Factor structure of perceptual-motor attributes in normal children: a cross-validation

The scores on 22 items of the Purdue Perceptual-motor Survey, administered to 567 normal school children of mean IQ 103 and mean age of 116 mo., were subjected to R-factor analysis by the method of principal factoring with orthogonal varimax rotation. The analysis led to the definition of 10 factors: J, ocular control; K, dynamic balance; L, visual-motor fluency; M, chalkboard; N, unilateral-bilateral coordination; O, upper-lower body differentiation; P, form perception; Q, developmental maturation; R, sex; and S, spatial body perception. The results provide cross-validation for previous studies on the perceptual-motor attributes of normal school children.     

Psycholinguistic aspects of pauses and temporal patterns in schizophrenic speech

Schizophrenic speech was investigated at the moment of reading aloud paragraph-long stories andretelling them. Twenty white schizophrenic patients, with at least a high school diploma, were matched with 20 normals on the basis of race, educational level, sex, and age. Silent pauses (duration, frequency, and location), utterances (duration and syllable lengths, speech and articulation rates), and spoken hesitations (frequency and syllable lengths) were measured. When the semantic content of the stories did not agree with commonly held presuppositions, the speech characteristics of normals were analogues of the schizophrenic thought disorder.     

Saccadic exploration and perceptual-motor learning

A cognitive model of perceptual-motor learning by saccadic exploration is outlined. The model proceeds from the assumption that saccades are guided by anticipating their specific retinal change (intentional control of saccades). Perceptual-motor learning by saccadic exploration is described as the process of detecting the invariance which determines the relationship between efference and reafference.     

The discourse of thought-disordered schizophrenic children

The conversations of two thought-disordered schizophrenic children and two age- and sex-matched normal children were studied in three different contexts. Cohesive relations and retrieval categories were analyzed. The thought-disordered schizophrenic and normal children demonstrated divergent patterns of discourse. These patterns closely paralleled those previously reported for adults by S. Rochester and J. R. Martin (1979, Crazy talk: A study of the discourse of schizophrenic speakers, New York: Plenum) for schizophrenic and normal adults, although some discrepancies were also observed. Recommendations for future research are offered.     

Differential effect of lesion side on intra-individual variability in children with focal lateralized epilepsy

A differential impact of hemispheric side (left vs right) on cognitive measures, specifically Verbal and Performance IQ, has been described previously for both focal onset seizures and lateralized brain lesions. This study revealed a differential effect on intra-individual variability, measured as subtest scaled-score range, on the Dutch WISC-R and WISC-III, in children with epilepsy. The presence of documented brain lesion was associated with elevated variability on the Verbal Scale for the left hemisphere seizure group and with decreased variability on the Verbal and Full Scales for the right hemisphere seizure group.     

Relationships among perceptual-motor, self-concept, and academic measures for children in kindergarten, grades one and two.

Most studies reporting correlations of psychomotor and cognitive measures deal with perceptual-training programs for the remediation of academic deficiencies. This study provided additional information about the relationships of perceptual-motor ability and academic achievement for children in kindergarten through the second grade, and included self-concept. A small positive relationship between perceptual-motor ability and academic ability was observed for all three grade levels. There was little indication of any significant relationship between self-concept and academic ability, which provides no basis for the hypothesis proposing self-concept as an intervening variable in the relationship between the perceptual-motor and academic areas, at least for such young subjects.     

Laterality and directional preferences in a simple perceptual-motor task

The superiority of tensor or outward movements of hand and arm over flexor or inward movements has been described, but no evidence has been found relating to directional preferences in simple perceptual-motor tasks.

One hundred children, aged 9 to 13, 50 being right-handed writers and 50 left-handed writers, were tested on a stroke-making task, using both preferred and non-preferred hands. 75 per cent, of them exhibited a preference for outward movements of both hands, a finding which applied equally to both handedness groups. Thus an explanation based on writing habits is discounted.     

Redundancy in perceptual-motor testing: confirmation and generalization.

The Developmental Test of Visual-motor Integration was administered to 63 children in regular classrooms and 51 children in Special Education. Prediction based on total score (r = .68) was similar to a multiple R utilizing only five scores (.67). The over-all raw test score, based on all 24 designs, correctly classified 85% of the children while a combined abbreviated score utilizing only 5 designs achieved an 80% differentiation. Results were interpreted as confirming the hypothesis of redundancy in this perceptual-motor test.     

Differing Perceptions of Mothers,Fathers, and children Concerning Children's Academic Performance

This study examined the hypothesis that mothers' views of their child's performance on an academic task are more synchronous with those of their child than are fathers' views. Parents of 30 sixth-grade children were asked to predict their child's memory spans on a recall and a recognition task given to each child. Parents and children were also asked to judge the importance for the child's performance on 10 attribution factors created for use with memory tests. In line with the hypothesis, mothers predicted the child's memory span more accurately than fathers, and the mothers' attributions were more congruent with those of their children. Mothers were also more aware than fathers of the different demands of the two memory tasks. These findings suggest that mothers may be more aware than fathers of their child's academic progress and that mothers' attitudes and expectations may be more influential in determining the child's path of development.     

Sleep patterns and sleep disruptions in school-age children

This study assessed the sleep patterns, sleep disruptions, and sleepiness of school-age children. Sleep patterns of 140 children (72 boys and 68 girls; 2nd-, 4th-, and 6th-grade students) were evaluated with activity monitors (actigraphs). In addition, the children and their parents completed complementary sleep questionnaires and daily reports. The findings reflected significant age differences, indicating that older children have more delayed sleep onset times and increased reported daytime sleepiness. Girls were found to spend more time in sleep and to have an increased percentage of motionless sleep. Fragmented sleep was found in 18% of the children. No age differences were found in any of the sleep quality measures. Scores on objective sleep measures were associated with subjective reports of sleepiness. Family stress, parental age, and parental education were related to the child's sleep-wake measures.     

Sleep patterns and sleep disruptions in kindergarten children

Assessed sleep patterns and sleep disruptions in kindergarten children and investigated the relation between sleep measures derived from objective and subjective evaluation methods. The sleep patterns of 59 normal kindergarten children (mean age = 5.5 years) were monitored for 4 to 5 consecutive nights by means of activity monitors (actigraph) and by means of parental daily sleep logs. The correlation between the actigraphic measures and the daily parental logs indicated that parents were accurate reporters of sleep schedule measures. However, parents were less accurate in assessing sleep quality measures, significantly underestimating the number of night-wakings and overestimating the quality of their children's sleep. Fragmented sleep was found, by means of activity monitoring, in 41% of the children.