Improving fitness of dually diagnosed adults.

Lack of prior research led to this study on the effect of a physical fitness program combined with a token economy reinforcement system on the physical fitness of 22 dually diagnosed adults of a day-treatment program. Between pre- and posttests, subjects participated in a 12-wk, training program of 40 to 45 min. of exercise three times a week. Subjects received tokens after each session in which they participated actively. Analysis indicated significant differences between pre- and posttest scores for muscular endurance, cardiorespiratory endurance, and flexibility but not for body composition.

A preliminary investigation of the relationship between language and gross motor skills in preschool children.

This study was undertaken to explore the relationship between language skills and gross-motor skills of 28 preschool children from two private preschools in New York City. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were calculated for language (revised Preschool Language Scale) and gross motor (Test of Gross Motor Development) scores. Locomotor skills were significantly related to both auditory comprehension and verbal ability while object control scores did not correlate significantly with either language score. These results were discussed in terms of previous research and with reference to dynamical systems theory. Suggestions for research were made.

Personal values in sport of visually impaired and sighted wrestlers.

This investigation compared the priority given to 14 sport-related values by 11 wrestlers with normal sight and 11 with visual impairments. The Survey of Values in Sport was given to 22 high school wrestlers during the competitive season. Independent t tests were used to evaluate differences in priority of values between the two groups. Significant differences were found on cooperation, group coordination, being a good sport, and being in a good place, which wrestlers with visual impairments valued higher in priority than the wrestlers with normal sight.

Relationship among socialization, attitude, and placement with participation in physical activity of students with emotional disorders.

206 students, with emotional disorders, ages 14 to 21 years in mainstreamed and adapted physical education classes, were surveyed concerning their participation in physical activity, attitude toward physical activity, and the influence of significant others in their participation. Significant relations were found between participation in and attitude toward physical activity, influence of social systems, and physical education placement. Subjects showed activity preferences and rates of participation in physical activity similar to those of nondisabled peers. Subjects expressed positive attitudes toward physical activity and indicated that encouragement from parents, siblings, peers, teachers, and coaches was important in their participation.

Learning the direction and extent of a movement.

The hypotheses (a) that the memory trace and perceptual trace are independent memory states and (b) that they develop as a positive function of the amount of practice on the criterion movement were tested. The criterion movement studied was a linear displacement of a stylus in two dimensions (direction and extent) in the horizontal plane. The experiment had two phases: 92 acquisition trials with knowledge of results (KR) and 20 transfer trials without KR. Four groups of 10 male and female college students performed the acquisition trials under one of four movement conditions: (a) criterion extent and criterion direction, (b) criterion extent and varied direction, (c) varied extent and criterion direction, and (d) varied extent and varied direction. The data, showing support for the assumption and the hypothesis under test, were interpreted as evidence in favor of Adams' (1971) closed-loop theory of motor learning.