The effect of attentional focus cues on object control performance in elementary children     

Kara K. Palmer  Abigail L. Matsuyama  J. Megan Irwin  Jared M. Porter 《Physical Education & Sport Pedagogy》2017,22(6):580-588

Background and purpose: Attentional focus cues have been shown to impact motor performance of adults and children. Specifically, an external focus of attention results in improved motor learning and performance as compared to adopting an internal focus of attention. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of an internal and external attentional focus cue on children’s object control skill performance during a commonly used motor skill assessment.

Methods: Using a within-participant design, a total of 44 children (M_age?=?7.7 years, 20 boys and 24 girls) completed all three attentional focus conditions. The object control subscale of the Test of Gross Motor Development-2nd Edition (TGMD-2; Ulrich, 2000. Test of Gross Motor Development-2. Austin: Pro-Ed.) served as the motor skill assessment in present study. The TGMD-2 is a normed and criteria-referenced assessment frequently used to assess fundamental motor skill competence in children. The object control subtest of the TGMD-2 assesses a child’s ability to complete six fundamental motor skills – striking a stationary ball, stationary dribble, catch, kick, overhand throw, and underhand roll. All participants completed the object control subtest of the TGMD-2 under three different attentional focus conditions: baseline (i.e. neutral focus), internal, and external. The internal cue focused on movement performance and the external cue focused on movement outcome. In all three conditions, a video demonstration of proper skill performance was used to ensure no difference in visual demonstration, but the overlaying audio was changed to encompass each attentional focus condition. Children’s motor performance was recorded and later coded by a single researcher blinded to the study. A repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to determine if children’s motor scores changed among the three conditions.

Results: Findings demonstrated that children’s performance differed among the three conditions (F_(2,43)?=?3.5, p?Post hoc analysis revealed that children scored significantly better in the external cue condition compared to the baseline (difference?=?1.98, p?Conclusion: Children performed better when given a verbal instruction to focus their attention externally rather than a verbal instruction with no attentional focus cue. No significant differences exist between the internal and external focus condition or between the neutral and internal condition. Our findings align with the literature and support that external attentional focus cues have a positive effect on motor performance. From a teaching and learning standpoint, using consistent instructions appears to be essential for young learners. Slight changes in verbal cues can have a significant effect on how well children execute fundamental motor skills.  相似文献   

‘What's a fixed‐term exclusion,Miss?’ Students' perspectives on a disciplinary inclusion room in England     

Gwen Gilmore 《British Journal of Special Education》2013,40(3):106-113

Marginalised students in education are often formally excluded and further disadvantaged by school disciplinary approaches. This leads to school behaviour codes not being followed by students. This result is often linked to individualised student disciplinary responses. Further, formal student exclusion from schools remains a controversial international practice driven by eclectic government policy. Yet there is limited research on student perspectives within debates on the value of interventions designed to reduce fixed‐term exclusion and promote children's participation in education. This study, by Gwen Gilmore of the College of Education at Victoria University, Melbourne, presents the perspectives of five Year 8 and 9 students who participated in a disciplinary inclusion room designed to reduce fixed‐term exclusion in a secondary school located in England. The research methodology is framed by a cultural historical activity theory approach, and mixed methods reported include document analysis and student interviews. Students stated that the disciplinary inclusion room enabled them to continue their learning and that this discipline model complemented the processes of education. These students' perspectives challenge recent narratives on disciplinary provision and provide possibilities for schools to consider how discipline can be organised towards practices that are more inclusionary and potentially educative.  相似文献   

Reviews     

Gary L. McDowell  Abigail M. Thernstrom 《Academic Questions》1993,7(1):86-99

During the past year he was a Bradley Fellow at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D. C.  相似文献