Visually guided catching and tracking skills in pigeons: A preliminary analysis

Research on reaching, tracking, and catching in the pigeon has been hampered by limitations of technology. A new system was developed in which the target was a small rectangle presented on a video display terminal and the pecking response was detected with touch technology. The target moved up and down vertically with sinusoidal velocity. A coincidence between the location of the pigeon's beak and the cursor produced reinforcement. The pigeon pecked ahead and behind the target, but most pecks occurred behind the target so the dominant tracking strategy was lagging. The pigeon was adept at “catching” the target at many locations throughout the trajectory. Transfer of motor learning was tested on probe trials during which the trajectory changed from vertical to horizontal. On transfer trials the pigeons' dominant pattern of pecking immediately shifted from vertical to horizontal. The motor skill displayed by the pigeons was flexible and adaptive, suggesting that the pigeons had learned to track the cursor.     

Parent and actometer measures of motor activity level in the young infant

Motor activity level is one dimension of infant temperament for which parental judgment can be validated against a truly independent criterion. Two studies were conducted, the first involving a 27-min sample of behavior in a structured, attention-getting situation, and the second involving a 24-hr sample of in-home behavior. In both studies, parent perception of the 3- or 4-month-old as measured by the Activity Level (AL) scale of the Rothbart Infant Behavior Questionnaire was compared to the composited readings from four mechanical motion recorders (actometers) worn, one per limb, by the infant. The AL scale did not correlate with the actometer measure, r=.05 and R=.00, and the expected convergence of the 3-month version of the IBQ activity scale with its mechanical counterpart was not found. In the 24-hr study, birth order and ponderal index were significantly correlated with 24-hr actometer scores; first-borns and thin infants were most active.     

大学生镜像书写及其机制探讨

本研究选择60名右利大学生(男女各半)为被试,在笔划水平上对十四种不同书写方式下快速书写时所出现的自发性镜像书写进行了研究。所有被试随机分为人数相等的实验、对照两组,组内男女各半。对实验组加以注意干扰。书写内容是十个阿拉伯数字(0—9)及十三个汉字组成的一句话。本研究结果表明:注意干扰、感觉的反馈调节,书写内容的特点是影响镜像书写出现的重要因素。作者在分析国内外有关镜像书写工作的基础上,进一步提出了“稳态系统”理论。     

A review of behavioral procedures to teach motor skills to individuals with severe disabilities

Behavioral procedures are one approach to teaching or improving the fluency of motor skills of individuals with severe disabilities. This article provides a review of behavioral procedures by highlighting antecedents, consequences, and multifaceted techniques. Investigations are reviewed in each area according to (a) replicability of the intervention, (b) experimental control, (c) maintenance, (d) generalization, and (e) social validation. Practitioner implications address selection of reinforcers, reinforcement schedules, and teaching within meaningful routines. Future research recommendations highlight the need for documenting that stimuli are actually reinforcers. Additional research needs emphasize targeting maintenance, generalization, and social validation.     

Practices and representations of child care and motor development among West Africans in Paris

Massage techniques and postural manipulation used by West African women immigrants in Paris were studied, with the aim of demonstrating that culturally regulated caretaking practices have an influence on infant motor development. Twenty-five infants were observed between the ages of 3 and 12 months and 9 and 15 months. Frequency of massage and its accompanying set of physical exercises were found to be related to age at onset of independent walking. The findings show that infants receiving daily massage walk significantly earlier than infants who do not receive massage, thus confirming other reports that vestibular and postural stimulation have a positive effect on motor development. These results are discussed in relation to the observed frequencey of contact and of physical games with the caregiver for a smaller sample of three infants, and to parental expectations about the age of acquisition of certain cognitive and motor abilities. African immigrant mothers expect their infants to sit and to walk earlier than French mothers. The conclusion emphasizes the contribution of social anthropology, which shows that in all cultures, physical development and body changes elicit symbolic practices and a search for explanation.     

短时动作记忆的容量和精确度与动作学习的关系

该研究采用实验室实验法,被试自我报告分析及调查访问法,以三个年龄（１０岁、１４岁、１８岁）组学生及专项运动员为实验对象,揭示短时动作记忆的容量和精确度及其与动作学习指数的关系。结果表明：（１）被试的短时动作记忆容量为“５±２”,短时动作记忆的容量与动作学习的练习次数相联系;短时动作记忆的精确度与第一次动作练习的准确度相联系。（２）短时动作记忆的容量有随年龄增长而递增的趋势。（３）运动员与非运动员被试对于同类动作学习的练习次数存在显著性差异。     

弱智儿童感知动作技能特点的实验研究

本研究以难易程度不同的两个打洞操作作业 ,对弱智儿童和正常儿童的感知 动作技能进行了多种参数的测查。结果发现 :两类儿童在理解操作要点、操作速度、操作动作协调性以及操作正确性等各个方面都有明显的差异。同时通过比较 ,对弱智儿童感知 动作技能的特点 ,从外部肢体动作方式和内部智力动作方式两方面进行了详细的分析 ,并在此基础上对弱智儿童的感知 动作技能的教育与训练提出了建议 ,这对弱智学校改革教学、提高教学质量具有重要意义。     

孤独症儿童动作发展障碍的神经机制

动作发展障碍(Developmental motor disorders)是孤独症谱系障碍的常见特征。通过系统回顾孤独症儿童动作发展障碍的神经科学研究, 发现γ-氨基丁酸和5-羟色胺浓度的改变及γ-氨基丁酸相关蛋白和Shank蛋白的表达异常不仅会损害中枢神经系统的发育, 而且还能导致突触兴奋性与抑制性失衡, 进而改变孤独症儿童小脑和大脑皮层运动区的功能连接。孤独症儿童小脑、基底神经节和胼胝体结构的改变对全脑的连通性产生了负面影响。神经生化机制和脑结构的异常共同导致了脑功能的异常, 最终造成孤独症儿童的动作发展障碍。此外, 动作发展障碍与孤独症核心症状共同的神经基础主要包括镜像神经元系统紊乱, 丘脑、基底神经节和小脑异常以及SLC7A5和PTEN 基因突变。未来研究需要关注与运动密切相关的其他神经递质, 如乙酰胆碱和多巴胺; 探索动作发展障碍神经网络的动态机制及其形成; 剖析该障碍的神经机制和自闭症核心症状神经机制的相互作用。     

Action representation deficits in adolescents with developmental dyslexia

Developmental dyslexia (DD), a severe and frequent disorder of reading acquisition, is characterized by a diversity of cognitive and motor deficits whose interactions still remain under debate. Although deficits in the automatization of sensorimotor control have been highlighted, internal action representation allowing prediction has never before been investigated. In this study, we considered action representation of 18 adolescents with pure DD and 18 age-matched typical readers. Participants actually and mentally performed a visually guided pointing task involving strong spatiotemporal constraints (speed/accuracy trade-off paradigm). While actual and mental movement times of typical readers were isochronous and both conformed to Fitts’ law, the movement times of dyslexics differed between conditions, and only the actual movement times conformed to Fitts’ law. Furthermore, the quality of motor imagery correlated with word reading abilities. This suggests that the process of action representation is impaired in pure DD and supports the sensorimotor perspective of DD. Theoretical implications are discussed.     

The neural pathways mediating quiet-biting attack behavior from the hypothalamus in the cat: A functional autoradiographic study

Electrical stimulation of the region of the lateral hypothalamus produced a consistent form of quiet-biting attack behavior in cats. In one series of experiments, cats, implanted with electrodes from which attack had been elicited, were anesthetized and then were injected with a bolus of ¹⁴C-2-deoxyglucose at the same time as electrical stimulation was delivered through the attack electrodes. Brains prepared for X-ray autoradiography revealed that lateral hypothalamic stimulation activated the classical medial forebrain bundle pathway supplying the septal region, diagonal band, lateral preoptic area, and ventral tegmental region. Stimulation of quiet-attack sites in perifornical hypothalamus resulted in the activation of a much more extensive projection system which included the central and lateral tegmental fields of the midbrain and pons, and central gray region, as well as the structures described above. In a second series of experiments, ³H-leucine was placed into the region of the electrode tip from which attack was elicited in order to identify more precisely the pathways arising from that site. In general, tritiated amino acid radioautography replicated the ¹⁴C-2-deoxyglucose findings. In addition, the amino acid radioautographic data revealed the presence of extensive projections from perifornical hypothalamus to such pontine structures as the nucleus locus coeruleus, motor nucleus of NV , and the lateral pontine tegmental field. The functional connections between the lateral hypothalamic “attack region” and lateral preoptic zone were also confirmed by electrophysiological methods.