Walking Speed and Global Cognition: Results from the OKLAHOMA Study

ABSTRACT

Executive functioning and processing speed have been related to physical functioning in non-demented, elderly samples; however, the relationship between walking speed and global cognition has not been examined. Six hundred and seventy-five community dwelling older adults were enrolled through their primary care physicians. Walking speed was assessed on a 50-foot course at usual pace. Global cognition was assessed with the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) Total Scale score. After adjusting for age, gender, and education, there was a strong inverse relationship between walking speed and global cognition, with slower walkers performing worse on the cognitive measures, faster walkers performing better on the cognitive measures, and the intermediate walkers performing in the middle. In these older adults, global cognition was related to walking speed.     

Avoidant instructions induce ironic and overcompensatory movement errors differently between and within individuals

Giving avoidant instructions can ironically result in the forbidden act being carried out, especially when the person is anxious or cognitive loaded. However, the consistency with which individuals make ironic errors across conditions remains unexamined. Forty participants were instructed to avoid moving a cursor above, below, left, and right when tracing an invisible line connecting two points while rehearsing seven-digit numbers on half of trials. Results showed that, without cognitive load, 26 participants made consistent overcompensatory movements, 10 made consistent ironic errors, and 4 showed no distinct error bias, with levels of somatic anxiety predicting this pattern. However, 21 (52.5%) participants changed their error tendency when cognitive loaded, indicating that movement effects of avoidant instruction were not experienced as general phenomena but rather differed between and within individuals. Overcompensatory errors made by participants grouped as overcompensatory performers under low load were significantly larger than the ironic errors made by participants grouped as ironic performers under low load, yet, paradoxically, ironic performers reported higher state and trait anxiety. Overall, results demonstrate a clear experimenter bias inherent in the use of avoidant instructions to direct participants' motor control.     

Using the process dissociation procedure to estimate recollection and familiarity in working memory: An experimental and individual differences investigation

Numerous studies have found that working memory capacity and perceptual speed predict variation in fluid intelligence. Within the cognitive ageing literature, perceptual speed accounts for substantial ageing variance in working memory capacity and fluid intelligence. However, within young adults, the interrelationships among these three abilities are less clear. The current work investigated these relationships via confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation modelling using tasks with verbal, spatial, and numerical content. The results indicate that working memory capacity and perceptual speed were not related in a large, cognitively diverse sample of young adults. However, both working memory capacity and perceptual speed accounted for unique variance in fluid intelligence. The results are discussed in relation to previous research with young and older adults.     

Psychological Aspects of Biblical Apocalypticism

Pastoral Psychology - This essay develops and illustrates the role of psychological process in the development of the Master Stories of Judaism and Christianity. This formative process is shaped by...     

Quantitative assessment of drawing tests in children with dyslexia and dysgraphia

Drawing tests in children diagnosed with dyslexia and dysgraphia were quantitatively compared. Fourteen children with dysgraphia, 19 with dyslexia and 13 normally developing were asked to copy 3 figures: a circle, a square and a cross. An optoelectronic system allowed the acquisition of the drawing track in three-dimensions. The participants’ head position and upper limb movements were measured as well. A set of parameters including movement duration, velocity, length of the trace, Range of Motion of the upper limb, was computed and compared among the 3 groups. Children with dyslexia traced the circle faster than the other groups. In the cross test, dyslexic participants showed a reduced execution time and increased velocity while drawing the horizontal line. Children with dyslexia were also faster in drawing certain sides of square with respect to the other groups.     

Construct validity of the pictorial scale of Perceived Movement Skill Competence

ObjectivesThe Pictorial Scale of Perceived Movement Skill Competence (PMSC) assesses young children's perceptions of movement skill competence: 12 perceived Fundamental Movement skills (FMS; based on the Test of Gross Motor Development 2nd edition TGMD-2) and six Active Play activities (e.g. cycling). The main study purpose was to assess whether children's movement perception scores fit within the imposed constructs of Active Play and FMS by testing the latent structure and construct validity of the PMSC.DesignConstruct validation study.MethodsParticipants were part of the Melbourne Infant Feeding, Activity and Nutrition Trial (InFANT). The latent structure of the PMSC responses was tested through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Bayesian Structural Equation Modeling (BSEM). Internal consistency was conducted using polychoric correlation-based alphas.ResultsThe 303 children (boys 53.1%, n = 161) were aged 4–5 years (M = 4.7, SD = 0.46). The final model had an 18 item 3-factor solution with good fit indices (using CFA and BSEM). Factors were: Active Play (Bike, Board Paddle, Climb, Skate/Blade, Scooter, and Swim), Object Control – Hand Skills (Bounce, Catch, Hit, Throw), and FMS skills with a leg action (Gallop, Hop, Jump, Leap, Run, Step Slide, Kick, Roll). Alpha reliability values were: Active Play (0.78), Object Control-Hand Skills (0.76) and FMS-Dynamic Leg (0.84).ConclusionYoung children can distinguish between movement perceptions. The factors reflect the hypothesized structure in terms of FMS being distinguished from Active Play. Further research should investigate how and if these constructs change in children over time.     

Intra- and inter-subject variation in lower limb coordination during countermovement jumps in children and adults

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the coordination pattern and coordination variability (intra-subject and inter-subject) in children and adults during vertical countermovement jumps. Ten children (mean age: 11.5 ± 1.8 years) and ten adults (mean age: 26.1 ± 4.9 years) participated in the experiment. Lower body 3D-kinematics and kinetics from both legs were obtained during 9 vertical jumps of each subject. Coordination pattern and coordination variability of intra-limb and inter-limb coupling were established by modified vector coding and continuous relative phase. The adult group jumped higher and with less performance variability compared to the children. Group differences were mainly observed in the right–left foot coupling. The intra-subject coordination variability was higher in coupling of proximal segments in children compared to adults. No group differences were observed in inter-subject variability. Based on these results, it was concluded that the same movement solutions were available to both age groups, but the children were less able to consistently utilize the individually chosen coordination pattern. Thus, this ability appears to be developed through normal ontogenesis.     

Quadrupedal movement training improves markers of cognition and joint repositioning

IntroductionExercise, and in particular balance and coordination related activities such as dance, appear to have positive effects on cognitive function, as well as neurodegenerative conditions such as dementia and Parkinson’s disease. Quadrupedal gait training is a movement system requiring coordination of all four limbs that has previously been associated with cognitive development in children. There is currently little research into the effect of complex QDP movements on cognitive function in adults.PurposeTo determine the effects of a novel four-week quadrupedal gait training programme on markers of cognitive function and joint reposition sense in healthy adults.MethodsTwenty-two physically active sports science students (15 male and 7 female) were divided into two groups: a training group (TG) and a control group (CG). All participants completed the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST) and were tested for joint reposition sense before and after a four-week intervention, during which time the TG completed a series of progressive and challenging quadrupedal movement training sessions.ResultsParticipants in the TG showed significant improvements in the WCST, with improvements in perseverative errors, non-perseverative errors, and conceptual level response. This improvement was not found in the CG. Joint reposition sense also improved for the TG, but only at 20 degrees of shoulder flexion.ConclusionsPerformance of a novel, progressive, and challenging task, requiring the coordination of all 4 limbs, has a beneficial impact on cognitive flexibility, and in joint reposition sense, although only at the specific joint angle directly targeted by the training. The findings are consistent with other studies showing improvements in executive function and joint reposition sense following physical activity.     

Visual perceptual and handwriting skills in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder

ObjectiveChildren with Developmental Coordination Disorder demonstrate a lack of automaticity in handwriting as measured by pauses during writing. Deficits in visual perception have been proposed in the literature as underlying mechanisms of handwriting difficulties in children with DCD. The aim of this study was to examine whether correlations exist between measures of visual perception and visual motor integration with measures of the handwriting product and process in children with DCD.MethodThe performance of twenty-eight 8–14 year-old children who met the DSM-5 criteria for DCD was compared with 28 typically developing (TD) age and gender-matched controls. The children completed the Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration (VMI) and the Test of Visual Perceptual Skills (TVPS). Group comparisons were made, correlations were conducted between the visual perceptual measures and handwriting measures and the sensitivity and specificity examined.ResultsThe DCD group performed below the TD group on the VMI and TVPS. There were no significant correlations between the VMI or TVPS and any of the handwriting measures in the DCD group. In addition, both tests demonstrated low sensitivity.ConclusionClinicians should execute caution in using visual perceptual measures to inform them about handwriting skill in children with DCD.     

An improved spatial span test of visuospatial memory

In the widely used Corsi Block Test and Wechsler Spatial Span Tests, participants must reproduce sequences of blocks in the order touched by the examiner until two trials are missed at the same sequence length. The examiner records either the maximum number of blocks correctly reported or the total number of correct lists. Here, we describe a computerized spatial span test (C-SST) that uses psychophysical procedures to quantify visuospatial mean span (MnS) with sub-digit precision. Results from 187 participants ranging in age from 18 to 82 years showed that accuracy declined gradually with list length around the MnS (by ～30% per item). Simulation studies revealed high variance and biases in CBT and Wechsler measures, and demonstrated that the C-SST provided the most accurate estimate of true span (i.e., the sequence length producing 50% correct). MnS declined more rapidly with age than mean digit span (MnDS) measured in the same participants. Response times correlated with both MnS and MnDS scores. Error analysis showed that omission and transposition errors predominated, with weaker primacy and recency effects in spatial span than digit span testing. The C-SST improves the precision of spatial span testing and reveals significant differences between visuospatial and verbal working memory.