but nevertheless very interesting and thought-provoking.

The article discusses the Gestalten practice continuum as applied to teaching Physical education subjects. It discusses the unitary game, motor whole and motor part as components of the Gestalten practice continuum. It explores how a particular sports activity can be taught utilizing the motor whole methodology. It relates a particular sports activity to the particular bodily movement under the motor whole and motor parts components. It notes that the multiple whole method is the one frequently used in teaching motor skills.

The article presents various notions on sporting ability and personality in comparison with scholastic achievement. Researchers have labored to establish personality "types" to assess personality characteristics of champion athletes, and explain the connection between physical and personality variables. Social relationships are partly contingent upon the physical feature of an individual and reactions accorded to them. In sports, a researcher posed that personality is a factor in the choice of physical activities which an individual is likely to participate into.

The article reports on the theory of physical education. It discusses the history of the development of physical education theory, and the general methods that lead to the development of the valid theory of physical education. It focuses on the school subjects that deal with motor activity like sports, games, dance, exercise, aquatics and gymnastics, and on the theory of practical endeavor. It also discusses the present approaches and the bases for a valid approach to theory building in physical education.

The article reports on proprioceptive reflexes and their involvement in developing the motor skills. It discusses several proprioceptive mechanisms and their applications in movement. These proprioceptors are categorized into three groups, muscle proprioceptors, proprioceptors of joints and skin, and labyrinthine and neck proprioceptors. Proprioceptive facilitation and inhibition techniques are used by physical therapists in rehabilitation of patients with neuromuscular disabilities, and can also be used to improve the motor performance of healthy individuals.

The article presents a discussion on the basics towards higher hierarchies of motor learning. It presented the perceptual aspects and the factors that affect the efficiency of the methods of teaching. It also discussed the basic essentials necessary for the beginner in skill learning. Other guidelines and instructions about the methods of teaching were also discussed. Learning is defined as the relatively permanent change due to experience or training. Perceptual-motor learning is defined as the change in response in which muscular contractions, static and dynamic, play a major part. Motor-skill learning is defined as the integration of movements into a pattern for some purpose.

The article reflects on the responsibilities of the teacher in physical education to hasten the learning process which focuses on communication. Russian studies cited that the formation of a skill does not begin when actual practice starts, but before, with the creation of an idea of mastering motor movement which initiates the formation of skills. It also presented and explained the three means through which movement ideas can be communicated which include auditorially, manually, and visually. A comparison of these three means of communicating movement ideas is also presented.

The article discusses a theory of human factors design in physical behavioral science and describes a program of experimental feedback research which establishing a beginning foundation for this field. The physical behavioral science covers the areas of work physiology and psychology, physical fitness training, physical education, sports medicine and psychology, athletics and athletic design, physical medicine, therapy and rehabilitation. The author defines behavioral cybernetics as a set of ideas about the organization and control of behavior. The principle of spatial guidance of motion applies to integration of postural, transport and articulated movements. A diagram of the principle of multidimensional control of body motion is presented.

The article discusses the results of a study designed to test the hypothesis that identifiable autonomous components support the performance of the standing broad jump. Thee subjects of the study were 10 University of Wisconsin freshman women who were randomly chosen from the upper and lower two percent frequency distribution of broad jump scores attained from a motor ability test administered to 1,282 freshmen. Results from the subjective analysis if 75 multiple light chronocyclegraph photographs taken of 10 women performing the standing board jump showed that five unskilled performers made six maximal distance jumps and the skilled executed three. The author concludes that autonomous relationships of head and should girdle occurred when the skilled women performed with maximal energy output.

The article reflects on the development of motor skills in young children and its importance to physical education. It presented several aspects in which research on motor development in children are focusing on. Such aspects include the analyses of mature performance in fundamental motor skills, the observations of developmental changes in motor patterns of young children, and the observations of the effect of environmental conditions in influencing the emergence and development of motor patterns in children. It also presented a study on the throwing behavior of children and formed a basis for movement experiences that seek to refine their problems in throwing.

The article reflects on skill development which can be gained through sustained practice where coordinative potentialities are developed and new cognitive qualities are conveyed. The adaptive responses that led to differentiated postural and spatial schemata of the body involved more intricate associations with corporeal awareness, imagery, memory, and a three-dimensional and temporal discrimination. Denny Brown called this adaptive process as morphosynthesis, a neurophysiological term which relates to specific capacities of the parietal lobes of man.

The article discusses the three level theory of perceptual-motor functioning. It presented a hypothetical construct which is a meaningful and scientifically accurate model that is compatible both with experimental findings and common observations of human skill. It proposed a framework that is composed of factors at three levels which supported the supposition that general kinds of behavioral tendencies support and mold perceptual-motor performance and learning. The three levels were general behavioral supports, intermediate traits or ability traits, and specific traits or factors such as the unique energy demands of the task, the perceptual components specific to the task, and the kind of past experiences in the task.

The article discusses movement behavior. This term means a generalized motor expression characterize by continuity and wholeness. Attention upon the nature of the movement response differentiates it from kinesiology, body mechanics, motor activity, or sports skill which primarily deals with the act itself. Behavior is the action of an individual as a unit without emphasis upon the results. Style is not classified as a skill or a purposeful act. It is not directed by the actual energy which intrude on the receptors or the particular percepts which result.

The article focuses on the significance of the medical sciences in the physical education curriculum. Brief summaries of the works of scientists on electromyographic kinesiology are provided. The physiological or natural approach to the study of movement adopted by Winslow was the same used in Beevor's "Croonian Lectures on Muscular Movements." An illustration is used to define muscular movement in more physiological terms. Interpretations of the instructive Beevor experiment are provided.

The article offers information about the comments of several critics on the implications of the art pieces of Betsy, a chimpanzee which was trained to do paintings. Betsy became the ultimate campaign for the incompetence of the modern art. Experts found out no clear-cut way to distinguish Betsy's work from Abstract Expressionism, the dominant trend in 1959 paintings. Both paintings of abstract artists and of Betsy were highly uncommunicative, uncritical, personal, spontaneous, exploiting chance effects, emphasizing the act of painting as an end in itself and thus rejecting all references to the outside world. This became an ample evidence that neither representation nor manual skill are essential to the creative process in the visual arts.

In an effort to develop an efficient, practical program to serve a heterogeneous population of mentally retarded children excluded from other treatment programs, an innovative teaching environment was developed. A period of individual therapy designed to increase attending behaviors and decrease self destructive, aggressive, or other interfering responses is followed by programing each child into a therapy zone plan of treatment. The zones of special education, self help, language skills, socialization, and motor skills are used. Children move from one prescribed zone to another upon completing daily goals, thereby avoiding the interfering stimuli of other zones and the distracting social stimuli of large groups. The zone approach is discussed as a viable community based model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the intra-individual differentiation in motoric skill implicit in the development of a dominant hand. Observations from several sources suggest that handedness develops from originally diffuse, undifferentiated, unlateralized movement patterns that expressions of one-sidedness in development are manifestations of a long maturational process that involves a gradual lateral differentiation or specialization in sensory and perceptual-motor skills. The need for a developmental framework in the area of cerebral dominance is highlighted by a number of studies in recent years that have indicated that lesions at infancy and at maturity have different effects on performance.

The article presents a study on the physical and motor proficiency of mentally retarded persons. Focus of the study includes the development, education and rehabilitation of mentally retarded persons. Findings of the study indicated that retarded individuals are generally inferior to nonretarded persons on measures of physical development and motor abilities. Furthermore, their motor proficiency is found to be most deficient in areas of equilibrium and locomotion.

Realistic work sample tests that were miniature replicas of the criterion task were classified as motor or verbal. The motor work sample had subjects physically manipulate things as tracing a complex electrical circuit or operating a sewing machine, while verbal work samples required individuals to cope with peopleoriented or language-oriented problems. From the literature, the work sample tests selected were those especially designed to represent on-the-job criterion behavior in a specific situation rather than ready-made standardized test's unless the latter had an unmistakable surface relationship to the criterion. The guiding hypothesis was a point-to-point theory which states that the more features in common between the predictor and criterion space, the higher the validity. In a previous review (Asher, 1972), it was found that historical information from the scorable application blank was data with a point-to-point relationship with the criterion and had the highest predictive power from a list of standard predictors including intelligence, personality, interest, perception, motor skill, and mechanical ability. Complex work sample tests that were miniature replicas of specific criterion behavior should also have a point-to-point relationship with the criterion. The results were as follows: 1. When job proficiency was the criterion, realistic motor work sample tests had the highest validity coefficients second only to biographical information. Verbal work sample tests were not as high as the motor, but they were in the top half of the predictors. 2. When the criterion was success in training, verbal work sample tests were more powerful in predicting success in training than in forecasting job proficiency. Verbal work sample tests had substantially more significant validity coefficients than the motor when there was a training criterion. The point-to-point theory does not preclude other possible explanations such as the interaction hypothesis, the work-methods hypothesis, and the transfer-of-experience hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A psychological and pedagogic study was made of a group of children between the ages of 7 and 12 years in whom the only abnormal feature in the case history was neonatal cerebral effects. There were no obvious neurological sequelae, adverse effects from the family environment, or any general retardation. Many different anomalies of function were observed, which caused learning problems in three specific areas: inadequacy of attention, inadequacy of motor control and inadequacy of emotional and thymic control. These were manifested in difficulties in the integration of inner experiences and problems in the development of a stable personality and cognitive and affective structures, despite the normality of the family environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore relationships between success in school and infectious childhood diseases, 25 children who had survived laboratory confirmed acute bacterial meningitis without observable sequelae were matched with 25 non-meningitic controls and subjected to intensive multidisciplinary examinations. The post-meningitic children differed significantly from their controls on measures of instructional receptivity, student image, motor coordination, and visual orientation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Factorial analyses of various eye-hand coordination tasks were computed by age and sex for longitudinal data from ages 4&fract;12 through 8&fract;12. The results indicated a reduction from 3 to 2 factors between 4&fract;12 and 5&fract;12 years for females and between 5&fract;12 and 6&fract;12 for males. These factors were tentatively identified as patterning and speed. Increases in performance means and decreases in standard deviations occurred with increasing age for both sexes. Generally, sex differences were nonsignificant. Theoretical models of skilled action development are discussed, with the results tending to support a construct standards model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the cerebrospinal fluid and monoamine and glucolytic metabolites in Alzheimer's disease. Determinations of acid monoamine metabolites in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) give valid information on the metabolism of the corresponding amines in the brain tissue. The monoamine metabolites in the CSF are related to age. The concentration of homovanillic acid (HVA) increases with age. Studies of CSF from patients with presenile and senile dementia have shown lower concentration of HVA. Brain hypoxia on the cellular level can be demonstrated by secondary changes in glucose metabolism.

Focuses on the maximum rate and minimal duration of repeated syllables, particularly for tongue-twisters. Experiment with strings of open syllables; Differences in motor skills; Phonetic material to the syllables.

The article focuses on the therapeutic aspects of psychological interview. It seems to have gone unnoticed by clinical psychologists, although the psychologist's contribution to individual diagnosis is now an accepted fact not only in his own mind, but in the minds of psychiatrist and social worker who work with him as a clinic team. The clinical psychologist is considered peculiarly fitted to undertake therapy in such instances because of "his knowledge of the neuroses and the possible effects of these upon verbal and manual skills." While it is not believed that in every instance the psychological interview includes therapeutic aspects, the frequency of therapeutic implications should make the clinical psychologist increasingly aware of the necessity for highly developed skill in this important technique.

The article discusses the use of toys as learning materials to enrich the experiences of young children. In selecting the toys to be employed, considerations should be focused on preschool environments, objectives and goals of preschool curricula and basic principles of learning. The educational setting for children should be enticing and encouraging for the child to do explorations. It should include a playhouse, for role playing activities and an outdoor space, for big muscle play to develop the general and specific motor systems of a child. It is also important to set objectives and goals for preschool curricula to be able to focus on the areas of learning that certain educational toys may be able to satisfy. Toy selection for preschool children must include a knowledge in child development.

This investigation attempted to identify perceptual-motor characteristics which might account for, or attribute to, the differences in academic learning ability in deaf populations of comparable CA and IQ. This exploratory study included an investigation of the following dimensions: sensory avenues of kinesthesis and vision, tasks of hand-eye coordination, gross body coordination, motor speed and planning, physical and motor fitness, and the balancing mechanism. The findings of the study indicated that significant differences existed between the groups on tasks involving muscular strength, motor speed, and motor planning, and also on tasks which involved greater integration of neuromuscular control. No significant differences were found between groups on tasks involving the balancing mechanism or sensory utilization. Comments are made on the feasibility of programs to ameliorate reported deficiencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides techniques on how to teach motor skills to the mentally retarded students. It is important that a special education teacher must use similar tone of voice each time he speaks and apply the same gestures. These procedures will be his major clue to an educator's feeling toward him. The student must be rewarded while he is still performing a desirable action. A good teacher must be patient enough to teach simple to more difficult motor tasks, depending on the student's performance.

The article reflects on the development of fractional approaches in special education in the U.S. The author points out that there were several criticisms on fractional practices in special education, but some of the criticisms rely on particular psychometric position regarding the nature of man's abilities. Several philosophers and pioneer practitioners of fractional approach were J. Itard, E. Seguin, and O. Declory, whose training approaches emphasized more on sensory and motor training, which then translated into modern day special education practices.

A rationale for the contribution of crafts to the self-realization of the educable mentally handicapped child may be provided in philosophy, motor and sensory training, and creativity. Crafts contribute toward the child's expanding concepts of reality, truth, and value. Motor and sensory experiences associated with crafts have prime importance in helping the child to think. Creativity as a process and a product has application for the retarded. The important creative product is the development of a unique individual. The project has prime importance as it contributed to the self-realization of the child and secondary importance as a teaching device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information for the teacher of young children in the introduction of scissors, the refinement of cutting skills, and the correction of habits that have led to problems in this area. It appears to the writers that there is a more significant role for cutting than the traditional uses. The author points out that a pair of scissors could serve as an aid to retention, as a tracking tool and they could provide the child with visible and tactile answers. It suggests the sequence in teaching cutting skills after the child has mastered the basic fine muscle operations in handling scissors.

The article discusses the enforcement of a technique in teaching writing to the handicapped child with cerebral palsy in the U.S. This article further elaborated the physiological and physical capabilities of a child to perform manuscript writing. The techniques aims to direct toward motor control or perceptual development of a child, which is fundamental for the success of the teaching process. One factor emphasized in this study is the certain amount of maturation. Therefore, the increased coordination and motor control in children with hand involvement may be due in part to physical advances attributable to therapy.

In any industry it is vital to know the quality of goods before they leave the manufacturer. In many cases the decision as to whether an article is above or below the required standard falls to a certain group of employees, the process of inspection usually requiring good powers of sensory discrimination, rapidity of perception and judgment, the intelligence to appreciate the standard of inspection and, frequently, manual dexterity in the handling of objects inspected. These are all qualities which can be measured by means of tests. In the following article Mr. Hearnshaw, a member of the Institute's staff, describes an investigation into the use of selection tests for those engaged on inspection processes in a paper mill. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prof. De Silva here describes the tests for motor drivers developed at the Massachusetts State College. The tests, though differing in mechanical details, are fundamentally similar to those devised by this Institute and described in The Human Factor, vol. viii, pp. 245—57. Part I of the article describes tests for reaction time and steering ability. Part II (which will appear in the next issue) deals with visual tests and the general test of road behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports that the Tapping test is a test of motor speed, and there seems very little variation in its standard use. In an alternative and unusual form of the test, attention is paid not to the number of taps produced in a given time, but to the area of the scatter of the dots produced. The first account of this scoring of the test is by L.S. Penrose who noted the differences of area of spread of dots produced by different categories of mental patients. H.J. Eysenck quotes findings that dysthymic patients scatter their dots more widely than hysteric patients, and all their abnormal groups had a wider scatter than normal controls.

The article focuses on the study regarding the use of manual dexterity and mechanical testing as methods of shop counseling for mentally handicapped male teenagers in the U.S. This methods were use in distinguishing the inherent traits and abilities of the mentally handicapped children. The details and process of testing administration in several shops chosen such as art, automobile, machine, tailoring and wood finishing are discussed.