Perceptual-motor Skills Research Articles

Screening surgical residents’ laparoscopic skills using virtual reality tasks: Who needs more time in the sim lab?

BackgroundThis study investigated the possibility of using virtual reality perceptual-motor tasks as a screening tool for laparoscopic ability. We hypothesized that perceptual-motor skills assessed using virtual reality will correlate with the quality of simulated laparoscopic ventral hernia repair. Materials and MethodsSurgical residents (N = 37), performed 2 virtual reality perceptual-motor tasks: (1) force matching and (2) target tracking. Participants also performed a laparoscopic ventral hernia repair on a simulator and final product quality score, and endoscopic visualization errors were calculated. Correlational analysis was performed to assess the relationship between performance on virtual reality tasks and laparoscopic ventral hernia repair. ResultsResidents with poor performance on force matching in virtual reality—“peak deflection” (r = –0.34, P < .05) and “summation distance” (r = –0.36, P < .05)—had lower final product quality scores. Likewise, poor performance in virtual reality–based target tracking—“path length” (r = –0.49, P < .05) and “maximum distance” (r = –0.37, P < .05)—correlated with a lower final product quality score. ConclusionOur findings support the notion that virtual reality could be used as a screening tool for perceptual-motor skill. Trainees identified as having poor perceptual-motor skill can benefit from focused curricula, allowing them to hone personal areas of weakness and maximize technical skill.

Young male taxi drivers and private car users on driving simulator for their self-reported driving skills and behaviors

This study investigated (1) the associations between young male drivers’ self-assessed driving skills and their driver behaviors on driving simulator, (2) the associations between their self-reported driver behaviors and their driver behaviors on driving simulator, and (3) the similarities and the differences between young male taxi drivers and private car users based on these associations. 38 male taxi drivers and 40 male private car users, between 18 and 25 years old, were provided a demographic information form, two self-reports for measurement of their driving skills and behaviors, and 9 km driving simulator scenario in the laboratory. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that safety skills and perceptual motor skills are in opposite associations with young male drivers’ speeds, overtaking behaviors, and their behaviors at traffic lights on driving simulator. Moreover, ordinary violations were found to be in positive association with young male drivers’ speeding, running a red light, and overtaking behaviors on driving simulator. Lastly, differing from each other based on the associations between their overtaking behaviors on driving simulator and types of self-reported violations, the results indicated that young male taxi drivers and private car users share a number of similarities in terms of their negative attitudes towards safety and aberrant driver behaviors in traffic.

Sport expertise development and the constraints-led approach

Objective: This review article delineates some important theoretical concepts that inform sport expertise acquisition studies. In particular, the principles of ecological psychology and dynamical systems theory have united together to form the ecological dynamics, a framework that provides the perfect platform through which to study the role of socio-cultural constraints upon sport expertise. Methodology: The body of information collected for this article was primarily extracted from peer- reviewed articles and academic books. This review article used Brazilian soccer as the case study. Results and discussion: Whilst the sports expertise literature has been guilty of somewhat polarising the influence of either practice or inherited attributes upon motor learning there are nonetheless many useful lessons to be learnt from this review article. For example, sport expertise development takes place over many years and includes numerous formal and informal pathways that athletes can take to excel. Conclusion: The constraints-led approach has been promoted as a framework for understanding how people acquire perceptual-motor skills for sport and physical activities. On a practical level, this approach suggests that the major role of the coach or teacher is to manipulate key constraints in order to facilitate discovery of functional movement behavior.

Clustering Analysis of Drivers Based on Behavioral Characteristics Regarding Road Safety

The present study was aimed at identifying driving behaviors and driving skills (i.e., ordinary violations, lack of experience errors, positive behaviors, lack of attention errors, dangerous errors, aggressive violations, perceptual-motor skills, and safety skills) in a large sample of young, middle-aged, and elderly tourists as specific subgroups of drivers based on combinations. Additionally, drivers’ risk-driving behaviors and skill deficits in terms of driving violations and errors, and traffic rule violations and accident involvements as measured by the Driver Behavior Questionnaire and the Driver Skill Inventory were evaluated. To this end, the questionnaires were completed by 681 participant drivers with three age subgroups (age 40), who had traveled to Baneh city in Iran. Based on a cluster analysis of driving behaviors and driving skills variables, five easily understandable drivers’ subgroups were investigated as safe drivers with low self-confidence, unsafe, and offensive drivers, safe, and skillful drivers, unsafe, and relatively unskilled drivers, and unskilled and relatively unsafe drivers. The drivers differed in terms of self-reported accident involvement, attitudes toward traffic safety and risk perception, and driving violations and errors. Finally, based on annual intentional and unintentional accidents and fines, the clusters were ranked. Then, the clusters were evaluated and analyzed statistically. The results indicated that unsafe and offensive cluster is the first unsafe subgroup among clusters. Safe and skillful cluster is classified as the safest subgroup among clusters.

The Tortoise and the Hare: Understanding the Influence of Sequence Length and Variability on Decision-Making in Skilled Performance

Tetris is a complex task which taps into several human skills: among them perceptual learning, planning, motor skills, and sequential decision-making. Following a divide-and-conquer strategy, we adopt a machine modeling approach to isolate the contribution of sequential decision-making from the other three skills. In two studies, we test three sets of 1,771,561 feature-based machine players (MPs) (116, 11 weights for each of 6 features) of Tetris for both long-running (tortoise) and short-running (hare) MPs. Tortoise models run until they die. Hare models are stopped after 506 episodes. For both studies, we select the longest running tortoise model and compare its score and behavior with that of the best scoring hare model. The best tortoise models adopt an endurance strategy which emphasizes single-line over multi-line clears. The best hare models adopt an escalation strategy which stresses multi-line clears. In contrast, our human players tend to adopt the escalation strategy early in their game but switch to the endurance strategy as speed demands increase. Unexpectedly, across three model runs, each with a different random seed, we obtain three different sets of “best fitting” models, that is, the MPs overfit the data even though that data is generated by an essentially infinite random sequence. However, in each model run, the best tortoise adopted the endurance strategy and the best hare adopted escalation.

Relationships Among Visual–Perceptual–Motor Skills, Sensory Processing Behaviors, and Handwriting in School-Age Children With Autism

Abstract Date Presented 4/21/2018 Research suggests that challenges in handwriting could be related to sensory processing skills. This study investigated whether a relationship exists between sensory processing and visual–perceptual–motor skills in handwriting in children with autism. Primary Author and Speaker: Rachel Diamant Additional Authors and Speakers: Brynn Nealon Contributing Authors: Hannah Brennan, Samantha Cao, Melinda Holder, Elena Stone, Deborah Walker, Fonta Wenger

Sürücülerin Algısal Motor ve Güvenlik Becerilerinin İşitsel ve Görsel İkincil Görev Sırasında Sergilenen Şerit Koruma Performansındaki Rolü

Mevcut çalışmanın amacı, sürücülerin algısal motor ve güvenlik becerileri hakkındaki değerlendirmelerinin işitsel ve görsel ikincil görevler sırasında sergilenen şerit pozisyonundaki değişkenliği yordama güçlerini araştırmaktır. Araç simülatörünün kullanıldığı deneylere toplamda 66 sürücü katılımda bulunmuştur. Görsel ve işitsel ikincil görev gruplarına eşit şekilde atanan katılımcılardan Sürücülük Becerisi Ölçeğini doldurmaları istenmiştir. Çoklu doğrusal regresyon analizlerinden elde edilen bulgulara göre, işitsel ikincil görev sürüşe eşlik ettiğinde, algısal motor ve güvenlik becerilerinin şeritten sapma miktarını yordamadaki katkıları anlamlı değildir. İşitsel görev grubundaki katılımcılar sadece sürüş ile ilgilendiklerinde, algısal motor becerilerin şerit pozisyonundaki değişkenlik ile negatif yönde ilişkili olduğu bulunmuştur. İkincil görevin görsel olduğu durumda ve aynı grubun sadece sürüşe odaklandığı durumda algısal motor beceriler ile şerit pozisyonundaki değişkenlik arasında negatif bir ilişki saptanmıştır. Hem işitsel hem görsel ikincil görev gruplarındaki tüm deney koşullarında, güvenlik becerileri ile şerit pozisyonundaki değişkenlik arasında anlamlı bir ilişki tespit edilememiştir. İlgili alanyazın temel alınarak çalışmadan elde edilen bulgular tartışılmıştır.

Interactions between Driving Skills on Aggressive Driving: Study among Chinese Drivers

Aggressive driving has attracted significant attention recently with the increase in related road traffic collisions occurring in China. This study aims to investigate the effect of driving skills on aggressive driving behaviors and traffic accidents to find implications for traffic safety improvement in China. A total of 735 Chinese drivers were recruited to complete a self-reported survey including demographic information, the translated Driver Skill Inventory (DSI), and Driver Aggression Indicator Scale (DAIS). Exploratory factor analysis was first conducted to investigate the factor structures of DSI and DAIS among Chinese drivers. Unlike the two-factor solution (i.e., perceptual-motor and safety skills) found in other studies, the current study result revealed a three-factor solution (i.e., perceptual-motor, safety, and emotional control skills) of DSI. Then, the interaction between DSI factors on DAIS factors, demographic variables, and the number of self-reported traffic accidents and offenses was tested by using moderated regression methods. The results revealed the interaction between perceptual-motor skills and safety skills on aggressive warnings committed by drivers themselves. The interactive effect between safety skills and emotional control skills on perceived aggressive warnings was also found. The results suggested that higher ratings of safety skills are essential for buffering the effect of high-level perceptual-motor skills and emotional control skills on aggressive driving in China. In conclusion, policy makers should be interested in understanding the effect of Chinese drivers’ skills on the aggression drivers committed and conceived in traffic. Successful intervention strategies should include all skill factors in the driver training contents.

The relationship between driving skill and driving behavior: Psychometric adaptation of the Driver Skill Inventory in China

Most road accidents are caused by human factors alone or in combination with other factors. Deficits in driving skill are a human factor that contributes to accidents. It is important to focus on driving skills to reduce traffic accidents and enhance safe driving. In this study, we adopted a Chinese version of the Driver Skill Inventory (DSI) and explored its correlation with driving behaviors, sociodemographic factors and personality. A total of 295 licensed drivers voluntarily completed a survey that covered the DSI, the Driver Behavior Questionnaire, the Positive Driver Behavior Scale, self-reported traffic accidents, penalty points and fines, the Big Five Inventory, and sociodemographic parameters. First, the results of principal axis analysis on the DSI yielded two clear factors: perceptual-motor skills and safety skills. Second, both perceptual-motor skills and safety skills were positively correlated with positive behaviors. Safety skills were negatively correlated with all aberrant driving behaviors (e.g., aggressive violations, ordinary violations, errors, and lapses), whereas perceptual-motor skills were negatively correlated with errors and lapses. Third, with regard to penalties, safety skills were negatively associated with penalty fines and points received within the past year, whereas perceptual-motor skills showed no such correlation. Fourth, with regard to sociodemographic parameters, perceptual-motor skills were positively correlated with years of holding a driving license, weekly driving distance and annual driving distance. Men reported higher perceptual-motor skills than women, whereas safety skills were unrelated to gender. Fifth, structural equation modeling was conducted to test the effects of personality traits on driving skill. The results showed that conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness to experience were significant predictors of perceptual-motor skills, whereas agreeableness and conscientiousness were significant predictors of safety skills. Overall, based on these results, the Chinese version of the DSI has acceptable internal consistency and a stable structure; thus, it represents a useful tool to measure driving skill. Moreover, the measurement of personality traits, which are important individual factors closely linked to driving skill, can aid in the education of professional drivers or to inform preventative and educational activities that focus on personality traits in addition to knowledge.

Influence of Different Visual Perceptual Constructs on Academic Achievement Among Learners in the NW-CHILD Study.

Visual perception plays an important and integrating role in the development of cognitive abilities and perceptual-motor skills. Visual perception comprises different independent constructs that may function in an integrative manner. This study aimed to determine whether (and the extent to which) various visual-perceptual constructs influence the academic achievement of 12-year-old school children. In a cross-sectional analysis, we extracted only 2016 data from 581 learners (mean age = 12.92 years, SD = 0.42) who were participants in the North-West Child Health, Integrated with Learning and Development longitudinal study (2010-2016). We used the Test of Visual Perceptual Skills, Third Edition, the North-West Provincial Assessment and mid-year school examination reports to determine visual perceptual abilities and academic achievement of this participant group. We calculated correlations between visual perceptual constructs and academic performance using Spearman rank order correlations and separately analyzed the influence of gender and socioeconomic status with independent T tests. Different visual perceptual constructs did have significant influences on specific areas of academic learning and on academic achievement generally ( r = .26 to r = .41). Spatial relationships showed slightly greater correlations with academic achievement ( r = .15 to r = .33) than did other basic visual perceptual constructs, possibly because spatial relationships are not completely developed at age 12. Complex and basic visual perceptual skills had medium significant retrospective correlations with grade point average ( r = .40 and r = .41) and first additional language ( r = .30 and r = .33). We concluded that basic and complex visual perceptual constructs remain important for academic achievement in this age-group, while gender and socioeconomic status influence both visual perceptual abilities and academic achievement.

Reported theory use in walking interventions: a literature review and research agenda.

There is mixed evidence with some suggesting walking can be increased up to the recommended level through interventions based on behaviour change models and others showing partial or no effects [Arbour and Ginis (A randomised controlled trial of the effects of implementation intentions on women's walking behaviour. Psychol Health, 2009;24:49-65); Merom et al. (Can a motivational intervention overcome an unsupportive environment for walking-findings from the Step-by-Step Study. Ann Behav Med 2009;38:137-46); Ornes and Ransdell (A pilot study examining exercise self-efficacy as a mediator for walking behavior in college-age women. Perceptual Motor Skills, 2010;110:1098-104)]. Taken together, prior studies suggest that ongoing research attention is warranted. Walking behaviour change intervention studies were searched using key search words 'walking promotion' and 'pedometer' in the PubMed database. Initially, 87 articles were found and 25 walking behaviour change interventions were reviewed to focus attention on reported theory use. Results of the review suggest that interventions that are theoretically underpinned may be no more effective than their counterparts. The Transtheoretical Model (TTM) and Social Cognitive Models were most frequently reported with positive effects noted for TTM use. The review also indicates that using single theory may be better than using multiple theories in a single intervention.

A meta-analysis of the effects of antidepressants on cognitive functioning in depressed and non-depressed samples.

A thorough understanding of the cognitive effects of antidepressant medications is essential given their frequency of use. This meta-analysis was conducted to investigate whether antidepressants differentially affect the various domains of cognitive functioning for depressed and non-depressed participants. An electronic search of PsycInfo, Medline and Google Scholar was conducted for all journal articles published between January 1998 and January 2017. Thirty-three studies were included enabling calculation of Hedges' g using a random effects model for the cognitive domains of divided attention, executive function, expressive language, immediate memory, perceptual motor skills, processing speed, recent memory, sustained attention, visuospatial-constructional skills and working memory. Results revealed that overall, antidepressants have a modest, positive effect on divided attention, executive function, immediate memory, processing speed, recent memory and sustained attention for depressed participants. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI's) were found to have the greatest positive effect on cognition for depressed participants, as compared to the other classes of antidepressants analysed. Antidepressants did not significantly affect cognitive function in non-depressed participants.

Agility Stimulators and Their Effects on Traditional Testing Protocols Case Selected Male Soccer Players

Baked on the theory, which advance the assessment of agility performance in the real game would depend on other factors such as Visual processing, Perception and Anticipation. To achieve this objective, we based on 18-meter test with five delimiters spaced by 3 meters between them, proposed in two situations. Situation (A), we refer to traditional agility tests, in which, we change the cone with flex players. The opposite of the situation (B) in which we integrate the Hexagonal Obstacle Test as part of the initial protocol with five dynamic players, asked to jump in four directions (left- center -/ right- center -front- center -back) into a single rhythm, coordinated by the examiner. For this proposal, 30 élite male Soccer Players participated in this study. Tested during the regional selection Oran league. Selected by attentional means based on their performance in 5-10-5 shuttle test.The comparison of results achieved in the two situations shows significant differences between them. Opposite of correlations strongly significant between the tests used in this study. The main conclusion of the study is that athletes regardless their Agility mental skills improvement. Can use our protocol to test their difficulties, according to the environment variables, for better concordances of perceptual motor skills to operate simultaneously. Record in the present study as strategy to improve Dynamic Decision Making, which involves continual decisions each with task-related tradeoffs, founded on cognitive functions such as visual processing, Timing, Reaction time Perception, and Anticipation as well as change of direction speed.

Improvement of balance in a 7-year-old child through a six-week learning programme

Given that human beings are constantly subjected to equilibration processes, developing basic perceptual motor skills, especially balance, is important. The main purpose of this study is the validation of the tasks and the progression of activities that form the learning programme for balance development in a six-week didactic unit of 12 sessions (2 sessions per week), for 6 to 9 year old children (1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade of elementary school in Brazil). The changes in balance after applying the programme are also analysed through a new measuring protocol using baropodometry. Although the session was put into practice in a class of 28 children, data were extracted from a 7-year-old child. This is a single-case study in which analysis has been performed measuring pressure, surface and area, points of peak plantar pressure, and stabilometry, with the help of a baropodometer. Results obtained show the highest score areas are in the Quartiles (Q) forming the hindfoot ( A= 60.40 cm 2 ; SD = 3.68 cm 2 ; p =.047), with a higher score in the peak pressure of Q2, located in the forefoot, ( A= 0.54 kgf/cm 2 ; SD= 0.04 kgf/cm 2 ; p = .030), and improvement in lateral oscillation of dominant foot ( A= 1.12 Hz; SD = .00 Hz; p = .00). The data obtained show the participation of the 7-year-old child in the balance development learning programme improves the area and the surface of support of the Center of Pressure (COP) in both feet, particularly in the dominant.

Transfer of Training from Virtual to Real Baseball Batting.

The use of virtual environments (VE) for training perceptual-motors skills in sports continues to be a rapidly growing area. However, there is a dearth of research that has examined whether training in sports simulation transfers to the real task. In this study, the transfer of perceptual-motor skills trained in an adaptive baseball batting VE to real baseball performance was investigated. Eighty participants were assigned equally to groups undertaking adaptive hitting training in the VE, extra sessions of batting practice in the VE, extra sessions of real batting practice, and a control condition involving no additional training to the players’ regular practice. Training involved two 45 min sessions per week for 6 weeks. Performance on a batting test in the VE, in an on-field test of batting, and on a pitch recognition test was measured pre- and post-training. League batting statistics in the season following training and the highest level of competition reached in the following 5 years were also analyzed. For the majority of performance measures, the adaptive VE training group showed a significantly greater improvement from pre-post training as compared to the other groups. In addition, players in this group had superior batting statistics in league play and reached higher levels of competition. Training in a VE can be used to improve real, on-field performance especially when designers take advantage of simulation to provide training methods (e.g., adaptive training) that do not simply recreate the real training situation.

Study on method of laparoscopic training based on eye gaze tracking techniques

In current domestic research on laparoscopic training, researchers usually consider instrument movement path in the hand-eye coordination relationship. However, they ignore the information contained in visual cues by which could guide and control instrument movements. Studies in other areas have shown that trainers can improve their perceptual-motor skills by gaze training. This paper was designed to examine the effectiveness of eye gaze tracking technology in laparoscopic training and to analyze gaze strategy of the subjects in different training methods. The Tobii X1 Light Eye Tracker was used to track the gaze position of subjects when they were performing the two-handed transferring task in box trainer, and to obtain parameters related to gaze strategy including the efficiency of task completion, as well as visual search, visual processing and observation transfer analysis based on Markov chain model. The results showed that the completion time during the last training in gaze training group was decreased by 101.5 s comparing to the first training. Compared with video training group, gaze strategy of gaze training group has a significant change, such as fixation and saccade duration rate was increased by 38%, fixation duration on target area was increased, and saccade amplitude increased by 0.58°, and the probability of the fixation point transferring to equipment decreased by 15%. The results demonstrated that eye gaze tracking technology can be used in laparoscopic training, and can improve the subjects' skills and shorten the learning curve by learning gaze strategies of experts.

The Computerized Perceptual Motor Skills Assessment: A new visual perceptual motor skills evaluation tool for children in early elementary grades

Visual perceptual motor skills have been proposed as underlying courses of handwriting difficulties. However, there is no evaluation tool currently available to assess these skills comprehensively and to serve as a sensitive measure. The purpose of this study was to validate the Computerized Perceptual Motor Skills Assessment (CPMSA), a newly developed evaluation tool for children in early elementary grades. Its test-retest reliability, concurrent validity, discriminant validity, and responsiveness were examined in 43 typically developing children and 26 children with handwriting difficulty. The CPMSA demonstrated excellent reliability across all subtests with intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs)≥0.80. Significant moderate correlations between the domains of the CPMSA and corresponding gold standards including Beery VMI, the TVPS-3, and the eye-hand coordination subtest of the DTVP-2 demonstrated good concurrent validity. In addition, the CPMSA showed evidence of discriminant validity in samples of children with and without handwriting difficulty. This article provides evidence in support of the CPMSA. The CPMSA is a reliable, valid, and promising measure of visual perceptual motor skills for children in early elementary grades. Directions for future study and improvements to the assessment are discussed.

Relationships between Static and Dynamic Balance and Anticipation Time, Reaction Time in School Children at the Age of 10-12 Years

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between anticipation time, reaction time and balance characteristics in school children at the age of 10-12 years.11 males and 12 females, 23 students in total, studying at Istanbul Sancaktepe Ibn-i Sina Elementary School, whose average age was 11.06 years, average height was 142.78 cm and average weight was 37.6 kg, voluntarily participated in the study. Height, body weight, anticipation time, reaction time, static balance and dynamic balance measurements were obtained from the subjects within the scope of the study. The descriptive statistics and the relationship between balance, anticipation time and reaction time parameters were investigated by using multiple correlations. The level of significance taken into account was (p<0.05). In conclusion, the significant relationships were found between auditory reaction time and 5 mph anticipation time and static and dynamic balance (p<0.05), between 3 mph anticipation time and auditory reaction time and choice reaction time (p<0.05), between choice reaction time and simple reaction time and auditory reaction time (p<0.05). These perceptual motor skills could affect each other. It is suggested that physical education teachers should teach children to improve their anticipation time, balance and reaction time ability during the physical education lesson. They could place PE programs some special drills to improve these abilities.

The Relationship Between Perceptual Motor Skills and Attention

Abstract: Although the relationship between perceptual motor skills and attention is reported in the literature, few studies have empirically explored this association. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between these constructs, using the Bender-Gestalt Test: Gradual Scoring System (B-SPG) and the Psychological Battery for Attention Assessment (BPA). The participants were 320 children from four public schools in a city located in the South of the state of Minas Gerais, with ages ranging from seven to 10 years (M = 8.39, SD = 1.10) and 196 (55.9 %) female. The results showed negative, moderate and significant correlations between the total scores of the instruments, indicating the relationship between the constructs. Although the data has confirmed the existence of a relationship between perceptual motor skills and attention, further studies with samples from other regions are necessary.

Validation of the German version of the Driver Skill Inventory (DSI) and the Driver Social Desirability Scales (DSDS)

The psychometric properties of the new German versions of the Driver Skill Inventory (DSI) and the Driver Social Desirability Scales (DSDS) were examined. The DSI is a self-report measure assessing perceptual-motor skills and the safety motive as two important aspects of driving behavior. Self-report measures, however, are susceptible to socially desirable responding (SDR) which is why both general and specific driving-related SDR scales have been developed: Based on the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR), the DSDS taps Driver Impression Management and Driver Self-Deception as two important aspects of SDR. In two validation studies with less experienced (N=130) and experienced drivers (N=1199), both inventories showed the expected two-factor structure and satisfactory internal consistency. In Study 1, self-ratings were compared with and confirmed by peer-ratings. In both studies, we accumulated evidence of convergent and discriminant validity for the German version of the DSI by correlating it with demographic, driving-specific, and personality measures, including the Big Five, Type A behavior, and sensation seeking. The DSI seemed to be only marginally contaminated by SDR.