Both observational and physical practices support the acquisition of motor skill knowledge in the form of spatiotemporal coordination patterns. The current experiment examined the extent that observation and physical practice can support the transfer of spatiotemporal knowledge and amplitude knowledge associated with motor skills. Evidence from a multijoint limb task revealed that knowledge abo...

When we learn a new skill (e.g., golf) without a coach, we are "active learners": we have to choose the specific components of the task on which to train (e.g., iron, driver, putter, etc.). What guides our selection of the training sequence? How do choices that people make compare with choices made by machine learning algorithms that attempt to optimize performance? We asked subjects to learn t...

Different memories follow different processing pathways. For example, some motor skill memories are enhanced over wakefulness, whereas others are instead enhanced over sleep. The processing pathway that a motor skill memory follows may be determined by functional changes within motor circuits. We tested this idea using transcranial magnetic stimulation to measure corticospinal excitability at 6...

Off-line learning is facilitated when motor skills are acquired under a random practice schedule and retention suffers when a similar set of motor skills are practiced under a blocked schedule. The current study identified the neural correlates of a random training schedule while participants learned a set of four-element finger sequences using their nondominant hand during functional magnetic ...

The efficacy of analogical instruction, relative to explicit instruction, for the acquisition of a complex motor skill and subsequent performance under pressure was investigated using a modified (seated) basketball shooting task. Differences in attentional resource allocation associated with analogy and explicit learning were also examined using probe reaction times (PRT). Access to task-releva...

PURPOSE Childhood obesity rates are increasing globally. Physical activity is one behavioral variable that influences weight status. Participation in physical activity requires basic gross motor proficiency in early childhood. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between gross motor skill level and weight status in a large national representative sample of kindergarten-aged...

the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of basic swimming skills training on gross motor skills in male autistic children (7-11 years old). for this purpose, 20 autistic children (mean + sd age: 10.3±1.05 yr and bmi: 18.9±1.76 kg/m2) were randomly divided into two groups of experimental and control (each group 10 subjects). the training protocol of the experimental group was impleme...

fundamental movement skills are observable patterns of motor behaviors including locomotor, manipulative, and stability activities. the aim of this study was to assess the gross motor development and the movement skill proficiency in elementary school children in tehran city. the test of gross motor development-2 (ulrich, 2000) was administered to 712 children aged between 7 and 11. performance...

background: children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder/developmental coordination disorder (adhd/dcd) suffer from problems associated with gross and fine motor skills. there is no effective pharmacological therapy for such patients. we aimed to assess the impact of methylphenidate (mph) on motor performance of children with adhd/dcd. methods: in this double-blind placebo-controlled,...