Focused attention and intrinsic motivation using animations for instruction of fundamental motor skills in children with Down syndrome

BACKGROUND

Children with Down syndrome (DS) demonstrate poorer performance in locomotor and ball skills than children with typical development. During motor assessment, keeping children's attention and motivation is challenging, especially for children with DS, which may affect the test outcomes. This study aimed first to examine the impact of examiner and App-animation demonstrations during the assessment on the performance of fundamental motor skills, focus of attention and intrinsic motivation for children with DS and neurotypical development (NTD). The secondary aim was to examine the differences in those outcomes between children with DS and neurotypical development.

METHODS

A sample of 24 children (10 with DS and 14 with NTD) aged between 3 and 10 years were subjected to two motor performance assessment protocols: a traditional protocol using the Gross Motor Development Test-3 (TGMD-3) and a protocol using animations from an application as support for TGMD-3 (AppP). The focus of attention was obtained from video recordings during protocol instruction (number of eye shifts, eye shift time, instruction focus time, number of instructions required and total instruction time). Intrinsic motivation was assessed by the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) at the end of each protocol.

RESULTS

The results showed no significant differences between the protocols for locomotor skills, ball skills and gross motor index. However, children with NTD outperformed those with DS in these skills. When analysing the focus of attention, children with DS showed greater ocular deviations and longer instruction time requested in the traditional protocol compared with AppP, even when compared with NDT children. When comparing protocols in both groups, AppP demonstrated fewer ocular deviations and shorter ocular deviation times. Regarding intrinsic motivation, children with DS in the traditional protocol had lower motivation scores than those with NTD. Regarding the purchase of protocols, in both groups, the AppP presented higher scores for interest/pleasure, perceived competence and general motivation, with lower pressure/tension.

CONCLUSION

The animated application (AppP) proved effective as a visual support during the TGMD-3 assessment, particularly benefiting children with DS by enhancing motivation and attention.

Models of Video Feedback for Youth Athletes Performing an American Football Tackle

CONTEXT

Video feedback is an expeditious method for improving athlete safety when performing activities with an inherent risk of injury. Providing appropriate and validated feedback during tackling training in American football may be a mechanism for athletes to learn safe tackling performance.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the effect of video feedback in the instruction of tackling form.

DESIGN

Controlled laboratory study.

SETTING

Laboratory.

PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS

A total of 32 youth football athletes (28 boys, 4 girls; age = 11.8 ± 0.8 years) participated in 1 day of training. Of those, 14 participants completed 2 additional days of training and a 48-hour retention and transfer test.

INTERVENTION(S)

Video feedback using self as model, expert as model, combined self and expert model, and oral feedback to promote safe tackling performance in a laboratory environment.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S)

Shoulder extension, cervical extension, trunk angle, pelvis height, and step length by training block and over time.

RESULTS

For the 1-day training group, main effects for time were observed for shoulder extension (P < .01), cervical extension (P = .01), pelvis height (P < .01), and step length (P < .01), with better performance for pelvis height and step length after combined feedback. For the 3-day training group, main effects of time were identified in pelvis height (P < .01) and step length (P < .01), with combined feedback showing better performance than other methods in shoulder extension and pelvis height. Combined feedback resulted in better performance compared with its component parts and oral feedback alone. In the combined model, participants viewed both their performance and the expert model, enabling them to see the difference between current and required performance.

CONCLUSIONS

Combined feedback may be superior to other forms of feedback in improving movement performance. This effect can be generalized across disciplines that provide instruction and feedback in movement.

Varied speeds of video demonstration do not influence the learning of a dance skill

The effects of slow-motion and real time video speed demonstration, under mixed-modeling conditions (skilled model plus self-observation), were examined to identify whether there was an optimal demonstration speed, or combination thereof, for learning the dance pirouette en dehors skill. Fifty-one participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups with different video demonstration speeds: (1) slow-motion, (2) real-time, or (3) a combination of slow-motion and real-time. Following a pre-test, participants completed eight blocks of nine training trials (comprised of five physical and four observational practice trials). Physical performance and cognitive representation assessments revealed that participants' scores significantly improved for both assessments throughout acquisition (p's < 0.05), as well as from pre- to post-test (p's < 0.001), indicating learning of the skill. There were no significant differences, however, between the three experimental groups. These findings suggest that both real-time and slow-motion video demonstration, or their combined presentation, do not yield differences in motor learning outcomes related to the pirouette en dehors.

Revisiting the Applied Model for the Use of Observation: A Review of Articles Spanning 2011-2018

Purpose: To provide a review of current articles that have used observation interventions to enhance motor skill acquisition or performance of applied tasks, and to situate the research within the Applied Model for the Use of Observation (AMUO) with the goal of forming a basis for evidence-based guidelines for practitioners. Method: Key words (e.g., observation/modeling) were searched in varied data bases (e.g., Google Scholar/PubMed), along with a citation search of the relevant AMUO article, to generate a pool of articles for possible review. Selection criteria included publication between 2011 and 2018, and that the research focus was on the effects of an observation intervention on the acquisition or performance of an applied motor task. Results: Forty-eight articles were reviewed, with 21 of these targeting the basic question of whether observation is effective, and the remaining pertaining to the What, When, Who, and How features of the AMUO. The effectiveness of observation interventions was not only affirmed, but also extended to a wider scope of populations and settings. Greater insight into the necessary information with respect to the demonstration (what) and whether it should be before, after, or during physical practice (when) was obtained. As well, advantages of combining model types (who) and providing control to the learner (how) were reported. Conclusions: While more clarity was brought to certain features of the AMUO that could be used to provide evidence-based guidelines, more research is needed to fully inform practitioners for the effective use of observation interventions.

THE EFFECTS OF VIDEO MODELING AND SIMULATION ON TEACHING / LEARNING BASIC VAULTING JUMP ON THE VAULT TABLE

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of different teaching / learning strategies (i.e., verbal feedback, video feedback with modeling, and video feedback with simulation) on performing basic vaulting skills on the vault table. Three male groups of undergraduate students in physical education (i.e., 135 students, divided into 3 groups of 45 subjects) took part in this study. The groups (i.e., traditional, modeling and simulation groups) were divided on equal terms; students are not gymnasts, have the same level and taught by the same teacher. All participants were pretested to determine initial skill level (i.e., direct piked vault). This study covers 24 stoop direct vault sessions, 21 learning and three evaluations spread over 12 weeks (i.e., 2 sessions per week). A video motion analysis (i.e., using Kinovea software) was used to evaluate direct piked vault skills/performance. The results indicate a better improvement of performance in the modeling group compared to the simulation and traditional groups (vault score, 11.80±1.22 pts, 10.85±1.50 pts and 9.01±1.30 pts, respectively with p<0.01). In addition, the analysis of delta-percentage revealed a considerable enhancements of technical performance in the modeling group (46.93%) compared to simulation (27.62%) and traditional (21.64%) groups. In conclusion, video feedback with model’s superposition had led to better learning improvements in vault jump compared with simulation and verbal feedback methods. The video return with the overlay of the model enabled a lot of basic skills learning improvement at the vault table.