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Effects Of Light And Heavy Equipment On The Acquisition Of Sports-Type Skills By Young Children

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Effects Of Light And Heavy Equipment On The Acquisition Of Sports-Type Skills By Young Children

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Content This dissertation has been 64-13,516 m icrofilm ed exactly as received WRIGHT, Edward John Albert, 1929- EFFECTS OF LIGHT AND HEAVY EQUIPMENT ON THE ACQUISITION OF SPORTS-TYPE SKILLS BY YOUNG CHILDREN. University of Southern California, Ph.D., 1964 Education, physical U niversity Microfilms, Inc.. A nn Arbor, M ichigan EFFECTS OF LIGHT A N D HEAVY EQUIPMENT O N THE ACQUISITION OF SPORTS-TYPE SKILLS BY YOUNG CHILDREN by Edward John A lb e rt W right A D is s e rta tio n P resen ted to th e FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In P a r t i a l F u lfillm e n t o f the R equirem ents f o r the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (P h y s ic a l E ducation) June 1964 UNIVERSITY OF SO U T H E R N CALIFORNIA T H E G RA D U A TE SC H O O L U N IV ER SITY PA RK L O S A N G ELES. C A L IF O R N IA 9 0 0 0 7 This dissertation, written by under the direction of h..±M..Dissertation Com mittee, and approved by all its members, has been presented to and accepted by the Graduate School, in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of D O C T O R OF P H IL O S O P H Y 653b Dean Date J u n e l9 6 i4 . >SERTATION/CDM MITTEE TABLE OP CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I . INTRODUCTION ............................................................... 1 The Problem D efin itio n o f Terms Procedure O rganization o f the Remainder o f the Study I I . REVIEW OP RELATED LITERATURE........................... 10 S tudies o f Normative P hysical Performance Tests S tudies o f Learning S ports S k ills Experim ental S tudies o f P roprioception S tudies o f R etention o f S k ills C urrent Theories o f P roprioception I I I . EXPERIMENTAL D ESIG N ............................................. 45 General Design D escription o f Sports-Type S k ills IV. THE EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE ................................ 69 The S ubjects The A ssista n ts A dm inistration o f the P hysical Performance TestB The Learning S itu a tio n A dm inistration o f the Sports-Type S k ill Tests A dm inistration o f the Sports S k ill R etest V. THE DATA: PHYSICAL PERFORM ANCE TESTS . • 77 O rganization o f the Data Equation and C la s s ific a tio n of Experim ental Groups VI. THE DATA: SPORTS SKILLS.................................... 94 Performance in S k ill Event Tests R etention o f Learning Summary i l l CHAPTER PAGE V II. SU M M A R Y A N D CONCLUSIONS............................................. 120 Summary Findings Conclusion Recommendations BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................................................................... 126 APPENDICES APPENDIX A: Group D a t a ....................................... 134 APPENDIX B: I n i t i a l Test S c o r e s ...................... 139 APPENDIX C: R etest S c o r e s ................................... 144 APPENDIX D: D escription of the P hysical Performance T e s t s ........................... 149 LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE I . Age Means f o r G rip S tre n g th o f Boys o f School Age; Age Means f o r G rip S tre n g th o f G ir ls o f School Age • • • • 15 II* Standing Broad Jump Comparative Measures 20 III * Humber o f C hildren in E xperim ental Groups 71 IV* Comparative Data f o r Grade D is trib u tio n s o f Handgrip S tre n g th Scores ........................ 79 V* Comparative Data fo r Grade D is trib u tio n s o f S it-U p S c o r e s ...................* ...................... 81 VI* Comparative Data f o r Grade D is trib u tio n s o f 50 Yard Dash Measures •• • • • • • 82 V II. Comparative Data f o r Grade D is trib u tio n s o f U t i l i t y B a ll Throwing Measures • • • 84 VIII* Comparative Data f o r Grade D is trib u tio n s o f S tanding Broad Jump Measures • • • • 86 IX* P e rc e n tile Scores o f Second and Third Grade G irls f o r Five P h y sical P er formance Test Item s • • • ........................... 87 X* P e ro e n tile Scores o f Second and Third Grade Boys f o r Five P h y sic al P er formance Test Item s • • • • • • • • • • 89 XI* Data o f Summed NTN Scores f o r A ll Four Experim ental Groups • • • • • • • • • • 91 TABLE PAGE X II. S ig n ifican ce o f the D ifference Between Means o f Summed H TN Scores fo r A ll Groups .......................................................... 93 X III. Means and Standard D eviations of Test and R etest Scores f o r A ll Groups . . . 97 XIV. Values o f T f o r the D ifference Between Mean8 o f SportB S k ill Measures Compar ing Heavyweight and Lightweight Equipment • • • • • ................................. •• 100 XV. Values o f T f o r D ifference Between Means o f Sports S k ill R etest Measures Compar in g Heavyweight and Lightweight E qu ipm ent.............................................................. 102 XVI. Values o f T fo r Sez D ifferences Between Means o f I n i t i a l Test Intra-G roup S k ill M e a s u r e s ................................................. 104 XVII. Values o f T fo r Sez D ifferences Between Means o f R etest Intra-G roup S k ill Measures • • • • • 106 XVIII. Mean Percentages fo r R etention o f Learn ing f o r Sez-Groups in Both Grade L e v e l s ................................................................... 107 XIX. Values o f T f o r D ifferences Between Means o f Heavyweight and Lightweight R etention S o o r e s ................................................................... 109 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE PAGE 1* "Bowl th e Kingpin Down” .................................... 56 2. B ask etb all Free T h r o w ........................................ 59 3* Target Throw f o r A c c u r a c y ............................... 63 4. B aseball B a ttin g S k ill • • • • • .................. 67 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Contemporary anatom ical and p h y sio lo g ical research undertaken to In v e stig a te the s tru c tu re and function of the organs of pro prioceptio n has re su lte d in an Increasing body of knowledge concerning t h e i r in flu en ces upon the co n tro l o f muscle a c tio n . This knowledge has also stressed the v i t a l ro le s th a t the p roprioceptors play in comple menting the k in e s th e tic sense during the le a rn in g and performance o f movement s k i l l s . S im ila rly 9 neuro- p h y sio lo g ical re search fin d in g s in th is area have helped to d e lin e a te the complex functionings of both the p rop rio ceptors and t h e i r c lo se ly a llie d BenBory and motor neuro- mechanisms. Some o f these fin d in g s have re su lte d in the form ulation o f new hypotheses and th e o rie s re le v a n t to the p rop rioceptive f a c i l i t a t i o n o f muscle tis s u e . I f the p rin c ip le s b asic to these th e o rie s can be applied in order to bring about improvements in teaohing and performance standards* then th ese th e o rie s may s ig n ific a n tly influence contemporary teaching p ra ctlo e s and techniques o f in s tr u c tio n . Egstrom* Logan and W allis (17:420) conducted a r e 8earoh study of p ro p rio cep to r function involving college s tu d e n ts. They found th a t the- use o f a heavy b a ll during the le a rn in g period tended to Im pair s k i l l tra n s fe re n c e . However, once the s k i l l had been acq u ired , the use o f the heavy b a ll seemed to Increase the accuracy of the novel motor s k i l l perform ance. In d iscu ssin g the r e s u l t s of t h e i r study they re la te d these fin d in g s to a speculated theory o f "flow er spray ending feed back." which was i n i t i a l l y suggested as a p o s s ib ility by H ellebrandt (3 0sll). The p resen t study is an attem pt to explore the im p lic a tio n s of t h i s suggested theory by examining the r e la ti v e e f f e c ts o f l i g h t and heavy equipment on the le a rn in g and re te n tio n o f s k i l l s by young ch ild ren w ithin a p r a c tic a l s itu a tio n Involving in s tr u c tio n , p ra c tic e and perform ance• Recent developments in the manufacture o f a g re a t v a rie ty of lig h tw eig h t sp o rts equipment using polyethy le n e . p l a s t i c , and fib e r g la s s have stim u lated the need fo r te s tin g r e la te d hypotheses in c o n tro lle d s itu a tio n s . Often these sy n th e tic products are constructed to re g u la tio n s p e c if ic a tio n s but t h e i r weight i s only a fra c tio n o f the standard equipment. By u tlljrz ln g both types o f equipment in a p r a c tic a l s itu a tio n , some o f the fu n ctio n s o f the p ro p rio c ep to rs could be te s te d exp erim en tally , and some fin d in g s might be made concerning t h e i r r e la tiv e e f f e c ts on the performance o f elem entary school age ch ild ren le a rn in g and re ta in in g sp o rts-ty p e s k i l l s . 3 Often the p h y sical education program in the elem entary school su p p lie s stan d ard s p o rts equipment to a l l s ix grade l e v e l s . A seven y e a r old g i r l must le a rn to shoot b ask ets w ith a stan d ard type b a s k e tb a ll and back board. Would t h i s young g i r l m aster t h i s s k i l l more e f f i c i e n t l y i f a l i g h t e r b a ll was s u b s titu te d f o r th e reg u l a t io n w eighted b a s k e tb a ll? Oould the h e a v ie r b a ll e l i c i t a response from the flow er spray endings and thus a id the r e f le x c o n tro l o f the s k ill* as suggested by Egstrom, Logan and W a llis ' d iscu ssio n o f t h e i r fin d in g s? The p re se n t study i s an attem p t to fin d pragm atic answers to such q u e stio n s . The Problem The re c e n tly conducted experim ental study under taken by Egstrom, Logan and W allis (17:420) in v e s tig a te d the a c q u is itio n o f a throw ing s k i l l u sin g a heavy and l i g h t b a l l . The s u b je c ts who p ra c tic e d th e s k i l l w ith the l i g h t b a ll were ab le to t r a n s f e r s k i l l b e t t e r than those who p ra c tic e d w ith the heavy b a l l . TheBe au th o rs sp ecu lated t h a t t h i s f a c t was a p p a re n tly due to the o p eratio n o f neurom uscular f a c i l i t a t i o n in v o lv in g sensory re c e p to r feed back mechanisms in the m uscles and j o i n t s . Evidence o f p ro p rio c e p to r s tr u c tu r e and fu n c tio n , as s ta te d by H elleb ran d t (30:11) was c ite d to complement t h e i r p o s tu la te d th eo ry o f the "flo w er spray ending feed back" mechanism. I f the use o f r e la tiv e ly lig h tw eig h t equipment a id s the r e f le x c o n tro l of s k ille d movement, then by applying t h i s fin d in g to seven and e ig h t y ea r old ch ild ren using both types of equipment w hile acq u irin g sp o rts s k i l l s , a p r a c tic a l in v e s tig a tio n o f the "flow er spray ending feed back" theory could t e s t the r e la tiv e im p lica tio n s o f th is theory f o r s k i l l teach in g . Purpose o f the Study The purpose of th is study was to t e s t c e rta in hypotheses about the n eu ro -p h y sio lo g ical phenomenon o f p ro p rio c ep tiv e f a c i l i t a t i o n by observing the r e la tiv e e f fe c ts o f l i g h t e r and h e a v ie r equipment on the a c q u is itio n o f se le c te d s k i l l s by ohlldren in the second and th ir d grades. Statem ent o f the Problem S p e c ific a lly , w ith in the co ntext o f the general purpose, the study was designed to t e s t the follow ing hypo th eses: 1. Learning o f s k i l l s i s favored by the use of r e la tiv e ly lig h tw e ig h t sp o rts equipment. 2. R etention o f s k i l l s by young c h ild re n i s more e f f e c tiv e i f lig h tw e ig h t equipment i s u t i l i z e d . The d ata were also used to t e s t c e rta in s p e c ific su b sid ia ry hypotheses: 5 1. Age groups e x h ib it d iffe re n c e s in performance in re s p e c t to the w eight o f equipment used during the a c q u irin g and r e ta in in g o f s k i l l s . 2. Sex d iffe re n c e s , as dem onstrated by the performance o f boys and g i r l s , are in flu en ced by th e r e l a t i v e w eight o f equipment used. Scone o f the Study The s u b je c ts p a r tic ip a tin g in the i n i t i a l sta g e s o f t h i s experim ental study were n in e ty -n in e stu d e n ts a tte n d in g th e U n iv e rsity Elem entary School, which i s the la b o ra to ry school o f the Department o f E ducation, U niver s i t y o f C a lifo rn ia a t Los A ngeles. For purposes o f the experim ent p ro p er, t h i s number was reduced to n in e ty - s ix c h ild re n . The age range o f th ese s u b je c ts was between s ix y ea rs and n in e months and e ig h t y e a rs and nine months. A ll c h ild re n were e n ro lle d in the Lower School U nit and would be c l a s s i f i e d as second and th ir d grade stu d e n ts in th e p u b lic school system . A fiv e item p h y sic a l perform ance t e s t b a tte r y was ad m in istered to the o r ig in a l sample o f n in e ty -n in e c h ild re n . On the b a s is o f stan d ard soores derived from the raw sco res o f th e p h y sic a l perform ance t e s t , th e sample was equated in to fo u r equal groups o f tw en ty -fo u r c h ild re n . Each group comprised twelve boys and tw elve g i r l s , and a t 6 both the second and th ird grade le v e ls th e re were two equated groups. One group a t each grade le v e l was assigned to lig h tw e ig h t equipment, w hile the o th e r grade group was assigned the re g u la tio n type equipment. Each lig h tw eig h t group and heavyweight group was tau g h t the fo u r sp o rts-ty p e s k i l l s and then te s te d in the s k i l l two days a f t e r the teach in g le sso n . Nine months a f t e r the i n i t i a l t e s t s were completed, a l l fo u r groups were r e te s te d in the fo u r s k i l l s to s a ti s f y the requirem ents o f the re te n tio n o f le a rn in g study. D efin itio n o f Terms In o rd er to c la r if y intended meanings o f words employed in th is study, th e follow ing terms are defined: O verload. An in crease in re s is ta n c e o r w eight on a muscle o r a group o f m uscles. Underload. A decrease in re s is ta n c e o r weight on muscles as compared to overload. Heavyweight eaulpm ent. Standard or re g u la tio n siz e d , norm ally weighted type o f sp o rts equipment. Lightw eight equipment. S ports equipment manu fa c tu re d from s y n th e tic m a te ria ls having re g u la tio n size but r e la ti v e l y l i g h t w eight. K IneB thesis. That sense o f fe e lin g by which an 7 in d iv id u a l i s aware of the r e l a t i v e p o s itio n o f the body p a r ts in space and o f the e x te n t and fo rce o f m uscular c o n tra c tio n . P ro p rio ce p tiv e f a c i l i t a t i o n . The theory th a t sensory feed back coming from m uscles, tendons and jo in ts a f f e c t s movement p a tte r n s , in th a t a change o f re sp o n siv e n ess in one component o f a movement-complex tends to spread autonomously to the o th e r c o n s titu e n ts . P h y sical performance t e s t . A t e s t co n stru c te d o f p h y sical s k i l l t e s t item s t h a t presumably serve to ev alu ate the p h y sical f i t n e s s o r a b i l i t y o f in d iv id u a ls te s te d . S k i ll t e s t . A performance type t e s t which has been designed and c o n stru c te d to measure p lay in g a b i l i t y in a s p e c if ic s p o rt or one phase o f a s p o r t. P h y sic al a b i l i t y . Demonstrated s k i l l in perform ing d i f f e r e n t s p o rts o r elem ents o f v a rio u s sportB a c t i v i t i e s . Procedure The procedure f o r th is study was undertaken in th e follow ing g en eral sequence. The review o f r e la te d l i t e r a t u r e was divided in to fiv e s e c tio n s . These were e n t i t l e d N o rm ativ e S tu d ies o f P h y sical Perform ance"; "S tu d ies o f Learning S p o rts S k i lls " ; "Experim ental S tu d ie s o f P ro p rio c e p tio n "; "S tu d ies o f R etention o f S k i ll s " ; and "C urrent T heories o f P ro p rlo - c a p tio n " • Five s u ita b le p h y sic a l perform ance t e s t item s were s e le c te d and ad m in istered to the t o t a l experim ental group in o rd e r to o b tain a measure o f in d iv id u a l p h y sic a l performance a b i l i t y . On the b a s is o f summed standard sco res derived from the fiv e t e s t item s, a l l su b je c ts were ranked in o rd e r and fo u r groups were equated. Four s p o rts -ty p e s k i l l s were s e le c te d and m odified a f t e r a p i l o t study was conducted w ith e q u iv a le n t age groups n o t p a r tic ip a tin g in the stu d y . One group a t each grade le v e l was randomly assigned to use lig h tw e ig h t equipment throughout th e e n t i r e e x p e ri m ent. The com parative group a t th e same grade le v e l was assigned to heavyweight equipm ent. Each group was tau g h t th e fo u r s p o rts s k i l l s using t h a t type o f equipment p re v io u sly a llo c a te d to i t by the random sample tech n iq u e. Two days a f t e r the i n i t i a l teac h in g le s s o n , each group had th e s k i l l t e s t ad m in istered to o b ta in a measure o f the r e la t i v e performance le v e l o f In d iv id u a ls in each group. S upervising te a c h e rs , a s s o c ia te te a c h e rs , and stu d e n t te a c h e rs served as a d m in is tra tiv e a s s i s t a n t s d u r ing a l l t e s t i n g p e rio d s. In s tru c tio n in the s p o rts -ty p e s k i l l s and the a d m in istra tio n o f the t e s t s took place on th e playgrounds o f the U n iv e rsity Elem entary School, as p a r t o f the normal program o f p h y sic a l ed u c atio n . This program was conducted every day o f the school week between one and th re e o 'c lo c k in th e a fte rn o o n . Nine months a f t e r th e i n i t i a l t e s t i n g o f s k i l l s , a l l su b je c ts were r e te s te d in o rd e r to g a th e r d ata about the le v e l o f s k i l l r e ta in e d . During th e r e te s t i n g , th a t w eight o f equipment o r ig in a lly assig n ed to each su b je c t was used ag a in . An a n a ly s is o f the d a ta was undertaken w ith re fe re n c e to the hypotheses form ulated in th e statem en t o f the problem o f t h i s stu d y . O rganization o f th e Remainder o f the Study S tu d ies p e r tin e n t to the p re se n t in v e s tig a tio n are reviewed and c u rre n t th e o rie s o f p ro p rio c ep tio n a re surveyed in C hapter I I . The experim ental design is d i s cussed in Chapter I I I . C hapter IV c o n ta in s a d e s c rip tio n o f the experim ental pro cedure. The a n a ly s is o f the d ata f o r th e p h y sical performance t e s t s i s p resen ted in C hapter V. C hapter VI provides the a n a ly s is o f th e d a ta fo r the s p o rts s k i l l s . The study i s summarized and th e con c lu sio n s drawn in C hapter V II. CHAPTER I I REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE The re se a rc h l i t e r a t u r e d e a lin g w ith v ario u s a s pects o f p h y sical performance and s k i l l development o f o ld e r elem entary school ch ild ren Is e x te n siv e , but few stu d ie s o f seven and e ig h t y ear old c h ild re n have been re p o rte d . In g e n e ra l, th is review o f l i t e r a t u r e Is lim ite d to those stu d ie s th a t have u t i l i z e d su b je c ts from the f i r s t th re e grade le v e ls o f the elem entary school. The f i r s t se c tio n of t h i s ch a p te r review s norm ative stu d ie s In v e s tig a tin g the p h y sical perform ances o f young c h ild re n . Five s tu d ie s re la te d to the le a rn in g o f sp o rts s k i l l s by young c h ild re n are summarized In the second s e c tio n . No experim ental s tu d ie s o f p ro p rio cep tio n In volving c h ild re n were lo c a te d , but th e one study o f a d u lts having d e f in ite Im p licatio n s fo r th is p re se n t study Is reviewed In d e t a i l . S im ila rly , no s tu d ie s o f re te n tio n of s k i l l s by young c h ild re n were found In the l i t e r a t u r e . S ection fo u r Includes a few g e n e ra liz a tio n s from a d u lt s tu d ie s . The f i f t h and f i n a l se c tio n o f t h i s ch ap ter review s c u rre n t th e o rie s o f p ro p rio c e p tio n . S tu d ies o f Normative P hy sical Performance Tests Research In the area o f p h y sical performance t e s t s 11 f o r c h ild re n during m iddle childhood has been n e g le c te d by in v e s t ig a t o r s . F a c to rs making i t d i f f i c u l t to g a th e r d a ta f o r t h i s age group a re : t h e i r s h o rt a tte n tio n span; t h e i r extreme v o l a t i l i t y ; t h e i r la c k o f p a tie n c e f o r fo llo w in g in s t r u c t i o n s . A ll th e se f a c to r s tend to make young c h ild re n r a th e r u n s a tis f a c to r y stan d ard t e s t s u b je c ts . In a d d itio n , t h i s age group la c k s w ell developed b a s ic move ment s k i l l s and t e s t a d m in is tra to rs must make allow ances f o r th e se d e f ic ie n c ie s in t h e i r s u b je c ts ' perform ance a b i l i t y . The o v e r a ll assessm ent o f t h i s age group as sub je c ts f o r ex p erim en tal t e s t i n g c o n s titu te s a problem o f d iv e rse com plexity f o r th e re s e a rc h w orker in t h i s a re a o f stu d y . Keogh (37) s t r e s s e s th ese p o in ts and i s c u r r e n t ly planning re s e a rc h to produce some norm ative m easures of p h y sic a l perform ance f o r t h i s age group. As e a rly as 1923, the O seretsky Test was developed in R ussia f o r th e purpose o f m easuring th e m otor m a tu rity o f young c h ild r e n . In d iv id u a l t e s t item s o f a m otor s k i l l type were ad m in iste red to th e c h ild re n on a pass o r f a l l b a s is . Many o f th e se s k i l l s would probably be c l a s s i f i e d as s t a t i c and dynamic fin e movement s k i l l s . The c h i l d 's le v e l o f m otor m a tu rity was o b tain ed by the comparison o f h i s t o t a l score w ith norm ative age le v e ls s im ila r to those o f a B ln et t e s t . R ev isio n s o f t h i s t e s t were made by O assel (1 3 ), in 1949, and by Sloan (5 2 ), in 1955. In 1930, Jen k in s (34) p u b lish ed a study t h a t 12 rep o rted norm ative inform ation concerning the development o f motor perform ances o f 300 boys and g i r l s aged fiv e , s ix , and seven y e a rs, in nine t e s t item s. These items included a 35 yard dash, a b a se b a ll throw fo r d is ta n c e , a stand in g broad Jump, and a b a se b a ll throw fo r accuracy. C o e ffic ie n ts of c o r r e la tio n , means and stan dard d ev iatio n s f o r a l l age groups, and c r i t i c a l r a ti o s o f age-sex groups were a l l re p o rte d . The r e l i a b i l i t i e s ranged between .69 and .90. A s im ila r type o f study was undertaken by Hicks (31) in 1931. Hicks was s p e c if ic a lly in te r e s te d in studying the problem o f how young c h ild re n acquired motor s k i l l s . The su b je c ts fo r the experim ent were s ix ty ch ild ren whose ages ranged from 2£ y ears to 6£ y e a rs, and the motor s k i l l used was th a t o f throwing squash b a lls a t a moving t a r g e t. In o rd er to equate groups, Hicks adm inistered a p a th -tra c in g t e s t , a p e rfo ra tio n t e s t , and a stre n g th t e s t . Some common motor achievem ents o f pre-sch o o l ch ild re n were stu d ied by M cCaskill and Wellman (42) in 1938. The age range o f su b je c ts was from two to s ix years and a t o t a l o f n in e ty -e ig h t c h ild re n were observed p er forming s te p -la d d e r a c t i v i t i e s , Jumping, hopping-skipping- w alking, and b a ll a c t i v i t i e s . The in d iv id u a l ta sk s were grouped under th ese fo u r main d iv is io n s and the means and standard d e v ia tio n s were given fo r a l l t e s t Bcores o f the 13 groups by an age-sex c la s s i f i c a tio n . A r e l i a b i l i t y of *96 was rep o rted f o r the t o t a l score t e s t - r e t e s t o f f o r ty - s ix c h ild re n . The b a sis fo r assessin g the motor age of each c h ild was founded on the le v e l of s k i l l developed and rep resen ted by the age a t which 50 per cent passed and 50 per cent f a ile d . A to t a l of sev en ty -th ree stag es were l i s t e d . I t was found th a t boys were s lig h tly su p e rio r to g i r l s a t ages fo u r, fiv e and six years but the d iffe ren ce a t the s ix year le v e l was very sm all. Hetheny (A3:207) rep o rted a study of the breathing capacity and g rip s tre n g th o f pre-school ch ild ren in 19Al. In th i s same y ear, an a d d itio n a l comprehensive survey of the s ta tu s o f stre n g th te s tin g fo r ch ild ren of pre-school and elem entary school age was published by th is author (AA:115). The l a t t e r study also provides an e x c e lle n t source of data said records from which comparative measures can be obtained and v e r if ie d . Metheny noted th a t "S trength te s tin g a t th is age l e v e l v p a r tic u la r ly in the school s itu a tio n , has been r e s t r ic te d to g rip s tre n g th ." (AA: 115) While d iscu ssin g the th re e types o f dynamometers used in contemporary g rip stre n g th in v e s tig a tio n s , Metheny made a very stro n g case f o r considering the importance of the siz e o f the handgrip of dynamometers (AA:115). In a d d itio n , the problem o f m otivation was d iscu ssed , and i t was suggested th a t the accuracy and v a lid ity of the g rip 14 s tre n g th score ob tain ed depended on two m ajor f a c to r s : 1. The a c tu a l m uscular s tre n g th o f the in d iv id u a l. 2. The degree to which he e x e rts th a t s tre n g th in perform ing the t e s t . (44:116) Metheny computed r e l i a b i l i t i e s u sin g hand-sex sub groups w ith in one y ear age in te r v a ls from th re e to s ix y e a rs . A fte r s ix days o f t e s t i n g , th re e t r i a l s each day, a comparison was made between the h ig h e s t soore made on the even day and the h ig h e s t score made on the odd day. With groups ran g in g from n in e te e n to fo rty -tw o s u b je c ts , c o r r e la tio n s were .90 o r b e t t e r , except f o r one group. For the combined age groupB th a t were te s te d on r ig h t hands, c o r r e la tio n s o f .96 f o r boys and .95 f o r g i r l s were re p o rte d . The average c o e f f ic ie n t o f v a r ia tio n was 15.1 fo r boys and g i r l s from th re e to s ix y e a rs o f age, and no marked age o r sex d iffe re n c e s in v a r i a b i l i t y were found. Table I shows th e age means f o r g rip s tre n g th o f boyB and g i r l s o f school age as summarized by Metheny (44:120, 121). I t was noted t h a t g i r l s were I n f e r i o r to boys in a l l s tre n g th t e s t s (44:125)* In summing up the fin d in g s o f t h i s survey type stu d y , Metheny (44:127) made s e v e ra l o b se rv a tio n s t h a t a re re le v a n t to t h i s p re se n t s tu d y : 1 . The instrum ent should be s u ite d to th e s iz e o f th e c h i l d 's hand. 2. The c h ild must be given experience w ith the TABLE I AGE M EA N S FOR GRIP STRENGTH OF BOYS OF SCHOOL AGE* Research Age In Years In v e s tig a to r__________ 6 7 8 9 10 P o rte r 6.1 7.7 9 .4 11.4 12.8 C hristopher 9 .0 10.0 12.0 13.0 16.0 Mead 8.6 10.4 13.1 15.7 18.1 Baldwin (1925) 13.7 13.7 18.2 19.5 Baldwin (1921) 12.6 14.8 17.7 19.8 Metheny 13.1 M eredith 11.4 13.0 15.8 17.9 20.3 * In Kilograms (Metheny 44:120) AGE M EA N S FOR GRIP STRENGTH OF GIRLS OF SCHOOL AGE* Research Age in Years In v e s tig a to r 5 6 7 fe 9 10 P o rte r C h risto p h er Mead Baldwin (1925) Baldwin (1921) Metheny (1939) (unpublished) __ Metheny (1941) 10.1 11.3 5.1 6.5 8.1 9 .2 10.4 7 .5 9 .0 10.0 12.0 12.5 7 .6 8 .0 9.7 12.1 14.1 10.4 12.6 15.4 16.1 11.2 13.2 15.9 18.5 9.2 10.7 12.5 14.6 16.5 * In Kilograms (Metheny 44:121) 16 t e s t . 3. The re la tio n s h ip o f g rip stre n g th to gross bodily s iz e is so close th a t i t must be taken in to account in ev alu atin g g rip stre n g th . 4. E xistence of a sex d iffe re n c e in g rip s tre n g th during elem entary school years has been s u f f i c i e n t l y w ell e sta b lish e d to make i t evident th a t scores fo r boys and g i r l s may not be combined. 5. Both hands should be te s te d , the Bcore o f the stronger hand being recorded and used. C arpenter (1 0 ), (11), (12) studied the problem o f devising t e s t s of motor e d u c a b ility and cap acity fo r the f i r s t th ree grades. Using 253 su b je c ts , age s ix to nine y e a rs, a fiv e item Johnson (35) type b a tte ry of t e s t s was adm inistered on a o n e -th ird sca le mat. The co n stru ctio n o f t h i s b a tte ry was based upon fa c to r a n a ly sis id e n t if i c a tio n o f a "motor e d u c a b ility " fa c to r . Test items were then s t a t i s t i c a l l y reduced to a m u ltip le c o rre la te w ith th i s f a c to r . The r e l i a b i l i t y of these fiv e items varied from .70 to .90 . A rev ised Brace Scale (8) was developed and used by Vickers e t a l . (54) to measure the motor e d u c a b ility of 137 boy8 and g i r l s , age fiv e to nine y e a rs. The o rig in a l twenty item s c o n s titu tin g the Brace Test were reduced to six teen item s, and the scoring was done on a scale graded 17 0 to 5* On the b a sis of a r e t e s t adm inistered a f t e r a s ix month time la p s e , the r e l i a b i l i t y o f the t o t a l score was rep o rted as .87* A study involving the c o rre la tio n o f a hurdle jump w ith the standin g broad jump and the jump and reach t e s t was undertaken by Hartman (29)* The f i f t y - s i x su b jects were aged four to s ix and o n e-h alf y e a rs, and the co r r e la tio n s were a l l found to l i e w ithin the range of .47 and .52. R e te sts adm inistered one to fourteen days a f t e r the i n i t i a l t e s t s gave a r e l i a b i l i t y measure o f .86. The Vineland adap tatio n of the Oseretsky Test used by Cassel (13) included some jumping, throwing, and catch ing t e s t items in i t s b a tte ry o f s k i l l s . The jump con s is te d of a double fo o t ta k e -o ff jump over a predetermined h e ig h t. The throwing s k i l l was th a t o f throwing a te n n is b a ll ag ain st the flo o r and catching i t on the f i r s t bounce, w ithout moving the f e e t. The catching B k lll was to oatch a b a ll in one hand th a t had been tossed by the examiner from a d istan ce of th re e y ard s. Each item was then scored on a p a s s - f a il o r num erically based system. C assel in v e stig a te d the item d i f f i c u lt y and found th a t some of the t e s t item s were too d i f f i c u l t and o th ers were too easy. No sta n d a rd iz a tio n o f th is form o f the O seret sky Test was attem pted o r published. Holloway (32) stu d ied the performance of f i r s t grade c h ild ren in the motor s k i l l s o f running, jumping, and 18 throw ing. The fin d in g s o f t h i s study provide com parative re co rd s o f th e se events f o r the s ix and seven y e a r age groups. The r e la tio n s h ip between m easures o f p h y sical growth and gross m otor perform ance o f c h ild re n aged s ix to n in e y ea rs was in v e s tig a te d by S e lls (5 0 ). The seven fundam ental s k i l l s used in t h i s study Included a 40 yard dash, a throw f o r d is ta n c e , a stan d in g broad Jump, and a b a l l ca tc h in g t e s t item . A lto g e th e r 510 boys and g i r l s were te s te d and the means and stan d ard d e v ia tio n s were re p o rte d f o r th re e month in t e r v a l s . Test r e l i a b i l i t y m easures were .79 o r more fo r a l l t e s t item s except th a t o f s t r i k i n g . The a b i l i t y o f boys and g i r l s to perform the stan d in g broad Jump was stu d ie d by Kane and M eredith (3 6 ). A t o t a l o f 560 elem entary school c h ild re n whose mean ages were seven, n in e , and eleven y ears were s u b je c ts and norm ative d a ta f o r s e p a ra te age-groups and sex-groups were re p o rte d . The r e l i a b i l i t y o f the beBt t r i a l compared to the second b e st t r i a l was .97 o r b e t t e r fo r a l l age- 86X groups. Cumbee e t a l . (14) stu d ie d the motor c o -o rd in a tio n o f th ir d and fo u rth grade g i r l s and re p o rte d a f a c t o r i a l a n a ly s is o f the c o -o rd in a tio n v a r ia b le s . A t o t a l o f tw en ty -th re e t e s t s was ad m in istered to n inety -tw o g i r l s , and m u ltip le group methods o f a n a ly s is were ap p lied to 19 each t e s t . The t e s t s Included a b a s k e tb a ll throw f o r d is ta n c e , a b a ll catch in g s k i l l and a b a ll s tr ik in g s k i l l . No running, jumping o r s tre n g th t e s t item s were used in the study. Motor performance of g i r l s aged s ix to fo u rteen y ears were stu d ied by Glassow and Kruse (24) in o rd e r to in crease the knowledge concerning the movement a b i l i t y of elem entary school c h ild re n . O bservations derived from achievement sco res o f g i r l s were rep o rted during a fiv e y ear period o f te s t in g . The th re e t e s t s adm inistered were a stan d in g broad jump, a t h i r t y yard dash, and an overarm throw f o r v e lo c ity . The 123 su b je c ts were te ste d fo r a t l e a s t th re e consecutive y e a rs. Means and standard d e v ia tio n s were re p o rted fo r grades 1 through 8 and fo r ages s ix through fo u rteen y e a rs . The c o r re la tio n o f y e a r- to -y e a r sco res and of f i r s t grade scores w ith those o f - grades th re e , fo u r, and f iv e , showed th a t In d iv id u als tended to remain in the same r e la tiv e p o s itio n w ithin th e group during the elem entary school y e a rs. W ithin-day r e l i a b i l i t i e s were .85 and above fo r s ix ty - s ix of the seventy measures o f r e l i a b i l i t y . Measures obtained from t h i s study were alBO compared w ith o th e r s im ila r types o f in v e s tig a tio n . (Table I I . ) The C a lifo rn ia P hy sical Performance Tests (9) pro vide a source o f p e rc e n tile scores f o r boys and g i r l s aged ten to seventeen y e a rs o f age f o r fiv e t e s t item s. The 20 TABLE I I STANDING BROAD JUMP COMPARATIVE MEASURES* (A ll sco res and m easures o f GIRLS' a b i l i t y ) JUMP MEASURES IN INCHES GRADES 1 1 to C V l i 4 Author Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Holloway S e lls Glassow 40.0 35.6 41.7 5.3 5.5 5.9 35.2 46.3 6 .5 5.8 41.9 50.7 6 .9 5.2 56.5 7 .1 A uthor • jump : M EASURES IN INCHES AGES IN YEARS 6 7 8 9 10 Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD C a lif o r n ia 49.0 52.0 Jen kins 38 .0 7 .8 4 1 .0 7 .7 Kane and M eredith 39.9 47.7 Glassow 40.5 7 .1 43.5 6 .6 47.7 5.8 52.9 7 .6 Washington 39.0 4 3 .0 45.0 45.0 51.0 Youth F itn e s s A A U 36.0 36.0 48.0 48.0 54.0 * M odified, from Glassow and Kruse (R esearch Q u a rte rly . Vol. 3 1 . No. 3 , O ctober, I9 6 0 , 432T . su b je c ts were 3*864 boys and 3*813 g i r l s s e le c te d from c o u n ties making up the ten g eo graphical re g io n s o f C a li f o r n ia . The t e s t Item s co n siste d o f Test I : Standing Broad Jump (boys and g i r l s ) ; Test I I : P u ll-u p (boys) and Knee Push-up ( g i r l s ) ; Test I I I : Knee Bent S lt-u p fo r Time (boys and g i r l s ) ; Test IV: F ifty -y a rd Dash (boys and g i r l s ) ; and Test V: S o ftb a ll Throw f o r D istance (boys and g i r l s ) (9*7). The mean sco res o f a l l t e s t Items Included In th is study were re p o rte d according to age* height* and w eight. M u ltip le c o r r e la tio n s o f h e ig h t and w eight w ith v ariou s ev en ts a t a l l ages were computed f o r the boys. Only fiv e o f a t o t a l of f o r ty - f iv e c o r re la tio n s f o r boys reached a value o f .3 0 . A ll c o r r e la tio n s f o r g i r l s were low and the m ajo rity o f them were not s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f ic a n t . The P h y sical F itn e ss and P ro fic ie n c y T est o f the Amateur A th le tic Union o f th e United S ta te s (4) c o n siste d o f fiv e re q u ire d and fo u r e le c tiv e t e s t Items In I t s t e s t b a tte r y . These t e s t s were aimed a t m o tiv atin g boys and g i r l s age s ix to f i f t e e n y ears to in c re a se t h e i r a t h l e t i c sp o rts p a r tic ip a tio n f o r the development o f o v e r - a ll p h y sical f i t n e s s . The re q u ired t e s t s included s p r i n t s , walk and run, s i t - u p s , p u ll-u p s , and the stan d in g broad jump. In a d d itio n each c h ild chose one event from push ups, a b a s e b a ll throw fo r d is ta n c e , a continuous hike f o r d is ta n c e , and a running high jump. Each t e s t item was sta n d a rd iz e d f o r degree o f d i f f i c u l t y a t each two y e a r age group. For example, th e six -se v e n y e a r age group was r e q u ired to run 40 y ard s in 9 seconds ir r e s p e c tiv e o f sex. However, th e tw e lv e - th ir te e n y e a r age group o f boys was re q u ire d to run 60 yards in 9 seconds w hile th e same age group o f g i r l s had to run t h i s same d is ta n c e in 10 seconds to pass the t e s t . A d e s c rip tio n o f a l l th e ev en ts was p u b lish ed but no t e s t r e l i a b i l i t i e s were in clu d ed in th e t e s t m anual. The n a tio n a l p assin g average o f a l l stu d e n ts who attem pted th e se t e s t s was 51 p e r ce n t in the 1960-61 academic y e a r. In a d d itio n to th e C a lifo rn ia P h y sic al Performance T e sts, th e Youth F itn e s s T est c o n stru c te d by th e American A sso c ia tio n f o r H e a lth , P h y sic a l E ducation and R ecreatio n was pu b lish ed in 1958* A b a tte r y o f seven t e s t item s made up t h i s t e s t and they were ad m in iste red to a sample o f 8,500 boys and g i r l s in grades fiv e through tw elve in 1957. Normative d a ta were p re se n ted in t h i s manual (3) and sco res were r a te d as e x c e lle n t, good, f a i r , o r poor f o r th e ten to seventeen age group. More r e c e n tly , a n o th e r t e s t b a tte r y was compiled by th e s t a t e o f W ashington f o r th e purpose o f m easuring the p h y s ic a l f i t n e s s o f c h ild re n s i x to tw elve y e a rs o f age. The t e s t manual (58) d esc rib ed th e f iv e t e s t item s f u l l y . The fiv e item s were the sta n d in g broad jump, s i t - u p s , a t h i r t y yard dash, a sq u at jump, and bench push-ups. A 23 sample o f 2,015 c h ild re n a tte n d in g f i f t e e n elem entary sch o o ls s e le c te d a t random in the s t a t e o f Washington was te s te d in o rd e r to o b tain the norms f o r t h i s t e s t b a tte r y . The system used to e v a lu a te perform ances was based on sta n d a rd sco re p o in ts f o r ag e -sex groups. A fo u r p o in t r a ti n g s c a le o f in d iv id u a l t e s t s and the t o t a l t e s t con s tr u c te d on 1 5 th , 5 0 th , and 8 5 th p e r c e n tile s were ta b le d . S p e c ific r e l i a b i l i t i e s were n o t re p o rte d , b u t i t was men tio n e d th a t tw elve t e s t s had c o e f f ic ie n ts o f r e l i a b i l i t y o f .75 o r g r e a t e r , and th a t th e se were re ta in e d fo r purposes o f th e f i n a l t e s t c o n s tru c tio n . S u m in n t v This review o f th e l i t e r a t u r e d e a lin g w ith norm ative p h y sic a l perform ance t e s t s appears to su p p o rt the fo llo w ing g e n e r a liz a tio n s : 1. There i s a g e n e ra l p a tte r n o f t e s t item s t h a t have been commonly Included in p h y sic a l perform ance t e s t s ; and run n in g , Jumping, throw ing and s tre n g th item s are s p e c if ic a l ly u t i l i z e d w ith in t h i s g e n e ra l p a tte r n . 2. The running t e s t item i s broadly claB B ifled as a s h o rt d is ta n c e dash, a m iddle o r long d is ta n c e ru n , o r a long d is ta n c e w alk-ru n. The s h o rt d is ta n c e dash o r s p r i n t f o r th e s ix to nine y e a r age group ranged from 30 to 100 yards but th e d is ta n c e most o fte n re p o rte d was 50 y a rd s. 3. The most commonly re p o rte d jumping t e s t item 24 i s the standing broad jump and i t has been se le c te d w ith c o n s is te n t r e g u la r ity fo r t h i s age le v e l sin ce 1930. 4. The g en eral p a tte rn o f the teB t item s fo r throw ing is v a rie d , but the type o f throw used i s g e n e ra l ly a side-arm throw f o r d is ta n c e , using a b ase b all o r s o f t b a l l . However, w ith s ix and seven year old ch ild ren who have n o t developed a side-arm throw, a two handed throw w ith a la r g e r type of b a ll has been u t i l i z e d . 5. The t e s t item s s e le c te d to measure s tre n g th have tended to be s p e c if ic . Handgrip B trength has been fre q u e n tly used as the measure o f the s tre n g th fa c to r fo r young c h ild re n . Other areaB o f the body have also been is o la te d in such measures as p u ll-u p s , push-ups, s it- u p s and squat th r u s ts . 6. There has been a marked upsurge in the amount o f ph y sical performance te s tin g undertaken w ith elem entary school age c h ild re n in re c e n t y e a rs . The gap in knowledge o f t h i s area o f in v e s tig a tio n c e n te rs upon the f i r s t th ree g rad es, and th e re i s a need fo r a d d itio n a l stu d ie s cover ing the a b i l i t i e s o f t h i s age group in o rd e r to supplement norm ative d a ta th a t already e x is ts f o r th e upper elem entary grade le v e ls . S tu dies o f Learning S norts S k ills A review o f the re se arc h l i t e r a t u r e p e rta in in g to th e le a rn in g o f sp o rts s k i l l s by young c h ild re n found only 25 a few s tu d ie s o f lim ite d scope. G u tte rid g e (27) s tu d ie d the developm ent o f the s k i l l s o f bouncing and c a tc h in g a b a l l , jumping, and thro w ing . The age range o f s u b je c ts was from two to seven y e a rs o f age. She found th a t th e g e n e ra l p a tte rn o f development f o r a l l c h ild re n was s im ila r , but the age o f e n try in to each a c t i v i t y v a r ie d . G e n e ra lly , the i n i t i a l development o f th e s k i l l was ra p id , but a p la te a u was reached i f the b a s ic s k i l l le a rn e d could n o t be u t i l i z e d in a more complex s i t u a t i o n . The s k i l l s Involved in throw ing and c a tc h in g were shown to be r e l a t i v e l y un developed a t the age o f fo u r. I t was concluded th a t c h ild re n show m otor c o n tro l f a r in advance o f th a t demanded by th e m a jo rity o f th e u su al equipment a v a ila b le to them. By th e use o f motion p ic tu r e s , Wilde (57) stu d ie d the overhand throw ing p a tte rn o f th irty -tw o c h ild re n aged two to tw elve y e a r s . S p e c if ic a lly , she in v e s tig a te d the beh av io r p a tte r n s o f throw ing and th e n a tu re o f t h e i r development in c h ild r e n . A s e q u e n tia l p a tte rn o f th e throw ing s k i l l emerged as a fu n c tio n o f age, sex, and neu ro-m uscular developm ent. I t was a ls o concluded th a t by the age o f seven y e a rs a r e l a t i v e l y m ature form o f overhand throw has been developed and th a t boys m aster the throw a t a s l i g h t l y e a r l i e r age than th e g i r l s . The i d e n t i f i e d p a tte r n s o f development was s im ila r f o r both 26 sex es. Hicks (3 1), as previously s ta te d , stu d ied the ac q u is itio n o f motor s k i l l s In young c h ild re n . Using a ta r g e t throwing s k i l l as the s k i l l to be learn ed , he found th a t m atu ratio n , g eneral p ra c tic e , and s p e c if ic p ra c tic e are th ree o f the fa c to rs having s ig n if ic a n t e f f e c ts on the a c q u is itio n o f th e s p e c if ic s k i l l being le a rn e d . Developmental o b serv atio n s and d e s c rip tio n s o f motor performances and sp o rts s k i l l t e s t s by G esell (21) re s u lte d In h is suggested growth g ra d ie n ts f o r ch ild ren aged fiv e to ten y e a rs . These gen eral o b serv atio n s In d i cated th a t the s k i l l s o f throwing and catch in g are seldom m astered by four y ear old c h ild re n . W itte ( 5 8 ) attem pted to determ ine whether o r not se le c te d measures o f k ln e s th e s ls involvin g arm p o sitio n in g were r e la te d to measures o f accuracy In b a ll r o l l in g . A sample o f fo rty -sev en f i r s t and second grade boys and g i r l s were te s te d in fo u r arm p o sitio n in g measures and two b a ll r o llin g t e s t s . W itte concluded t h a t : 1. There i s no s ig n if ic a n t r e la tio n s h ip between b a ll r o llin g and p o s itio n a l measures o f k ln e s th e s ls ; and 2. Boys are s ig n if ic a n tly s u p e rio r to g i r l s in t h e i r a b i l i t y to m anipulate la rg e and sm all b a l l s , as measured by the t e s t s used in t h i s study. (58:463) R e lia b ility c o e f f ic ie n ts o f .899 f o r the Number 8& b a ll r o llin g t e s t and .871 f o r the te n n is b a ll r o llin g 27 t e s t in d icated acceptable r e l i a b i l i t y fo r both b a ll r o l l ing accuracy measures. Summary A review of the research l i t e r a t u r e dealing w ith the learn in g of sp o rts s k i l ls by young children tends to Ju stify the follow ing g e n e ra liz a tio n s: 1. Broadly speaking* the general p attern of the development of b a ll handling s k i l ls fo r a l l children is sim ila r but a p lateau of learn in g i s reached unless the s k i l l learned can be used in a more complex s itu a tio n . 2. A seq u en tial p a tte rn of throwing s k i l l is in fluenced by the age* sex, and neuro-m uscular s k i l l o f p a r tic ip a tin g ch ild ren and th a t by the age o f seven a ra th e r mature form of overhand throw has been developed. 3. Developmental p a tte rn s of throwing are s im ila r fo r both boys and g i r l s but boys tend to m aster the s k i l l a t an e a r l i e r age than the g i r l s . 4. In general* the a c q u isitio n of a motor s k i l l is influenced by the fa c to rs of maturation* general p ra c tic e , and s p e c ific p ra c tic e . 5* Boys are s ig n ific a n tly su p erio r to g i r l s in b a ll handling s k i l l s but no s ig n ific a n t re la tio n s h ip s e x is t between b a ll r o llin g s k i l l and p o sitio n a l measures of k ln e s th e s ls . 28 Experim ental S tudies o f P roprioception Egstrom e t aL (17) In v e stig a te d the a c q u is itio n o f throwing s k i l l using p r o je c tile s o f varying w eig h ts. The su b je c ts were a co -ed u catlo n al group o f f if ty - B lx colleg e stu d en ts who were randomly divided Into two groups. Group I numbered twenty-seven su b je c ts and were designated the " llg h tb a ll" p ra c tic e group. Group 2 nlimbered tw enty-nine su b je c ts and were c a lle d the “heavyball" p ra c tic e group. Both groups p ra c tic e d overhand throwing f o r accuracy using the n o n -p referred hand. The experim ental v a ria b le was the weight of the b a l l . The lig h tw e ig h t b a ll weighed two ounces, the heavyweight b a ll weighed s ix and one h a lf ounces. The b a lls were both twelve Inches In circum ference. A fte r an I n i t i a l t e s t o f f i f t y t r i a l throws using the non- p re fe rre d hand, the su b je c ts p ra c tic e d during ten d a lly sessio n s o f f i f t y throws a t a graded ta r g e t. At the con clu sio n of the p ra c tic e t r i a l s , both groups were te s te d in t h e i r a b i l i t y to throw the o p p o sitely weighted b a ll w ith t h e i r n o n -p referred hand. The r e s u l t s o f t h i s study were summarized as follow s: 1 . The sig n ific a n c e o f d iffe re n c e s In mean gains was computed between the I n i t i a l t r i a l and the f in a l t r i a l f o r each group. Both groups showed s ig n if ic a n t gains a t the 1 p er cen t le v e l o f confidence. 2. D ifferences a t the 1 per cent le v e l o f con- 29 fid en c e were found when th e h eav y b all p ra c tic e group dem onstrated a s i g n i f i c a n t l y low er sco re when th ey t r a n s fe rre d to the l ig h tb a ll* 3* D iffe re n c e s a t th e 1 p er c e n t le v e l o f con fid en c e were found when the f i n a l l l g h t b a l l sc o re s were compared to th e sc o re s o f th e t r a n s f e r to the l l g h tb a ll* The group which p ra c tic e d w ith th e l l g h t b a l l perform ed s i g n i f i c a n t l y b e t t e r in t h e i r f i n a l t r i a l w ith the l i g h t - b a l l than did the group t h a t p ra c tic e d w ith th e h eav y b all and then tr a n s f e r r e d to th e ll g h tb a ll * 4. D iffe ren c es a t the 1 p er c e n t le v e l o f con fid en c e were found when comparing th e f i n a l l l g h t b a l l t r i a l w ith tr a n s f e r to the heavyball* The group which p ra c tic e d w ith the l l g h t b a l l a c tu a lly perform ed b e t t e r when t r a n s f e r was made to the h e a v ie r b all* 5* There were no s i g n i f i c a n t d iffe re n c e s when the f i n a l h eav y b all t r i a l s o f th e two groups were compared* (17:422) D iscussion o f th e r e s u l t s o f t h i s stu d y ce n te red on th e f a c t th a t th o se s u b je c ts who p ra c tic e d w ith the l l g h t b a l l f i r s t were ab le to t r a n s f e r s k i l l b e t t e r than those who p ra c tic e d w ith th e h ea v y b all f i r s t * Egstrom e t a l sp e c u la te d t h a t th e o p e ra tio n o f neuro-m uscular f a c i l i t a t i o n in v o lv in g the sensory feed back mechanisms in the m uscles, tendons and j o in ts was re sp o n s ib le f o r th e se changes* In accord w ith H e lle b r a n d t's b a sic concept 30 o f "flo w er spray ending feed back," th ese au th o rs sug g ested t h a t the flow er spray endings lo c a te d in the myo- tube regio n o f the muscle sp in d le might be the mechanism re sp o n sib le f o r the measured changes in perform ance. This concept im p lies th a t some type o f sharpened feed back o r s e n s i t i v i t y r e s u l t s from p ra c tic in g w ith the l l g h t b a l l . Perhaps th e adjustm ents made d u ring the p ra c tic e perio d s w hile le a rn in g to throw the l i g h t b a ll ac c u ra te ly r e s u l t in autom atic a d a p ta tio n s a t a sub- c o r t i c a l l e v e l . When the su b je c t then tr a n s f e r s to the heavy b a ll a f t e r a period o f p r a c tic e , the in creased weight e l i c i t s a response o f th e flow er spray endings w ith t h e i r h ig h er th re sh o ld which in tu rn b rin g s the Impulse to consciousness and thu s a id s in the r e f l e x c o n tro l o f th e throw ing movement. (17:424) No s tu d ie s in v o lv in g c h ild re n and p ro p rio c ep tio n were lo c a te d in the l i t e r a t u r e . S n m m n r y A review o f the l i t e r a t u r e concerned w ith the experim ental re se a rc h o f p ro p rio c ep tio n found only one study th a t had d i r e c t im p lic a tio n s f o r the p re se n t Btudy. Although co lle g e stu d e n ts were s u b je c ts f o r t h i s i n v e s t i g a tio n , the follow ing g en eral statem en ts summarize r e la te d in fo rm atio n : 1. The th eo ry o f "flo w er spray ending feed back" has been u t i l i z e d by Egstrom e t a l . in an attem pt to ex p lain why s u b je c ts who p ra c tic e d a novel s k i l l w ith a l l g h t b a l l f i r s t were ab le to t r a n s f e r t h i s s k i l l b e t t e r than those who p ra c tic e d w ith the h eav y b all f i r s t . 31 2. This theory tends to support the p o s s ib ility of im pulses a r is in g from the flow er spray endings lo cated in the myotube region o f the muscle sp in dle being able to reach a conscious le v e l in the b ra in . S tu d ies of R etention o f S k ills A survey of r e la te d l i t e r a t u r e f a ile d to lo c a te any s tu d ie s th a t d e a lt w ith the re te n tio n o f sp o rts s k i l l s by young c h ild re n . Howevert the experim ental designs fo r re te n tio n s tu d ie s , as d escrib ed by G i l l e t t e (2 2 ), f a l l in to th ree c a te g o rie s : (1) the method of equal o p p o rtu n ity to le a r n , (2) the method of ad ju sted le a rn in g , and (3) the method of equal amount le a rn e d . (22:1-56) In the "equal o p p o rtu n ity to le a rn " design, the le a rn in g time o f a l l s u b je c ts i s held co n stan t and the amount of le a rn in g i s recorded. The "method of ad ju sted learn in g " re q u ire s th a t a l l su b je c ts le a rn the same amount o f m a te ria l but th ere is no o v e rle a rn in g . In the th ird type of experim ental design, the "method o f equal amount learned" allow s a l l su b je c ts to le a rn the same amount o f m a te ria l but o v erle arn in g i s perm itted to o p e ra te . G il l e t te conducted a re te n tio n study to determ ine the r e la ti v e value of th ese th re e methods and found th a t none of the methods c o n tra d ic te d each o th e r and th a t the f a s t le a r n e r i s the b e t t e r r e ta in e r . Batson (7)» as e a rly as 1916, supported the s t a t e - 32 ment th a t once gross motor s k i l l s have been le a rn e d , they are re ta in e d to a h ig h er degree even a f t e r long perio ds o f no p r a c tic e . Baer (5) stu d ie d the r e la tio n s h ip between r a te o f le a rn in g and r e te n tio n in s e v e ra l motor a c t i v i t i e s . He concluded th a t th e re i s no d iffe re n c e in r e te n tio n be tween f a s t and slow le a r n e r s . This conclusion r e f u te s the fin d in g o f G i l l e t t e 's stu d y . L e a v itt and S chlosberg (39) in v e s tig a te d the re te n tio n of v e rb a l s k i l l s and fin e motor s k i l l s . They concluded th a t in th e perform ance o f fin e motor s k illB , rem iniscence appeared to be a fu n c tio n o f the a tta in e d o r ig in a l le v e l of p ro fic ie n c y and the amount o f p ra c tic e allow ed. In a study d e a lin g w ith the t r a n s f e r and re te n tio n o f s e le c te d balance s k i l l s , Penman (47) m aintained th a t most motor s k i l l s once they have been learn ed a re re ta in e d b e t t e r than o th e r s k i l l s . His s u b je c ts were male co lle g e s tu d e n ts . Purdy and Lockhart (48) stu d ie d the re te n tio n and re le a rn in g o f fiv e novel gro ss m otor s k i l l s a f t e r t h e i r su b je c ts had experienced long p erio d s o f no p r a c tic e . Data obtained from a t o t a l o f t h i r t y - s i x c o lle g e women were used to answer the follow ing q u e stio n s: (1) To what e x te n t are gross motor s k i l l s re ta in e d a f t e r a long period o f no p ra c tic e ? 33 (2) How many p ra c tic e p erio ds are necessary to reg ain p ro fic ie n cy a f t e r a long period o f no p ra c tic e ? (3) I f d iffe re n c e s e x is t in le a rn in g among su b je c ts c l a s s if ie d as h ig h , average, o r low s k ille d on the baslB o f previously learn ed motor s k i l l s , a re th ese d iffe re n c e s evident in the re te n tio n and re le a rn in g of the same s k i l ls ? (4) I s i n i t i a l performance in new motor s k i l l s an index o f fu tu re performance? The fin d in g s o f th is study supported the follow ing answers to these q u e stio n s. A high degree o f s k i l l was re ta in e d a f t e r approxim ately one y ea r o f no p ra c tic e . The t o t a l group re ta in e d 94 per cent o f i t s b e st performance in o r ig in a l le a rn in g . A fte r only th re e days o f p r a c tic e , the t o t a l group regained the le v e l o f p ro fic ie n cy acquired in the ten days o f o rig in a l le a rn in g . The s k i l l groups r e tain ed t h e i r r e la ti v e p o s itio n s in le a rn in g , re te n tio n , and re le a rn in g o f gross motor s k i l l s . I n i t i a l performance in gross motor s k i l l s may be a v alu ab le index to fu tu re perform ance. Purdy and Lockhart a lso p o stu la te d th a t the th re e fa c to rs th a t appear to a f f e c t re te n tio n o f fin e motor s k i l l s are the degree o f o rig in a l o v e rle a rn in g , the type o f s k i l l learn ed , and the measure o f re te n tio n used. In a d d itio n , Purdy and Lockhart (48:266) th eo rized th a t the re te n tio n o f a ta sk seems to depend mainly on the u n ita ry n a tu re o f th e ta sk and itB freedom from r e tr o a c tiv e in h ib itio n , r a th e r than on the v erb al o r motor components o f th e ta s k . Summary No r e la te d s tu d ie s in v e s tig a tin g th e r e te n tio n o f m otor-type s k i l l s by young c h ild re n were lo c a te d in the l i t e r a t u r e . Some g e n e r a liz a tio n s from a d u lt s tu d ie s are l i s t e d below: 1 . R eten tio n o f motor s k i l l s app ears to be a fu n c tio n o f th e a tta in e d o r i g i n a l le v e l o f p ro fic ie n c y and o f th e amount o f p r a c tic e allow ed. 2. In g e n e ra l, motor s k i l l s a re re ta in e d to a high degree o f perform ance a f t e r long p erio d s o f no p ra c tic e by high s k i l le d and low s k i l le d groups. 3* The f a s t le a r n e r te n d s to be th e b e t t e r r e t a i n e r o f m otor a c t i v i t i e s aB dem onstrated by e x p e ri m ental re s e a rc h s tu d ie s . 4 . I n i t i a l perform ance in gro ss m otor s k i l l s may be used as an in d ic a tio n to fu tu re perform ance. 5» R e tro a c tiv e in h ib itio n and the measure o f r e te n tio n s e le c te d a re f a c to r s t h a t a f f e c t th e r e te n tio n o f m otor-type s k i l l s . C urrent T heories o f P ro p rio c e p tio n The organs o f p ro p rio c e p tio n play a v i t a l r o le in the continuum o f n e u ro lo g ic a l p a tte r n s a s s o c ia te d w ith th e le a rn in g o f a g ro ss m otor s k i l l . N eu ro -p h y sio lo g lc al r e 35 search undertaken by Adrian (1) (2 ), E ccles (15) (16 ), Fulton (18), Gelhorn (19) (2 0 ), G ranIt (25), Lashley (38), P en fleld (46), and Sherrington (51) has helped to d e lin e a te the complex fu n ctio n s o f the p ro p rio cep to rs and t h e i r a l l i e d sensory and motor mechanisms in the co n tro l o f muscle ac tio n and movement. In te r p re ta tio n s o f the knowledge gained from these re search fin d in g s have been re fin ed and applied to the areas o f motor le a rn in g and physical education by Glassow (25), H arrison (28), H ellebrandt (30), Hoye (33), Liba (40), R alston (49), W alters (55)» and Woodfin (59)* A c ro ss-se c tio n o f both these research fin d in g s and applied th e o rie s is presented below. During the p ast decade new lab o ra to ry techniques have helped to e l i c i t more d e ta ile d Inform ation about the p ro p rio cep to r organs and t h e i r functio ning as one o f the most highly developed senses, exceeded in degree of complexity only by the re cep to rs of the eye and e a r (3 0 :1 1 ). Much of th is research had grown out o f o rig in a l stu d ie s designed to solve many o f the problems asso ciated w ith the r e h a b ilita tio n of the d isab led . Quite often i t was necessary to experiment on normal su b jects and these d a ta , in tu rn , threw considerable lig h t on the co ordinated functioning o f the "p h y sio lo g ical reso urces o f normal men p a r tic ip a tin g in sp o rt and physical education a c ti v i t i e s " (3 0 :9 ). 36 In o rd e r to c l a r i f y the fu n c tio n s o f the p ro p rio cep to rs , the fo llow ing d e s c rip tio n s o f th ese sense organs are p re se n te d . Muscle S pindle The muscle sp in d le I s lo c a te d In the muscle b e lly o f s k e le ta l m uscles. The p o la r ends are composed o f m uscular m a te ria l and are ab le to c o n tr a c t. An A gamma motor neuron w ith I t s c e l l body lo c a te d In the a n te r io r horn Is a tta c h e d to the p o la r end. The myotube a re a Is a t r a n s i t i o n a l area c o n s is tin g o f s p e c ia liz e d m a te ria l th a t responds to s t r e t c h but has a h ig h e r th re sh o ld than the c e n tr a lly zoned n u c le a r bag. An alpha sensory neuron (flo w er spray ending) Is a tta c h e d to th e myotube and I t ta k e s a s t r e t c h o f h ig h e r I n te n s ity to e l i c i t a resp o n se. The n u c le a r bag has s p e c ia liz e d m a te ria l th a t a ls o responds to s t r e t c h but the th re sh o ld Is low er than t h a t o f the myotube a r e a . An A alpha sensory neuron (a n n u lo s p lra l ending) Is a tta c h e d to the n u c le a r bag. (45:4) G olgl Tendon Organ The Golgl tendon organ Is composed o f s p e c ia l tis s u e en cap su lated and lo c a te d w ith in the tendon o f the m uscle. This places I t In s e r ie s w ith th e muscle f i b e r s . An A alph a sensory neuron c a r r ie s the Impulse from the re c e p to r to th e s p in a l co rd . The fu n c tio n o f the Golgl tendon organ serv es to I n h i b it th e muscle In which I t Is lo c a te d . I t Is respo nsive to both elo n g atio n o r to sh o rte n in g but tends to respond more to muscle c o n tra c tio n . Because th e Golgl tendon organ has a h ig h e r th re sh o ld than the n u c le a r bag o f th e muscle s p in d le , I t e x h ib its a slow er r e f l e x a c tio n . (45:6) P acinian C orpuscle The P acinian co rp u sc les a re re c e p to rs lo c a te d In the f a s c ia between muscles and around j o i n t s . S tr u c tu r a l l y , they are oval bodies composed o f c o n c e n tric laminae found beneath tendinous I n s e r tio n s , in th e f a s c ia t h a t covers m uscles, and In the subcutaneous t i s s u e s . These re c e p to rs respond to changes in p re ssu re and c a rry Im p u lses to th e c e n tr a l nervous syBtem. This p re ssu re causes elo n g atio n o f th e P acinian c o rp u sc le , thus stim u la tin g i t s a f f e r e n t nerve supply. They a re a lso a c tiv a te d by movement but cease to discharge when new p o s itio n s a re reach ed . Body p o s itio n s can th e re fo re be 37 determined by the brain without UBing the sense o f sight. (45:7) R u ffin i Corpuscle R u f f in i's corpuscles are spray-type endings lo cated in the capsules o f the j o i n ts . There are approxi m ately two Pacinian corpuscles to every ten R u ffin i's co rp u scles. Because the R u ffin i corpuscles are found in jo in t capsules they are slowly adapting re c e p to rs and d is charge continuously when stim ulated w ith a frequency th a t is c h a r a c te r is tic a lly ty p ic a l o f each p o sitio n assumed. This co n stan t discharge i s m aintained as long as the jo in t i s held w ithin the e x c ita to ry u n it. The importance o f R u f f in i's corpuscles is th a t they function as absolute d e te c to rs of jo in t an g le. (28:63) Renshaw C ells Renshaw c e lls are sm all neurons in the v e n tra l horn of the sp in a l cord. They are one o f the servo mechanisms which enable the nervouB system to co n tro l the re a c tio n as the Impulse passes down the f in a l common motor pathway. They achieve th is function by feeding back in h ib ito ry Impulses to the motor neuronB of the e x tra fu sa l f ib e r s . Renshaw c e lls do not accommodate but they do have the a b i l i t y to m aintain high frequencies fo r long periods o f time to allow fo r l a s t chance negative feed back. (28:61) S herrington (51) emphasized the Importance of pro p rio cep tio n in h is e a rly s tu d ie s . He believed th a t since movement s t a r t s and term in ates in p o stu re, the re sid e n t sen satio n s flowing from the p a rt in i t s re ste d s ta te may be more im portant than those sen satio n s asso cia te d w ith the movement. Gelhorn (19) (20) has la rg e ly been resp o n sib le fo r showing th a t the siz e and co n fig u ratio n of areas of the c o r tic a l re p re se n ta tio n o f an in d iv id u a l extrem ity are influenced s ig n if ic a n tly by the p ro p rio cep tiv e Inflows from the lim bs. He has demonstrated th a t sensory feed 38 backs a r is in g in the m uscles, tendons and j o in ts g re a tly a f f e c t movement p a tte r n s . Thus, t h i s concept o f p ro p rio ce p tiv e f a c i l i t a t i o n su g g ests th a t c e n tr a l e x c ita tio n s tend to flow always in to s tre tc h e d m uscles. Every change in body p o s itio n in g a l t e r s o r m odifies the c o n fig u ra tio n o f the n ext e f f e r e n t resp o n se. Not only does i t a f f e c t th e muscle s tr e tc h e d , b u t a ls o a l l th e fu n c tio n a lly r e la te d muscle groups. The p ro p rio c e p tiv e Impulses in crease the e x c it a b i l i t y o f the m otor c o rte x and the r e f le x a c t i v i t y o f th e cord as w e ll. B a r t l e t t (6:835) and h is a s so c ia te d B r itis h in v e s tig a to r s have in d ic a te d th a t th e motor c o rte x i s n o t Im po rtantly involved in w ille d movements. They are con vinced th a t the sensory in p u t i s th e g re a t i n i t i a t o r and c o n tr o lle r o f m uscular re sp o n ses, because w ille d move ments are brought about by moulding c o r t i c a l a f f e r e n t p a tte rn s o f e x c ita tio n . P e n fie ld (46) has th e o riz e d th a t in te g ra tio n does n o t re s id e in the c o rte x . He p laces i t in the b rain stem p o s itio n . Thus, i f th e c o rte x should be damaged, the union o f th e "m ind-brain" can s t i l l o p erate on a lim ite d but u se fu l plan in v o lv in g th e a c tiv a tio n o f more p rim itiv e s u b c o rtlc a l motor mechanisms. G ra n it (25) has s ta te d th a t im pulses from gamma f ib e r s in n e rv a te the sparse I n tr a f u s a l muscle f ib e r s o f the muscle sp in d le and lead o f f a t the on set o f c o r ti c a ll y 39 Induced movements. These Impulses then f a c i l i t a t e se le c te d a n te r io r horn c e l l s which in tu rn bring about responses in the motor u n its and induce the movements w ille d . The gamma system i s under c e re b ra l c o n tro l and the sm all nerve in n erv a tio n o f s k e le ta l muscles can m ediate those Impulses th a t i n i t i a t e and d riv e m uscular co n tra c tio n and e s p e c ia lly those c o n tra c tio n s concerned w ith adjustm ents in p o stu re . H ellebrandt (30:11) has s ta te d th a t feed back from the m uscles, tendons and jo in ts seems to be a cunningly devised and exceedingly complex mechanism th a t p a r ti a l l y o p erates a t le v e ls below consciousness. The machinery of the body i s equipped w ith i t s own form o f servo mechanisms. This servo-mechanism can continue to o perate w ithout making demands on the c e re b ra l c o rte x . According ly , she has suggested th a t "we need techniques o f motor le a rn in g th a t can fre e the s u b c o rtic a l motor mechanisms from the overbearing c o n tro l o f the s tre s s e d c o rte x ." (30:11) H arrison (28) has attem pted to explain human move ment in the l i g h t o f re c e n t re se a rc h fin d in g s by proposing a theory involving the concept o f r e a f f e r e n t servo mechanisms. This theory suggests th a t the in d iv id u a l has co n sid erab le co n tro l over stim u la tio n , and i t p o s tu la te s the ex isten ce o f in h ib ito ry b a rric a d e s in the p e rip h e ra l as w ell as in the o e n tra l nervous system . Presumably, 40 th e se in h ib ito r y b a rric a d e s are in te g ra te d in to a very com plicated feed back system (2 8 :6 1 ). When a stim u lu s o f s u f f i c i e n t th re s h o ld s tre n g th a c tiv a te s a re c e p to r , an im pulse i s f ir e d along th e a f f e r e n t nerve and t h i s energy i s tra n s m itte d to o th e r n eu ro n s. I f t h i s th re s h o ld s tr e n g th i s s u f f i c i e n t to f i r e o f f a m otor neuron, a response occurs t h a t im m ediately s tim u la te s an a f f e r e n t nerve a g a in , and r e a f f e r e n ta tio n has now taken p la c e . Thus, b efore th e im pulse can proceed up th e cord th e re has been approval a t each o f th e Bynapses v ia r e a f f e r e n ta tio n (2 8 :6 1 ). The Renshaw c e l l s are Im p ortant elem ents in th is servo-mechanism complex. They fu n c tio n to feed back in h ib ito r y im pulses to the m otor neurons o f the e x tr a f u s a l muscle f i b e r s and allo w " l a s t chance n e g a tiv e feed back" (2 8 :6 2 ). Renshaw c e l l s may a ls o be stim u la te d by an im p u lse t r a v e ll i n g along a nerve f i b e r in the o p p o site d ir e c tio n to the norm al flow . This an tid ro m ic im pulse can cause some in h ib itio n o f the a n ta g o n is t muscle even when th e a g o n is t muscle m otor neurons a re s t i l l f i r i n g . (28:62) The muscle sp in d le sense organ has i t s own serv o mechanism b u i l t in to i t s s t r u c t u r e . The s t r i a t e d muscle f i b e r s w ith in th e sp in d le are known as i n t r a f u s a l muscle f i b e r s , w hile th e s k e l e t a l muscle to which th e sp in d le is a tta c h e d i s c a lle d an e x tr a f u s a l muscle f i b e r . Both a f f e r e n t and e f f e r e n t neurons connect to the muscle s p in d le , but the e f f e r e n t n e u ra l supply to the i n tr a f u s a l f i b e r c o n s is ts o f two types o f gamma nerve f i b e r s . The flow er spray ending, lo c a te d in the myotube region o f the muscle s p in d le , is stim u la te d by stro n g r e f le x movements; the a n n u lo s p lra l ending t h a t winds around th e n u c le a r bag has a low r e p e t it i v e d isch arg e which a l t e r s in frequency w ith s i l e n t changes in the m uscle. By t h e i r a c tio n the i n t r a f u s a l f i b e r poles c o n tra c t and th e n u c le a r bag and i t s a ss o c ia te d a n n u lo s p lra l ending are s tim u la te d . The im p u lses th u s f ir e d tr a v e l along e f f e r e n t f i b e r s , which form a monosynaptic lo o p . This loop i s e x c ita to ry to the la rg e motor f ib e r s o f the muscle concerned and a lso to i t s a s s o c ia te d s y n e r g is ts . This is a f a s t , f a c i l i t a t o r y servo-mechanism designed to a d ju s t th e le v e l o f m uscular a c t i v i t y to th e magnitude o f the s t r e s s . The loop a c t i v ity r e s u l t s in c o n tra c tio n being r e la te d a c c u ra te ly to th e e f f o r t made, and the s t r e t c h r e f le x e x c ite d by im p u lse s from th e muscle sp in d le keeps th e main muscle a t the same r e l a t i v e le n g th as the B pindle. H arrison (28:62) c a ll s t h i s s e rv o -a c tio n . In any steady v o lu n ta ry movement o r p o s tu ra l e f f o r t , the le n g th o f th e muscle i s determ ined by the r a te o f th e to n ic in n e rv a tio n o f the i n t r a f u s a l f i b e r s , and the sh o rte n in g o f th e muscle Involves an in cre ased e x b ita tio n o f the i n t r a f u s a l f i b e r s . S im ila rly , as they s h o rte n , the 42 main muscle follo w s by s e rv o -a c tio n , This s e rv o -a c tio n o f both i n t r a f u s a l and e x tr a f u s a l f ib e r s i s c l a s s if i e d as an i n t r i n s i c , p o s tu ra l r e a c tio n . However, the jo in t re c e p t o r s , c o n s is tin g o f the P acinian and R u ffin i co rp u scles a re re c e p to rs more c lo s e ly r e la te d to co n scio u sn ess, and they augment the p o s itio n sen se, k in e s th e s ia , H elleb ran d t (30:11) m ain tain s th a t the in te r n a l s tr u c tu r e o f th e muscle sp in d le may c o n s is t o f one o r two flo w er spray endings lo c a te d in the myotube re g io n . This p ro p rio c e p tiv e re c e p to r has a h ig h er th re sh o ld than the a n n u lo s p lra l ending and i t th e re fo re re q u ire s s t r e t c h o f h ig h e r i n te n s ity to e l i c i t a resp o n se. The im pulses evoked by th e flow er spray ending t r a v e l over much sm a lle r and slow er c i r c u i t s than those used by the annulo- s p i r a l flow . There i s some evidence to suggest th a t they pass on to th e so m esth etic c o rte x and thus may reach co n scio u sn ess. In d is c u ssin g the r e s u l t s o f t h e i r experim ental stu d y , Egstrom e t a l (17:423) sp e c u la te d th a t some type of sharpened s e n s i t i v i t y occurred from p r a c tic in g the throw ing s k i l l w ith th e l l g h t b a l l f i r s t . Those s u b je c ts who p ra c tic e d w ith the l l g h t b a l l f i r s t were ab le to tr a n s f e r s k i l l b e t t e r than tho se who p ra c tic e d w ith the heavyball f i r s t . I t was suggested th a t the o p eratio n o f neuro m uscular f a c i l i t a t i o n in v o lv in g sensory re c e p to r feed back mechanisms in th e m uscles and jo in ts could cause these 43 changes in le v e ls o f dem onstrated s k i l l . The ro le o f the feed back mechanisms o f the flo w er spray endings was a lso suggested as th e re sp o n sib le c a u sa tiv e agency. I t i s conceivable th a t the adjustm ents made during the p ra c tic e perlodB w hile le a rn in g to throw the l l g h t b a l l a c c u ra te ly r e s u lte d in autom atic a d a p ta tio n s a t a subconscious l e v e l . When the s u b je c ts then tr a n s f e r r e d to the heav y b all a f t e r a period o f p r a c tic e , th e in cre ased w eight could have e l i c i t e d a response o f th e flow er spray endings w ith t h e i r h ig h e r th re sh o ld which in tu rn brought the Impulse to consciousness and thus aided in the r e f l e x c o n tro l o f the throw ing move ment (1 7 :4 2 4 ). Summary R ecently conducted re se a rc h has g r e a tly added to th e d e ta ile d in fo rm ation concerning th e s tr u c tu r e and fu n c tio n o f the p ro p rio c e p tiv e organs. This knowledge has re s u lte d in the fo rm u latio n o f Beveral hypotheses and th e o rie s th a t attem pt to explain the ro le o f the pro p rio c e p to rs in le a rn in g movement s k i l l s . The c u rre n tly accepted concept o f r e a f f e r e n t and servo-mechanism c o n tro l o f o v e rt behavior em phasizes th a t the in d iv id u a l has c o n sid e ra b le c o n tro l over s tim u la tio n , because o f the e x iste n c e o f n e u ro lo g ic a l in h ib ito r y b a r r i cades t h a t are in te g ra te d in to com plicated feed back system s. The p ro p rio c e p tiv e organs play a m ajor ro le in th e fu n c tio n in g o f t h i s concept and allow l a s t chance n e g a tiv e feed back to o p e ra te . The "flow er spray ending feed back" th eo ry , as 44 p o s tu la te d by H e lle b ra n d t, and r e f e r r e d to by Egstrom, Logan and W a llis , a ttem p ts to e x p la in s i g n i f i c a n t d i f fe re n c e s t h a t were found to e x is t in th e a c q u is itio n o f throw ing s k i l l when p r o j e c t i l e s o f v ary in g w eigh ts were used. The feed back mechanism o f the flo w er spray end ings was suggested as th e f a c to r re sp o n s ib le f o r sharpen ing s e n s i t i v i t y and a id in g the r e f l e x c o n tro l o f the throw ing s k i l l . C urrent th e o r ie s o f p ro p rio c e p tio n e x h ib it a g en e ral p a tte rn o f agreem ent concerning the fu n c tio n in g o f th e p ro p rio c e p tiv e o rg a n s, but th e e x a c t r e la tio n s h ip be tween p ro p rio c e p tiv e f a c i l i t a t i o n and p a tte r n s o f move ment i s s t i l l a s u b je c t f o r ex p erim en tatio n and c o n je c tu re . CHAPTER I I I EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN The p re se n t study was designed to t e s t w hether o r n o t underloading o f m uscles and t h e i r a s so c ia te d p ro p rio c e p to rs in flu en ce d the a c q u is itio n and r e te n tio n o f motor s k i l l s by elem entary school c h ild re n . G eneral Design P ublished p h y sic a l performance t e s t m a te ria ls were examined to s e le c t re p re s e n ta tiv e t e s t item s s u ita b le to seven and e ig h t y ear old c h ild re n . Five t e s t item s were s e le c te d and In co rp o rated in to the p h y sic a l perform ance t e s t b a tte ry t h a t was used to determ ine th e r e l a t i v e degree o f each c h i l d 's p h y sic a l a b i l i t y . The p h y sical performance t e s t was ad m in istered to n in e ty -n in e c h ild re n a tte n d in g the U n iv e rsity Elem entary School which i s th e la b o ra to ry school o f the Department o f E d u catio n , U n iv e rsity o f C a lifo rn ia , Los A ngeles. The raw measures o f the fiv e t e s t item s o f t h i s performance t e s t were converted in to standard sco res and summed f o r a l l s u b je c ts te s te d . On th e b a s is o f th e se summed stan d ard s c o re s , th re e boys were e lim in a ted from the experim ent proper and th e 46 remaining n in e ty -s ix ch ild ren were assigned to four equated groups, each group comprised o f twelve boys and twelve g i r l s . Two groups co n sisted o f second grade stu d en ts and were g en erally w ithin the seven year old category. The o th e r two groups were formed from th ird grade p u p ils and were mostly e ig h t y ear o ld s. One group a t each grade le v e l was randomly a llo c a te d the use of lig h tw eig h t sp o rts equipment, while the o th e r group was assigned the h e a v ie r standard equipment. S k ill elem ents from second and th ird grade sp o rts lo cated in c u rre n t c u rric u la of physical education were surveyed and fo u r sp o rts s k i l l s were se le c te d as s u ita b le to th is age group. A p i lo t study was undertaken using a c ro ss-se c tio n o f seven and e ig h t y ear old ch ild ren not p a r tic ip a tin g in the study. This p il o t study served to t e s t the p r a c tic a l i t y o f the fo u r chosen sp o rts-ty p e s k i l l s and to develop standard t e s t procedures fo r t h e i r a d m in istra tio n . The su b je c ts in each grade group, having been a s signed to use e ith e r the heavyweight or the lig h tw eig h t equipment, were then given a t h i r t y minute period o f in s tru c tio n and p ra c tic e fo r each sp o rts s k i l l . Each s k i l l was tau g h t as a u n it so th a t a l l ch ild ren p a rtic ip a te d in fo u r sep arate teaching le sso n s. Two days a f t e r each lesson the groups took the sp o rts-ty p e s k i l l t e s t s , and raw scores in the four s k i l l s te s te d were recorded fo r a l l s u b je c ts . Nine months la t e r , th ese same fou r sp o r ts-ty p e s k i l l t e s t s were again adm inistered to the four groups, u sin g the type o f equipment o r ig in a lly a llo c a te d to each group. These r e t e s t sco r es were the raw measures used in the r e te n tio n stu d y . Por th e purposes o f a n a ly s is , th e se t e s t sco res were a l l reduced to a num erical b a s is , e x h ib itin g a pos s ib l e range from zero to te n . The d a ta were then tr e a te d s t a t i s t i c a l l y and analyzed to t e s t th e s ta te d h y p o th eses. Performance T ests The performance testB were s e le c te d by review in g th e r e la te d lit e r a t u r e concerned w ith th e p h y sica l per formance t e s t s s u ita b le to seven and e ig h t year old c h ild r e n . I t was decided to use t e s t ItemB having stan d ard ized t e s t procedures and norm ative d a ta . The fiv e t e s t item s s e le c te d fo r th e p h y sic a l performance t e s t b a tter y were: a stan d in g broad Jump, a knee bent s it - u p , a fift y -y a r d dash, a u t i l i t y b a ll throw fo r d ista n c e , and a handgrip stren g th t e s t . These f iv e p h y sica l performance t e s t item s were a lso s e le c te d because o f the s p e c if ic motor a b i l i t i e s p resen t to each In d iv id u a l item . The stan d in g broad Jump i s g e n e r a lly con sidered to be a r e lia b le measure o f dynamic Bpring and e x p lo siv e le g power. Because thlB 48 movement s k i l l req u ires a very d e fin ite movement p attern fo r th e co rrect execu tion o f the Jump, i t has been used as a t e s t o f gen eral co -o rd in a tio n . The stan d in g broad Jump i s u su a lly considered as an in d ic a to r o f dynamic sp rin g . The knee bent s lt-u p was s e le c te d fo r the t e s t b a ttery in order to obtain a measure fo r abdominal stren g th o f a l l s u b je c ts. The knee bent p o sitio n tends to reduce the a ctio n o f the hip and le g fle x o r m uscles during the performance o f t h is t e s t . Because some stu d en ts in the p ilo t study complained o f abdominal pain a fte r being te ste d in t h is item , i t was decided to s e t lim its fo r a l l age groups and to ad m inister t h is t e s t as the f in a l one o f the t o t a l b a tte r y . These lim it s were based on p e r c e n tile sco res o f a g e-se x groups reported in s ta te and n a tio n a l p h y sica l performance t e s t s ' normative d ata. The fifty -y a r d daBh was the t e s t item s e le c te d to measure sp eed . The lite r a t u r e c o n s is te n tly reported the use o f a fifty -y a r d dash fo r t e s t in g boys o f th is age group but recommended a redu ction o f th is d ista n ce fo r the g ir l s below the f i f t h grade. The p ilo t study showed th a t both seven and e ig h t year old boys and g i r ls could s a t i s fa c to r ily com plete the fifty -y a r d dash, so i t was decided to r e ta in i t as th a t item measuring speed. The u t i l i t y b a ll throw fo r d ista n ce was Included in th e t e s t b attery as a t e s t in which throwing a b i li t y , gen eral body co -o rd in a tio n and stren gth elem ents were in - 49 volved. Because th e side-arm o r overhand throw was to be used in the sp o rts -ty p e s k i l l s o f the experim ent proper, the u t i l i t y b a ll throw provided o p p o rtu n itie s fo r a l l sub je c ts to experience a d if f e r e n t movement p a tte rn of throw in g , The g i r l s were le s s lik e ly to be placed a t a d i s advantage by using the u t i l i t y b a ll in ste a d o f a s o f t b a l l . O ther t e s t s used a b a s k e tb a ll, so ccer b a l l , or a u t i l i t y b a ll in t h e i r throwing item . The major purpose o f the u t i l i t y b a ll throw was to provide a s k i l l th a t would measure in d iv id u a l throwing a b i l i t y . The handgrip s tre n g th t e s t item was s e le c te d as the most s u ita b le t e s t measuring handgrip s tre n g th . Because th e re is u su a lly a high c o rre la tio n of handgrip s tre n g th w ith general body s tre n g th , th is item subsequently pro vided a secondary in d ic a tio n o f the r e la ti v e o v e r -a ll s tre n g th o f s u b je c ts . Hand dynamometers were used to ob ta in the measure o f handgrip s tre n g th . A ll fiv e p h y sical performance t e s t item s were scored on a num erical b a s is . The stan d in g broad jump was scored by measuring the d istan ce o f the b e st jump in in ch es. The knee bent s it- u p t e s t was scored as the number o f com p le te , c o rre c tly executed s it- u p s each su b je c t perform ed. The f if ty - y a r d dash was recorded in whole and te n th s o f seconds. Length o f the lo n g est throw measured in f e e t was the score fo r the u t i l i t y b a l l throw. The handgrip s tre n g th t e s t was the h ig h e st score recorded in pounds o f 50 pressu re measured on the hand dynamometer. D escription s o f the fiv e p h y sical performance t e s t s and t h e i r a d m in istra tiv e procedures are presented in the appendix. Sports S h ills The four sp o rts-ty p e s k i l l s o f the experim ent proper were se le c te d a f t e r p h y sical education c u rric u la had been surveyed in o rd er to fin d fo u r common s k i l l elem ents s u ita b le to the performance le v e ls o f seven and e ig h t y ear old c h ild re n . The classroom teac h ers and the P hysical Education S upervisor had agreed to use Bports s k i l l s th a t were c lo s e ly re la te d to the co n ten t o f the p h y sical edu catio n program c u rre n tly being conducted a t the U n iv ersity Elementary School. T herefore, the four se le c te d sk illB were predom inantly s k i l l elem ents o r lead-up s k i l l s to a s p o rt. A fte r considerable experim entation w ith the p i l o t study group, the follow ing four s p o rts-ty p e s k i l l s were chosen: 1. An underhand bowl w ith the p re fe rre d hand to bowl a kingpin down. 2. A m odified two-handed b a sk e tb a ll fre e throw. 5* A ta r g e t throw f o r accuracy using the p re fe rre d hand. 4. A b a se b a ll to ssin g and b a ttin g s k i l l usin g both hands. 51 The s p e c if ic s k i l l of underhand bowling fo r ac curacy was recognized as a b asic form o f b a ll handling in a l l o f the c u r ric u la surveyed. I t was found to be used in the fundamental lead-up games o f k lc k - b a ll, d o d g e-b all, b a s e b a ll, so cc er, b a s k e tb a ll and bowling games. The two-handed b a s k e tb a ll fre e throw was Included in a l l the r e la te d p h y sical education te x ts , but because o f the age o f the su b je c ts i t was found necessary to brin g the fre e throw lin e c lo s e r to the b a s k e tb a ll back board. The ta r g e t throw fo r accuracy was c ite d as a measure of performance in many c u r ric u la . The type o f throw to be used, the d istan ce o f the throw, and the s iz e o f the ta r g e t were determined by the p il o t stu d y . A s id e - arm o r overarm throw was se le c te d fo r th is s k i l l item in o rd e r to r e s t r i c t the use o f throws already used in the o th e r t e s t s . The b a ll to s s in g and s tr ik in g s k i l l was se le c te d as a complex motor s k i l l derived from b a s e b a ll. Host t e x t books re fe rre d to th is s k i l l as a "fungo h i t . " The b a t t e r holds the b a ll in h is n o n -p re ferred hand and r e s t s the b at on h is sh o u ld er. He to ss e s th e b a ll in to the a i r on h is b a ttin g side and attem pts to s tr ik e the b a ll w ith both hands on th e b at handle. The o b je c t o f the t e s t i s to co o rd in a te the many elem ents o f the t o t a l s k i l l and success f u lly s tr ik e the b a l l w ith the b a t. The g en e ral and s p e c if ic movement a b i l i t y f a c to r s involved in th e se fo u r s lc ills a re in te rd e p e n d e n t, and t h e i r is o la te d c o n trib u tio n to success in o v e r - a ll p e r formance cannot be a c c u ra te ly gauged* However, a l i s t i n g o f some a b i l i t y f a c to r s t h a t appear to be o p e ra tiv e in the in d iv id u a l s k i l l s has been attem pted below* Bowl the Kingpin Down 1* Hand-eye coordination* 2. Accuracy o f aiming* 3* G eneral body coordination* 4* Use o f o p p o sitio n movement* B a sk e tb a ll Free Throw 1* Hand-eye coordination* 2* Arm and sho ulder g ird le stren g th * 3* G eneral body coordination* T arget Throw f o r Accuracy 1* Hand-eye c o o rd in a tio n . 2* Accuracy o f aiming* 3* Throwing s k i l l u sin g side-arm o r overhand throw. 4* G eneral body coordination* B aseball Toss and S trik e 1* Accuracy o f one-handed toss* 2* Hand-eye coordination* 3* Movement and re a c tio n time* 4* Arm, w r is t, and sh o u ld er g ird le stren g th * 5* G eneral body co o rd in atio n * 53 D esc rip tio n o f Sports-T vne S k i l l s I . H Bowl th e K ingpin Down" F a c i l i t i e s and Equipment Two p a r a l l e l w hite l i n e s s ix ty f e e t in le n g th were p a in te d on th e a s p h a lt playground twenty f e e t ap art* At fiv e fo o t I n te r v a ls on one Bide o f th ese s ix ty fo o t long l i n e s , sm all squares (s id e le n g th o f e ig h t in ch es) were painted* The Kingpin stood in the m iddle o f t h i s sm all Bquare* At fiv e fo o t i n t e r v a l s on the fo u l l i n e , a fo u r inch l i n e was drawn d i r e c t l y o p p o site to each Kingpin square* Numbers were assig n ed to each Kingpin lane* Thus, the f i r s t la n e was numbered 1 and the l a s t lan e was numbered 13* A t o t a l o f th i r t e e n bowling la n e s were con s tr u c te d by t h i s procedure* L ightw eight Equipment The l i g h t b a ll was a p l a s t i c " F u n -b a ll," tra d e marked "Zlpee" by Transogram* The circum ference o f the b a l l was tw elve in c h e s, th e w eight two and o n e -fo u rth ounce8* The Kingpin used f o r both groups was a molded p l a s t i c hTn te n -p in m easuring th ir te e n in ch es in h e ig h t and w eighing two and o n e -fo u rth ounces* Heavyweight Equipment The heavy b a ll was a V olt C 912 s o f t b a l l , w eighing 54 eig h t ounces. In stru c tio n s "Ve are try in g to fin d out how ac cu rately you can bowl a b a ll to knock the Kingpin down. You have ten a t tem pts. But, should you cross the fo u l lin e before your b a ll is re le a se d from your hand, we w ill c a ll a “ta k e over" on th a t attem pt. Remember to use the learned under hand bowling actio n and aim to knock the Kingpin down. Your score is the number of tim es th a t you su cc essfu lly touch o r knock your Kingpin down. The h ig h est score you can make is ten p o in ts . “ Procedure The Kingpin was erected in the middle o f the “8" square on the “Kingpin" l i n e . Immediately behind the Kingpin, an a d u lt sc o re r was positioned in o rd er to keep t a l l y o f the su ccessfu l attem pts and also to re tu rn the b a ll and rep lace the Kingpin. S ubjects stood behind the fo u l lin e and awaited the command to begin the t e s t . In ord er to have some co n tro l o f the performance of the s k i l l , the t e s t e r gave these a d d itio n a l in s tru c tio n s : “Knock the Kingpin down, bowl number one, ready, bowl." When a l l the Kingpins had been r e - s e t , a l l the b a lls retu rn ed to th e ir re sp e c tiv e bowlers and the su b je c ts were ready to d e liv e r the next bowl, the t e s t e r sa id : “Bowl number two, ready, bowl." This procedure was repeated f o r the ten attem p ts. 55 The a d u lt s c o re r kept a running t a l l y on the suc c e ssfu l attem pts and rep o rted the s u b je c t's score to the sc o re r a t the end o f th e ten attem p ts. Any "tak e-o v ers" were rep o rted and completed. I I . B ask etb all Free Throw F a c i l i t i e s and Equipment Two re g u la tio n b a sk e tb a ll hoops and backboard th a t were already erected on the a s p h a lt area o f the U niversity Elementary School Playground were used in the b a sk e tb a ll fre e throw s k i l l t e s t . The h e ig h t o f the b a sk e tb a ll rin g from ground le v e l was nine f e e t , s ix in c h e s. A re g u la tio n white s tr in g b a s k e tb a ll n e t was hung from each o f the b a s k e tb a ll r in g s . A plumb-bob lin e was dropped from the fro n t of th is rin g to the ground in the fre e throw zone of the b a sk e tb a ll c o u rt. A sm all mark in the a sp h a lt id e n tif ie d the p o in t where t h i s plumb-bob touched the ground. A d ista n c e o f s ix f e e t was measured from th is mark away from the b a sk e tb a ll rin g in sid e the fre e throw la n e . A fo u l lin e was then drawn a t th i s s ix foot le v e l, a t r ig h t angles to the two sid e lin e s o f the fre e throw la n e . Lightw eight Equipment A polyethylene b a ll weighing s ix ounces and con forming to the b a s k e tb a ll dimensions was used f o r the Figure 1 "Bowl the Kingpin Down" 57 Figure 1 "Bowl th e Kingpin Down" b a sk e tb a ll free throw s k i l l t e s t 58 Heavyweight Equipment A Volt brand, JB 2 b a sk e tb a ll, weighing nineteen ounces. In s tru c tio n s "Take up a ready p o sitio n behind the foul lin e . Remember to use the throwing s k i l l you have learned before and keep both fe e t behind the fo u l lin e u n ti l the b a ll h its any p a rt o f the b a sk e tb a ll rin g o r backboard. Try to make a basket on every attem pt. Your score is the number o f su c c e ssfu lly made b ask ets. A p e rfe c t score i s 10. Any foul throws are "ta k e -o v e rs." Procedure Each su b je c t stood behind the foul lin e and the b a ll was handed to him. The t e s t e r kept a record of both the number o f attem pts and the "baskets" made. An a d u lt a s s is ta n t re trie v e d the b a ll a f t e r each fre e throw and kept the su b ject supplied on a more or le s s continuous b a s is . I I I . Target Throw fo r Accuracy F a c i l i ti e s and Equipment The ta rg e t was erected a g a in st the w ire fence on the a sp h a lt playground a re a . This ta r g e t was firm ly Figure 2 B ask etb all Free Throw Figure 2 B asketball Free Throw n a ile d and w ired to two deeply s e t 4 x 4 p o s ts . The ta r g e t was c o n stru c te d o f le n g th s o f hard wood p a n e llin g a p p ro x i m ately s ix Inches wide and s ix ty Inches long, o n e -h a lf Inch deep. The t a r g e t face was p a in te d on the exposed s u rfa c e —a w hite background w ith fiv e c o n c e n tric a lly drawn b lack c i r c l e s . The " b u lls -e y e " c i r c l e was p a in te d In a l in e one Inch wide w ith a s ix Inch r a d iu s . Each c o n c e n tric o u te r c i r c l e had a re s p e c tiv e ra d iu s o f an ad d i t io n a l s ix In c h es. The numbers p a in te d In b lack fig u re s w ith in th e se fiv e c i r c l e s , s t a r t i n g In the "b u lls -e y e " and working outw ards, were 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2. A d is ta n c e o f twenty f e e t was measured from the base o f th e t a r g e t a t r i g h t a n g le s . A throw ing o r "fo u l" l in e ten f e e t long was p ain ted on the a s p h a lt, p a r a l l e l to the base o f th e t a r g e t . This l in e was one Inch In w id th . L ightw eight Eaulpment A p l a s t i c " f u n -b a ll" tra d e marked "Zipee" by Transogram w eighing two and o n e -fo u rth ounces and m easur ing tw elve Inches In circu m feren ce. Heavyweight Equipment A V olt C 912 s o f t b a l l , w eighing e ig h t ounces and m easuring tw elve Inches In circu m feren ce. I n s tr u c tio n s "Stand behind the throw ing 'fo u l* l in e and do n o t cro ss over i t . Use the le a rn e d throw ing a c tio n and aim to h i t the •b u lls-ey e* w ith every throw . Your score Is th e t o t a l number of p o in ts made w ith ten a tte m p ts. In your own tim e --b e g in .” Procedure The su b je c t stood behind th e throw ing " f o u l” lin e and had ten b a lls In a box b esid e him. At the command. "Begin" he threw ten attem p ts to h i t th e " b u lls -e y e ." The t e s t e r stood w ell behind the su b je c t In o rd e r to count and score each throw. An a d u lt a s s i s t a n t r e tr ie v e d the b a l ls and k ep t them out o f the s u b j e c t 's way. At the end o f ten good throw s, the t o t a l score was recorded f o r each s u b je c t. IV. B aseb all B a ttin g S k ill F a c i l i t i e s and Equipment The g ra ss a re a o f the U n iv e rsity Elem entary School playground was s e le c te d f o r the perform ance o f the base b a l l b a ttin g B k lll. A ten fo o t h ig h , lvy-oovered w ire fence was used to s t r i k e the b a ll a g a in s t. This fence reduced the chance o f I n ju r ie s o cc u rrin g and helped to absorb the fo rce o f the b a lls s tru c k . Lightw eight Equipment A " F u n -b a ll," stamped "Zipee" by Transogram, weigh ing two and o n e -fo u rth ounces m easuring twelve Inches In Figure 3 Target Throw f o r Accuracy Figure 3 Target Throw f o r Accuracy 65 circum ference. The bat was a " R e s ilite ," of p la s tic com pound co n stru c tio n , weighing fiv e and a h a lf ounces but re g u la tio n len g th and dimension. Heavyweight Eaulnment The b a ll used was a Voit C 912 s o f tb a ll weighing e ig h t ounces and measuring twelve Inches in circum ference. The bat was a Spalding, L i t t l e League b ase b all b a t, siz e 2 9 , weighing two pounds. In stru c tio n s "Take your bat and b a ll and stand about ten fe e t away from the fence. Hold the b a ll in your to ssln g -u p hand and carry the bat across your to ssin g arm 's shoulder. Toss the b a ll up as we have previously learned and s trik e i t w ith both hands gripping the handle of the b ase b all b a t. A fte r every attem p t, the a s s is ta n t w ill hand you another b a l l . In order to score one point you must to ss the b a ll up c o rre c tly , s tr ik e i t w ith both hands on the bat so th a t the b a ll reaches the fence. I f you do not s tr ik e the b a ll, th is i s counted as an attem pt and i t is not a " ta k e -o v e r." A p e rfe c t score fo r the b aseb all s tr ik in g s k i l l is 10 p o in ts. Procedure The su b je c t took up the ready p o sitio n facin g s id e ways to the fence. The sc o re r stood behind the su b ject in o rd e r to c la s s if y s t r i k e s and n o n - h its . A box o f nine b a lls was placed beside th e s u b je c t. The I n s tr u c tio n s were read and then the command to begin the t e s t was g iv e n . Figure 4 B aseball B attin g S k ill 68 F igure 4 B aseb all B a ttin g S k i l l CHAPTER IV THE EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The experim ental procedure c o n siste d o f a d m in iste r ing a fiv e item performance t e s t b a tte ry to n in e ty -n in e second and th ir d grade le v e l elem entary school children* A fte r co n v ertin g the raw measures obtained from the p e r formance t e s t in to stan d ard sc o re s, each grade le v e l was rank ordered and equated as two equal groups. Each o f the fo u r groups thus formed c o n siste d o f tw enty-four c h ild re n , tw elve boys and twelve g i r l s . One group a t each grade le v e l was randomly assigned the lig h tw e ig h t eq u ip ment, w hile the o th e r group was a llo c a te d the standard ty p e, h e a v ie r sp o rts equipment. Pour s p o rts -ty p e s k i l l s were s e le c te d and tau g h t to a l l fo u r groups and t h a t weight o f equipment p rev io u sly assigned to each group was used during th i s teach in g le s s o n . Two days a f t e r th e s k i l l was ta u g h t, every group waB te s te d in the a c q u is itio n o f each s k i l l under standard te B t c o n d itio n s . The th ir d phase o f the experim ental procedure con- i s is te d o f re -a d m in iste rin g the fo u r s k i l l teB ts to a l l s u b je c ts a f t e r a period o f nine months had e la p se d . A dults were used as a d m in is tra tiv e a s s i s t a n t s during a l l te s tin g s e s s io n s . 70 The S ubjects The su b je c ts were ch ild ren atten d in g the U n iv ersity Elementary School, the lab o ra to ry school fo r the Depart ment of Education, U n iv ersity o f C a lifo rn ia a t Los Angeles. N in ety -six boys and g i r l s in grades approximat ing the second and th ird grade le v e ls p a rtic ip a te d in the experim ental procedures. The number of boys and g i r l s in each grade i s shown in Table I I I , page 71. The ch ild ren who atten d the U niversity Elementary School may be considered w ell above average in i n t e l le c tu a l a b i l i t y and economic s ta tu s . They pay a small tu itio n per sem ester, but because the school is the experim ental lab o rato ry school fo r the Department o f Edu c a tio n , th ere are almost 2,000 stu d en ts on the entrance w aiting l i s t s . S ib lin g s of a tten d in g stu d en ts have p r io r ity to e n te r the school as do fa c u lty c h ild re n . C lasses are kept to the size of tw enty-five stu d en ts and each child receiv es more a tte n tio n than public school p u p ils because o f the unusually larg e number o f super v is o r ia l s t a f f s p e c ia lis ts and teach ers in tra in in g . The educational resources o f the u n iv e rsity are fre e ly a v a il able to the school. A ph y sical education s p e c ia lis t teach ing on a h a lf - time b asis supervised the ph y sical education program of the th ree hundred stu d e n ts. From September, I960 to June, 71 TABLE I I I NUM BER OP CHILDREN IN EXPERIMENTAL GROUPS Grade Weight o f Mean Level Equipment_______ Age_______ Bovs______ G lrle_____ T otal 2 L ight 7-3 12 12 24 2 Heavy 7-4 12 12 24 3 L ight 8-3 12 12 24 3 Heavy 8-3 12 12 24 T otal S u b jects 48 48 96 72 1963» the au th o r held t h i s appointm ent, A curriculum fo r p h y sical education was agreed upon hut was no t f u lly In o peration a t the time th a t th i s study was undertaken. The A s sis ta n ts Approximately twenty a d u lts were used to ad m in ister both the p h y sical performance t e s t Items and the s p o rts - type s k i l l t e s t s . Four a s s is ta n ts were the su p erv isin g te a c h e rs In charge of the fo u r c la ss e s c o n trib u tin g the su b je c ts fo r th is study. A ssociate te a c h e rs, stu d en ts In tr a in in g programs, elem entary school majors and p h y sical education major stu d en ts a l l helped ad m in ister these t e s t s . The a s s is ta n ts were In stru c te d In the performance o f t h e i r r e la ti v e d u tie s by the P hysical Education S upervisor, T esting su p p lies and equipment were made a v a ila b le to them. A dm inistration o f the P hysical Performance Tests The fiv e t e s t Items c o n s titu tin g the ph y sical performance t e s t b a tte ry were adm inistered on the g rass o r a s p h a lt playground area of the U n iv ersity Elementary School. Before the te s tin g period commenced, the te s tin g a s s is ta n ts were In s tru c te d In t h e i r a d m in istra tiv e d u tie s . Each t e s t Item was dem onstrated In good form to every c h ild and questions r e la tiv e to the t e s t s were answered. During 73 the a c tu a l perform ance of each t e s t item , each c h ild Has supervised and scored by an a d u lt a s s i s t a n t . The P h y sical Education S u p erv iso r c o n tro lle d the o v e r - a ll a d m in istra tio n o f a l l the p h y sical performance t e s t i n g . The c h ild re n wore ru b b e r-so le d shoes and the c lo th e s th a t they had worn to sch o o l. In o rd e r n o t to h in d e r t e s t perform ance, sw eaters and o th e r c lo th in g th a t could r e s t r i c t movement were removed. Each t e s t item was ad m in istered during a se p a ra te p h y sic a l education p erio d d uring school tim e. Each item was f i r s t describ ed and dem onstrated. Boundaries and f in is h in g lin e s were pointed out but no p ra c tic in g was allowed before the t e s t i n g began. A few m inutes of g en eral c a lis th e n ic s were performed by a l l s u b je c ts p r io r to running the f if ty - y a r d dash t e s t . The purpose o f the c a lis th e n ic s was to warm-up ligam ents and Jo in ts in o rd e r to minimize the p o s s ib i li ty o f s t r a i n s and sp ra in s during th e running o f the f if ty - y a r d dash. The p h y sical performance t e s t s were su pervised and scored by the a d u lt t e s t i n g a s s i s t a n t s and the c h ild r e n 's perform ances were l a t e r re p o rte d to them as a m o tiv a tio n a l tech n iq u e. A ll s u b je c ts were warned to d isco n tin u e any t e s t item i f pain was ex p erien ced . The L earning S itu a tio n One th irty -m in u te p h y sic a l education period was used 74 to teach each sp o rts-ty p e s k i l l . The tw enty-four ch ild ren comprising each experim ental group were In stru c te d as a c la s s . The s k i l l was f i r s t explained and dem onstrated, while the ch ild ren were given o p p o rtu n itie s to ask q u estio n s. An an a ly sis o f the c o rre c t performance o f the s k i l l was presented and each c h ild was allowed to p ra c tic e the s k i l l movements. The group was then divided in to twelve p a irs by the "buddy system ," one member of each p a ir was assigned to tend the ta rg e t area and re tr ie v e the b a lls while the p a rtn e r attem pted ten t r i a l s of the s k i l l t e s t . When th is p ra c tic e of the s k i l l t e s t was completed, the p artn e rs changed p o sitio n s so th a t every ch ild p ra c tic e d . Each group learned and p ra ctic ed the s k i l l w ith th a t weight of equipment o rig in a lly assigned to i t . A dm inistration o f the S p o rts- Type S k ill TeBts The sp o rts-ty p e s k i l l te s t s were performed on e ith e r the grass or a sp h a lt playground areas of the Univer s i t y Elementary School. Before every te s tin g period a l l te s tin g a s s is ta n ts were In stru c te d in th e i r d u ties and fu n c tio n s. No dem onstrations were given and th ree p ra c tic e attem pts were p erm itted. Every c h ild was supervised by an a d u lt te s tin g a s s is ta n t. The P hysical Education Supervisor co n tro lled the te s tin g o f a l l s u b je c ts . 75 The c h ild re n wore ru b b e r-so le d shoes and the c lo th e s t h a t they had worn to sch o o l. A r tic le s o f c lo th in g r e s t r i c t i n g movements were taken o f f . Each t e s t item was ad m in iste red d u rin g a s e p a ra te p e rio d . The s k i l l was ex p lain ed and the b o u n d arie s, fo u l l i n e s , and ta r g e ts were p ointed o u t. The c h ild re n were given an o p p o rtu n ity to ask q u e stio n s about the s k i l l t e s t . Then th e c h ild re n perform ed th e t e s t . A ll fo u r s p o rts -ty p e s k i l l t e s t s were scored by an a d u lt a s s i s t a n t and recorded on th e m aster sco re s h e e t. C hildren were allow ed to know t h e i r in d iv id u a l sc o re s and group sc o re s were re p o rte d d a lly in o rd e r to m o tiv ate and c re a te co m p etitio n and i n t e r e s t . A d m in istratio n o f th e S p o rts S k i l l R e te st A ll th e r e t e s t s o f th e s p o rts s k i l l s were performed on the same a re a s o f th e U n iv e rsity Elem entary School playground as the i n i t i a l t e s t s . T estin g a s s i s t a n t s were b rie fe d about t h e i r d u tie s b efo re th e t e s t i n g p erio d com menced. No d em onstrations were given and th re e p r a c tic e a tte m p ts were p e rm itte d . Every c h ild was assig n ed to an a d u lt t e s t i n g a s s i s t a n t who was a ls o re s p o n s ib le f o r keep ing the re co rd o f the c h i l d 's perform ance sco re f o r the s k i l l being t e s t e d . The c h ild re n wore ru b b e r-so le d shoes and the c lo th ing th a t they had worn to sc h o o l. Each s k i l l r e t e s t was ad m in iste red d u rin g a se p a ra te p h y sic a l educatio n p e rio d . The s k i l l was ex p lain ed and the b o u n d aries, fo u l l i n e s , and t a r g e ts were p o in ted o u t. The c h ild re n were given o p p o rtu n itie s to ask q u e stio n s about th e r e t e s t . Then the c h ild re n performed the t e s t . A ll s p o rts -ty p e s k i l l s r e te s te d were scored and then recorded on the m aster score sh e e t by the s u p e rv isin g t e s t a s s i s t a n t . Group sco res were re p o rte d to the c h ild re n f o r purposes o f m o tiv a tio n . The type o f equipment a l lo c a te d to each group f o r th e i n i t i a l t e s t s was used again f o r the perform ance o f the r e t e s t . CHAPTER V THE DATA: PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE TESTS The d a ta f o r the p h y sic a l perform ance t e s t s con s i s t e d o f the raw sc o re s o b tain ed from th e perform ance o f each c h ild in each o f th e fiv e t e s t item s making up th e p h y sic a l perform ance t e s t b a t t e r y . These fiv e item s w ere: handgrip s tr e n g th ; b en t knee s l t - u p s ; f i f t y - y a r d dash; u t i l i t y b a l l throw ; and th e s ta n d in g broad jump. The purpose o f a d m in iste rin g the p h y sic a l perform ance t e s t was to attem p t to measure th e g e n e ra l p h y sic a l a b i l i t y o f a l l the s u b je c ts in o rd e r to equate th e ex p erim en tal groups. The procedures used in t r e a t i n g th e se d a ta , and th e f in d ings re v e a le d by an a ly z in g and comparing them, a re d is c u s s ed in t h i s c h a p te r. O rg an izatio n o f th e Data The d a ta were o rg an ized and analyzed as in d iv id u a l t e s t item s f o r both sex-groups and g ra d e-g ro u p s. The raw sco re s o f each p h y sic a l perform ance t e s t item f o r sex - groups a t each grade le v e l were pooled and th e ra n g e, the means, and th e stan d ard d e v ia tio n s d eterm in ed . S im ila rly , the means and ranges o f sc o re s were c a lc u la te d f o r each grade-group t h a t re p re se n te d th e U n iv e rsity Elem entary School grade placem ent le v e l o f th e c h ild r e n . The 78 p e r c e n tile sco res f o r sex-groups in a l l fiv e t e s t item s were also c a lc u la te d and the means and standard d e v ia tio n s o b tain ed . A ll raw Bcores o f each p h y sical performance t e s t item were then pooled and converted in to standard sc o re s. The fiv e standard sco res derived from the raw d ata o f the fiv e p h y sical performance t e s t items were summed fo r each c h ild and used as the measure o f p h y sical performance a b i l i t y . The summed standard score in d ices were rank ordered f o r each grade le v e l and experim ental groups equated on t h i s b a s is . Handgrip S tren g th The measure o f handgrip s tre n g th was recorded on the hand dynamometer by t e s tin g the p re fe rre d hand. The com p a ra tiv e d ata fo r the d is tr ib u tio n s o f the raw scores fo r the handgrip s tre n g th t e s t item are presented in Table IV, page 79. For each sex, the d ata f o r handgrip s tre n g th shows a p a tte rn o f p ro g re ssiv e increm ents in the value of the means, and th i s p a tte rn i s dem onstrated by the mean w ithin each h a lf-g ra d e l e v e l . Also, in each h a lf-g ra d e le v e l, the mean fo r boys1 handgrip s tre n g th raw measures is h ig h e r than the g i r l s ' and t h i s d iffe re n c e tends to i n crease w ith age. TABLE IV C O M PA R A TIV E D A T A FO R G R A D E DISTRIBUTIONS O F H A ND G RIP STREN G TH SCO RES Mean Age Mean Measures Range of Handgrip Strength Scores ______ (Pounds of Pressure) Grade II B G-12 B-12 7- 0 22.3 26.4 24.2 27.8 II A G-12 B-12 7- 9 7- 7 8 - 0 I I I B G-12 B-13 27.7 31.1 I I I A G-12 B-14 G-48 B-51 N-99 A LL 7-10 7-10 7-10 X H S H B Q C H 3 S U S 9 R n Pounds of Pressure \o 80 Bent Knee S lt-u n s The s lt- u p t e s t Item o f the p h y sical performance b a tte ry was adm inistered to the n in e ty -n in e su b je c ts as th e t e s t used to measure abdominal s tre n g th and general c ir c u lo - r e s p ir a to r y endurance. Because o f the p o s s ib ility o f in ju ry o ccu rrin g to the seven and e ig h t y ea r old c h ild re n perform ing t h i s t e s t w ithout previous c o n d itio n in g , a lim it was s e t f o r the number o f s it- u p s each grade sub-group could perform . The com parative d ata fo r the d is tr ib u tio n o f raw measures f o r s lt- u p s are shown in Table V, page 81. In a l l h a lf-g ra d e groups, except group I I I A, the mean fo r each sex in c re a se s w ith age. The I I I B and I I I A g i r l s e x h ib ite d id e n tic a l means in the s it- u p t e s t . The I I I B boys' mean (18.3) was s li g h tly g r e a te r than th a t of the I I I A boys' (17*6). In a d d itio n , in each h a lf-g ra d e le v e l, the mean fo r boys i s h ig h e r than the g i r l s and th is d iffe re n c e remains f a i r l y co n stan t as age in c re a s e s . F lfty-.vard Dash The f if ty - y a r d dash was the t e s t item se le c te d to measure speed in running. The com parative d ata f o r the d is tr ib u tio n o f raw measures f o r the f if ty - y a r d daBh are presented in Table VI, page 82. For each sex, th e re are p ro g ressiv e increm ents in the means o f the f if ty - y a r d dash w ithin each h a lf-g ra d e I TA BLE V C O M PA R A TIV E D A T A FO R G R A D E DISTRIBUTIONS OF SIT-UP SCO RES Grade N Mean Age Mean Measures Range of Slt-uns Scored II B II A * G-12 B-12 G-12 B-12 7- 0 7- 0 7.6 10.0 7- 9 7- 7 9.2 10.3 I I I B - G-12 J ril 8- 0 8- 0 17.5 18.3 t i I I I A G-12 B-14 8 - 6 8 - 6 17.5 17.6 A LL G-48 B-51 N-99 13.5 SD* 5.8 irM* 0.6 i I i i T i i _i_ 12 I__ l F I i i 20 I " h r 2F 1. Limit of 15 slt-u p s a r b itra rily agreed upon. 2. Limit of 12 s i t — ups a rb itra rily agreed upon. 3. Limit of 20 slt-u p s a r b itra rily agreed upon. 4. Limit of 30 s i t — ups a rb itra rily agreed upon. O D TA BLE VI C O M PA R A TIV E L A T A FO R G R A D E DISTRIBUTIONS O P 50 Y A R D D A SH M EA SU R ES Grade N Mean Age Mean Measures Time for 50 Yard Dash Measures in Seconds ------- 1 ---------------------------- 1 ------1 ----------s- II B G-12 B-12 7- 0 7- 0 10.7 10.6 a: 4 II A G-12 B-12 7- 9 7- 7 10.3 . 9.7 < + ■ + i -f x I I I B G-12 B-13 8 - 0 8- 0 9.5 9.3 T ± = t T 1 X I I I A G-12 B-14 8 - 6 8 - 6 9.3 8.8 i t A LL G-48 B-51 N-SS L 7-10\ 7-10 > 7-10 J M«9.8 SD«0.9 <TM«0.09 I i i TT7o io 75 io . o Time In Seconds J, I 975 970 575 T O 0 0 ro 83 l e v e l . Again* in each h a lf-g ra d e lev el* the mean fo r boys i s h ig h e r than the mean fo r g i r l s and t h i s d iffe re n c e tends to in c re a se w ith age. The d iffe re n c e s between the means o f sex-groups f o r groups I I B and I I I B are n o t as marked as those d isp lay ed by groups I I A and I I I A. U t i l i t y B all Throw The u t i l i t y b a ll throwing measures were used to evalu ate the throwing a b ilit y o f a l l su b jects te s te d . The com parative d a ta f o r the d is tr ib u tio n o f raw scores fo r the u t i l i t y b a ll throw ing t e s t a re disp lay ed in Table V II, page 84. For each sex* a common p a tte rn f o r th e d is tr ib u tio n o f mean sco re s i s e v id e n t. The I I B boys e x h ib it a mean f o r throw ing in excess o f the I I A b o y s ', even though they a re seven months younger than the I I A boys. Also* the I I B g i r l s d isp la y a mean fo r throw ing th a t i s h ig h e r than th e I I A g irls * y e t the I I B g i r l s are nine months younger than the I I A g i r l s . In each h a lf-g ra d e level* the mean f o r boys i s h ig h e r than the mean f o r g i r l s but t h i s d i f feren ce tends to decrease s l i g h t l y w ith age. Standing Broad Jumn A ll s u b je c ts were te s te d and measured in the sta n d ing broad jump and t h i s item was s e le c te d to in d ic a te dynamic sp rin g and explosive le g d riv e . The com parative d a ta f o r the raw sco res o f the stan d in g broad jump are TA B LE VII C O M PA R A TIV E D A T A FO R G R A D E DISTRIBUTIONS OF UTILITY BA LL T H R O W IN G M EA SU R ES Grade N Mean Age Mean Measure8 Distance of U tility Ball Throw ______ (Measured In Feet) II B G-12 B-12 7- 0 7- 0 20.9 33.1 r r+ - * T 4=1, 1 I ''S.ZSZys's/yZs.y z s , II A G-12 B-12 7- 9 7- 7 18.9 31.1 -t i 3 ZyZ sZ SZ s. t/Z S Z Z ZSZ/ZZZZZ. Z-ZZZ I I I I I I B G-12 B-13 8- 0 8 - 0 27.1 36.5 r ± ± 3. z /y y y y s z z z z z z z z z /sssX /yzs/yrzz* ' s z z z z z ' / z y z z ' Z a i i i I I I I I A G-12 B-14 8- 6 8- 6 28.6 38.8 rr ± = p ! .y y y /y y y y y zy zz sy y y y y y y ////y ^ y s A LL G-48 B-51 1=22. M e29.6 SDel0.4 rM* 1.1 I I I r i j 1 i i i “ 55" I I 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 ^45 50 55 ___________ Distance of Throw Measured In Feet 60 65 o o shown in Table V III, page 86. For each sex, d iv e rg e n t p a tte rn s o f stan d in g broad jump means are d isc e rn e d . The I I B g i r l s d isp lay ed a mean in excess o f the I I A g i r l s and the I I B g i r l s a lso had a means h ig h e r than the o ld e r I I I A g i r l s . The boys h a l f grade le v e l means showed the I I B mean to be h ig h e r than the I I A mean f o r the stan d in g broad jump, but the I I I B mean was c o n sid erab ly l e s s than th a t o f the I I I A mean. Only in the I I I A h a lf-g ra d e le v e l was the mean fo r boys h ig h e r than the mean f o r g i r l s . In a l l the o th e r h a l f grade le v e l means, the g i r l s performed b e t t e r than the boys. The stan d in g broad jump t e s t item e x h ib its le s s co n sisten cy in p a tte rn because o f le s s d iffe re n c e in boys and g i r l s s c o re s , and more v a r i a b i l i t y in age p a tte r n s . T herefore, the d a ta su g g ests th a t t h i s t e s t may n o t be wholly a p p ro p ria te f o r t h i s age group. P e rc e n tile Scores f o r Sex Groups a t Each Grade Level The p e r c e n tile sco re s o f both second and th ir d grade g i r l s in th e p h y sic a l performance t e s t item s are p resen ted in Table IX, page 87* The th ir d grade g i r l s ' p e r c e n tile sc o re s a re c o n s is te n tly h ig h e r than the p e r c e n tile sco res o f the second grade g i r l s . The p e r c e n tile sco res o f th e second and th ir d grade boys fo r the fiv e p h y sic a l performance t e s t item s are TA B LE VIII C O M PA R A TIV E D A T A FO R G R A D E DISTRIBUTIONS OP STA N D IN G B R O A D JU M P M EA SU R ES Grade N Mean Age Mean Measures Distance of Standing Broad Jumn In Inches II B G-12 B-12 7- 0 7- 0 48.4 46.5 1 • ----------- .----------• ---------- i |------ ! ............. . ..1 1 , I 1 . 1 ------!------------ 1 ■ I *-------- 1 ! ' 1 • • " • i 1 * • • II A G-12 B-12 7- 9 7- 7 45.3 45.1 1 S iz^j- If — ! —n 1 : v szzzzzisss^ sssz^ ia z. I I I B G-12 B-13 8- 0 8- 0 53.2 50.9 I t I t * j . t r..% 1 : - i- z n 1 f : • * , f* I I I A G-12 B-14 8- 6 8- 6 52.3 54.6 : : i — 1 ! { y A LL G-48 B-51 N-99 7-10 7-10 7-10 M.49.5 SD* 6.5 rM« 0.7 1 ; 1 • : • 1 1 .1 1 ! • • 1 • -1---- 1 J _______ ! _______J--------- '_______ I _______ I-------- _J_____ -________ 30 35 5 o 53 50 55 5o £5 70 Distance of Standing Broad Jump Measured In Inches 00 o\ TA BLE IX PERCENTILE SCO RES OP SECO N D * A N D THIRD* G R A D E GIRLS FO R FIVE PHYSICAL PER FO R M A N C E TEST ITEM S Percentile Point Scale Physical Performance Test Item Sit-UDB Handerin Thro vin<r Dash St. Broad Jumo 2nd 3rd 2nd 3rd 2nd 3rd 2nd 3rd 2nd 3rd P90 12.8 24.6 29.4 35.7 30.2 35.8 8.9 8.8 53.4 60.2 P75 11.6 21.4 26.3 31.3 24.0 29.6 10.2 9.1 51.5 57.0 P50 8.5 17.5 24.2 29.0 19.0 28.0 10.8 9.4 46.9 53.0 P25 6.3 12.9 20.3 24.5 16.0 22.4 11.0 9.8 41.8 48.5 P10 4.8 9.4 17.4 22.4 13.3 20.5 11.2 9.9 39.4 46.4 Mean 8.4 17.5 23.2 29.6 19.9 27.9 10.5 9.4 46.4 52.7 SD 3.1 5.5 4.1 5.1 6.3 6.0 0.9 0.5 5.5 5.3 Pounds Feet Seconds Inches * Mean age of Second Grade g ir ls , 7 years 4 months. * Mean age of Third Grade g ir ls , 8 years 3 months. 00 - < 1 88 shown in Table Xf page 89* No p e rc e n tile score of the second grade boys exceeds the comparable score of the th ir d grade boys group. Equation and C la s s ific a tio n o f Experim ental Groups On the b asis o f the raw scores obtained from the fiv e physical performance t e s t item s, the n in ety -n in e sub je c ts were reduced to a to t a l o f n in e ty -s ix su b je c ts fo r the purpose o f the study proper. I t was found necessary to omit th ree th ird grade boys in o rd er to equalize the experim ental sample in to four groups. Each group con s is te d o f twelve boys and twelve g i r l s and each grade le v e l had two equ iv alen t groups. One o f these two groups a t each grade le v e l used the heavyweight equipment through out the duratio n of the experim ent, while the o th e r co r responding group performed w ith the lig h tw eig h t equipment. Equating of Groups The raw scores o f a l l su b jects were pooled fo r each in d iv id u a l physical performance t e s t item and the mean, standard d ev iatio n and standard e r ro r of the mean computed. Using th is tre a te d d a ta , these raw scores were then con v erted in to standard o r mT" sc o re s. A ll fiv e M TH scores derived from the raw scores o f the performance t e s t were siammed fo r each su b je c t in o rd er to obtain the summed T A BLE X PERCENTILE SCORES O P SECO N D * A N D THIRD* G R A D E B O Y S FO R FIVE PHYSICAL PER FO R M A N C E TEST ITEM S Percentile Point Scale Physical Performance Test Item S lt- uns Handgrip Throwing Dash S t. Broad Jump 2nd 3rd 2nd 3rd 2nd 3rd 2nd 3rd 2nd 3rd P90 14.4 23.6 30.7 40.3 44.4 49.6 8.9 8.4 53.6 60.3 175 12.3 20.5 29.4 37.3 39.3 45.3 9.6 8.6 51.5 56.9 P50 10.8 19.1 27.6 34.2 32.0 40.5 10.2 9.1 46.9 53.8 P25 10.0 15.4 25.6 31.6 26.5 33.8 10.9 9.7 41.8 51.1 P10 6.7 13.3 22.4 25.5 22.3 22.4 11.3 10.0 39.4 47.1 Mean 10.1 17.9 27.1 33.7 32.1 37.7 10.2 9.1 45.8 52.7 SD 2.6 4.0 3.4 5.8 8.3 9.3 0.8 0.6 5.8 6.3 Pounds Feet Seconds Inches * Mean age of Second Grade boys, 7 years 3 months. * Mean age of Third Grade boys, 8 years 3 months. 0 0 V O stan d ard score index. A ll the standard score in d ic e s were then ranked and the g i r l s ' and boys' in d ic e s sep arated in to second and th ir d grade groups. For each grade le v e l th e se ranked l i s t s o f summed stan d ard sco res o r in d ic e s were l i s t e d and numbered. The a lte r n a te numbered su b je c ts were assigned to one group, the even numbered in d ic e s were a llo c a te d to the o th e r group. Thus, fo r each grade le v e l, two equated groups were s e le c te d , and each sub-group con s is t e d o f twelve boys and twelve g i r l s . This process r e s u lte d in the form ation o f fo u r sub-groups o f tw enty-four s u b je c ts re s p e c tiv e ly . On a random sampling b a s is , one sub-group a t the second grade le v e l was a llo c a te d to use the lig h tw e ig h t equipment w hile the o th e r second grade sub-group was a s signed the heavyweight equipm ent. S im ila rly , the two th ir d grade sub-groups were assigned t h e i r types o f equip m ent. These fo u r sub-groups were then named group I I H, group I I L, group I I I H, and group I I I L. The number re f e r r e d to the grade le v e l e q u iv a le n t o f each group; the l e t t e r denoted the w eight o f equipment each group was u sin g during the experim ent. Table XI, page 91* p re se n ts the d a ta o f summed "T" sco re in d ic e s f o r a l l fo u r groups p a r tic ip a tin g in th is experim ental stu d y . The mean ages o f a l l groups, the range o f in d ic e s , the mean index o f the groups, the stan d ard d e v ia tio n and the stan d ard e r r o r o f the means, T A B LE XI D A T A OF S U M M E D "T" SCO RES FO R A LL FO U R EXPERIM ENTAL G R O U PS Groui) N Mean Age Range of Indices Mean Index SD Standard Error of the Mean II H 12 Boys 7-2 201-273 236.3 Heavy 12 Girls 7-6 180-258 210.3 Equipment 24 All 7-4 180-273 223.3 26.1 5.4 II L 12 Boys 7-5 200-288 236.3 Light 12 G irls 7-2 156-258 213.2 Equipment 24 All 7-3 156-288 224.9 29.7 6.2 I I I H 12 Boys 8-3 270-349 299.6 Heavy 12 G irls 8-3 232-320 261.5 Equipment 24 All 8-3 232-349 280.6 31.6 6.6 I I I L 12 Boys 8-4 232-336 293.4 Light 12 G irls 8-3 237-306 268.1 Equipment 24 All 8-3 232-336 280.8 28.5 5.9 92 and the number o f s u b je c ts in each group are re p o rte d . Table X II, page 93, ta b u la te s the s ig n ific a n c e o f the d iffe re n c e s between the means o f summed standard sc o re s fo r a l l fo u r exp erim ental groups. None o f th ese t v alu es reached the 0.05 le v e l of co n fid en ce. Thus, i t can be assumed th a t th e re are no s t a t i s t i c a l l y s ig n if ic a n t d i f fe ren ce s between the means o f the heavyweight and l i g h t w eight groups in each grade le v e l. 93 TABLE XII SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DIFFERENCE BETW EEN M EA N S OF SU M M ED "T" SCORES FOR ALL G ROUPS Compared Mean t Level o f Groups t______________ Means D ifference Value Confidence Boys: I I H - I I L 236.3, 236.3 0.0 0.0 G irls : I I H - I I L 210.3, 213.2 -2.9 0.834 A ll: I I H - I I L 223.3, 224.9 -1 .6 0.719 Boys: I I I H - I I I L 299.6, 293.4 6.2 1.539 G i r l s : I I I H - I I I L 261.5, 268.1 -6 .6 1.837 A ll: I I I H - I I I L 280.6, 280.8 -0 .2 0.070 CHAPTER VI THE DATA? SPORTS SKILLS The purpose o f t h i s study was to t e s t c e rta in hypotheses about the n e u ro -p h y slo lo g ic a l phenomena o f pro p rio c e p tiv e f a c i l i t a t i o n by observing the r e la ti v e e f f e c ts o f l i g h t and heavy equipment on th e a c q u is itio n o f se le c te d s k i l l s by c h ild re n In the second and th ir d g rad es. Seven and e ig h t y e a r old c h ild re n were adm inistered a p h y sic a l perform ance t e s t b a tte ry and on the b a s is o f summed stan d ard sco res they were then c l a s s i f ie d and equated in to fo u r experim ental groups. One group a t each grade le v e l was assigned to use heavyweight equipm ent, w hile the o th e r corresponding group was a llo c a te d l i g h t w eight equipm ent. Each group was in s tru c te d and te s te d in the performance of fo u r s p o rts -ty p e events u sin g th a t w eight o f equipment p re v io u sly assigned to i t . Nine months l a t e r , the s p o rts s k i l l t e s t s were again a d m in iste r ed and sco red . The d ata c o n siste d o f: (1) performance sco res ob ta in e d from the i n i t i a l a d m in is tra tio n o f the fo u r sp o rts s k i l l t e s t s when each group used th a t w eight o f equipment randomly assig n ed to i t fo r the d u ra tio n o f the e x p e ri ment; and (2) s im ila r ly o b tain ed performance sco re s fo r a l l groups th a t had been r e te s te d in the s p o rts -ty p e 95 events a f t e r a time lap se o f nine months. The procedures used In tr e a tin g t h i s d ata, and the fin d in g s rev ealed by analyzing and comparing them, are d iscussed In th is ch a p te r. Performance In S k ill Event Tests The sp o rts s k i l l events In which each ch ild was te s te d were: underhand bowling, a two-handed b a sk e tb a ll fre e-th ro w , a b a se b a ll to ss and s t r i k e , and the ta rg e t throw f o r accuracy. For each sp o rts s k i l l t e s t , a num erically based system o f sco rin g was adopted to ev alu ate the r e la tiv e performance of every c h ild te s te d . A nalysis o f S k ill Test Data A value of one point was given to every su cc essfu l attem pt In the bowling, b a s k e tb a ll, and b a se b a ll s k i l l t e s t s . A maximum score o f ten p o in ts was p o ssib le In th ese th re e t e s t s . The ta r g e t throwing s k i l l , however, had a maximum value o f ten f o r each throw attem pted. This t e s t c o n siste d o f ten throws and a p e rfe c t score was 100 p o in ts . In ord er to equate the ta r g e t throw ing t e s t w ith a l l o th e r th re e t e s t s , I t was necessary to div id e the throw ing t e s t score by te n . A ll four t e s t Items were then based on a u n it o f one, and displayed a range between zero and ten p o in ts . The means and standard d e v ia tio n s of the scores 96 recorded fo r the s k i l l event t e s t s are presented in Table X III, pages 97 and 98. These d ata were used to t e s t the h ypothesis th a t young c h ild re n would fa v o r the use o f the lig h tw e ig h t equipment in le a rn in g and r e ta in in g sp o rts s k i l l s . The means o f the s k i l l t e s t sco res ex h ib ited a d iv erg en t p a tte rn in regard to the weight o f equipment p re fe rre d by the experim ental groups, as evidenced by these performance d a ta . By using the mean scores achieved by each group in each te s te d s k i l l event as the c r ite r io n f o r comparison, the follow ing d iffe re n c e s in performance were found to e x i s t . Combining the fo u r t e s t events and the fo u r r e t e s t e v e n ts, the th ir d grade boys scored b e t te r u sin g the heavyweight equipment in s ix o f the e ig h t t e s t s . The th ird grade g i r l s showed no b ia s towards e i th e r weight o f equip ment, both the heavyweight group and the lig h tw e ig h t group having h ig h er means in four t e s t s . The heavyweight group o f second grade boys out-perform ed the lig h tw e ig h t group in seven of the e ig h t t e s t item s. The second grade g i r l s favored the lig h tw eig h t equipment in fiv e sp o rts event t e s t s , had equal means in two o th e r item s, and the remain ing event favored the use o f heavyweight equipment. The t o t a l group o f boys performed b e tte r u sin g the heavyweight equipment in th ir te e n o f six te e n t e s t s . The t o t a l group o f g i r l s scored h ig h er w ith the lig h tw eig h t 97 TABLE X III M EANS AND STANDARD DEVIATIONS OP TEST AND RETEST SCORES FOR ALL GROUPS Grade Test R e te s t____ Heavy - L ig h t____________ Mean_______S.D._______Mean_______S.D. Bowling (Boys) I I I Heavy 3 .0 1 .4 3 .8 2 .0 I I I L ig h t 4 .1 1 .4 4 .3 1.5 I I Heavy 3 .6 1 .5 3 .6 1 .6 I I L ig h t 3.3 1.5 3.2 1.7 Bowling ( G irls ) I I I Heavy 3.5 1 .8 3 .6 1.3 I I I L ig h t 2.1 1 .1 3 .4 1 .4 I I Heavy 2.7 2 .0 2.7 1.7 I I L ig h t 2.8 1.2 2 .7 1.2 B a s k e tb a ll (Boys) I I I Heavy 5.2 1.7 5.3 1.1 I I I L ig h t 2 .5 1 .8 4 .1 1.8 I I Heavy 3 .8 2.3 5.2 1 .6 I I L ig ht 4.1 2.1 2 .4 1 .4 B a sk e tb a ll (G irls ) I I I Heavy 3 .0 2.1 3 .6 1.3 I I I L ig h t 3 .3 1.1 " 2.9 1 .5 I I Heavy 1 .3 1 .2 2 .2 1.3 I I L ight 1.1 0 .9 2 .2 1.2 B aseb a ll (Boys) I I I Heavy 9 .0 1 .0 8 .9 1 .6 I I I L ig h t 8 .7 2.2 8 .8 2.2 I I Heavy 8 .3 1 .3 8 .6 1 .0 I I L ig h t 5 .8 3 .0 7 .8 2 .0 98 TABLE XIII (Continued) Grade Test R etest Heavy - Light Mean S.D. Mean S.D. B aseball (G irls ) I I I Heavy 6.7 1.9 7.3 1.5 I I I L ight 8.0 1.1 7 .8 1.7 I I Heavy 5.5 3.1 5.8 3.1 I I Light 5.8 2.6 7.3 1.5 Throwing (Boys) I I I Heavy 5.4 1.5 6.1 1.3 I I I Light 4.1 1.0 4.8 1.6 I I Heavy 4.9 1.3 4.7 1.1 I I L ight 3.6 1.6 3.8 1.5 Throwing (G irls) I I I Heavy 2.6 1.2 2.7 1.3 I I I Light 2.5 1.1 3.4 0.9 I I Heavy 1.6 0.9 2.4 0.8 I I L ight 2.1 0.8 2.7 0.6 equipment in n in e t e s t e v e n ts, had two t ie d mean s c o re s , and favored th e use o f heavyw eight equipment in fiv e s p o r ts s k i l l t e s t s . S t a t i s t i c a l Treatm ent o f th e Data In o rd e r to s t a t i s t i c a l l y t r e a t the d a ta , F i s h e r 's t. Test was used to compare the d iffe re n c e between means o f the s k i l l t e s t sco res f o r a l l ex p erim en tal groups. This was th e method s e le c te d to fin d w hether o r n o t the use o f lig h tw e ig h t equipment produced s i g n i f i c a n t d iffe re n c e s in the s k i l l perform ances o f young c h ild re n . The s t a t i s t i c a l t e s t s f o r comparing th e d a ta w ere: (1) th e a p p lic a tio n o f F is h e r 's t. to t e s t th e d iffe re n c e between means o f p e r formance sc o re s o f both grade le v e ls u sin g heavyweight o r lig h tw e ig h t equipm ent; (2) a s im ila r tre a tm e n t to show s i g n i f i c a n t sex d iffe re n c e s between t e s t means o f e x p e ri m ental groups; (3) an a d d itio n a l use o f F i s h e r 's t to t e s t th e s ig n ific a n c e o f the d iffe re n c e s between mean sco re s ob tain ed from the r e te n tio n o f le a r n in g study (2 6 :2 2 0 ), (4 1 :5 8 ), (53*65). D iffe re n c e s R elated to Weight o f Equipment The v alu es o f t f o r the d iffe re n c e between means o f t e s t sco re s oomparlng heavyw eight and lig h tw e ig h t eq u ip ment a re p re se n te d in Table XIV, page 100. The i n i t i a l t e s t s show t h a t , w ith one e x c e p tio n , th e boys tended to perform b e t t e r w ith th e heavyw eight 100 TABLE XIV VALUES OP T FOR THE DIFFERENCE BETW EEN M EA N S OF SPORTS SKILL M EASURES COM PARING HEAVYW EIGHT A N D LIGHTWEIGHT EQUIPMENT S k i ll Tested Grade Heavy- L ieh t Sex D ifference Between Means t. Level o f Confidence Bowling I I I B -1.083 1.661 I I B 0.333 0.617 5% I I I G 1.333 2.355* I I G -0.083 0.107 B ask etb all I I I B 2.583 2.995* 5% I I B 0.333 0.589 I I I G -0.083 0.091 I I G 0 .2 5 0 0.492 B aseball I I I B 0.500 0.600 1% I I B 1.833 3.256* I I I G - 1 .5 0 0 1.829 I I G -0.083 0.072 Throwing I I I I I I I I I I B B G G 1.250 0.750 -0.083 -0.500 2.111 1.209 0.200 1.319 * S ig n i f ic a n t a t th e 0 ,0 5 ( 2 .2 0 1 ) or 0 .0 1 (3 .1 0 6 ) l e v e l o f c o n fid e n c e . 101 equipment, and In two events the d iffe re n c e s were s t a t i s t i c a l l y s ig n if ic a n t. Conversely, with two exceptions, the g i r l s p er formed b e tte r w ith the lig h tw eig h t equipment, and one s k i l l event was s t a t i s t i c a l l y s ig n if ic a n t. The r e t e s ts (Table XV, page 102) repeated the same p a tte rn fo r the boys' groups. With one exception, the boys performed b e tte r using the heavyweight equipment, and the d iffe re n c e s were s t a t i s t i c a l l y s ig n ific a n t fo r two events. The r e te s t means fo r the g i r l s ' groups showed no s ig n ific a n t p a tte rn of performance. They performed b e tte r w ith the lig h tw eig h t equipment in th ree events and b e tte r w ith the heavyweight in four, and in the remaining event the performances were equal. Only s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i cant d iffe re n c e s are considered in the discussion th a t follow s. The th ird grade heavyweight g i r l s performed s ig n i fic a n tly b e tte r than th e ir corresponding lig h tw eig h t group in the bowling s k i l l , and the d iffe re n c e was s ig n if ic a n t a t the 0.05 le v e l o f confidence. At the same le v e l of confidence, the th ir d grade boys in the b a sk e tb a ll i n i t i a l t e s t performed b e tte r with the heavyweight equipment than the lig h tw e ig h t. In the b ase b all s k i l l , the boys' second grade heavyweight group performed s ig n ific a n tly b e tte r than the lig h tw eig h t group, and the d iffe re n c e reached the 102 TABLE XV VALUES OP T POR DIFFERENCE BETW EEN M EA N S OP SPORTS SKILL RETEST M EASURES COM PARING HEAVYW EIGHT A N D LIGHTWEIGHT EQUIPMENT S k ill Tested Grade Heavy- Light Sex D ifference Between Means .t Level of Confidence Bowling I I I B - 0 .5 0 0 0.655 5 % I I B 1 .1 6 6 2.763* I I I G 0.166 0 .3 1 2 I I G 0.833 1.333 B asketball I I I B 1.083 1.477 I I B 2.750 6.166* 1* I I I G 0 .6 6 6 1 .8 7 2 I I G 0.000 0.000 B aseball I I I B 0.083 0 .0 9 2 I I B 0.750 1.473 I I I G 0 .5 0 0 0.596 II G - 1 .5 0 0 1.849 Throwing I I I I I I I I II B B G G 1.083 1.000 -0.833 -0.333 1.335 1.972 1.893 1.077 * S ig n if ic a n t a t the 0 .0 5 (2 .2 0 1 ) or 0 .0 1 (3 .1 0 6 ) l e v e l o f co n fid e n c e. 103 0.01 le v e l o f confidence. In the r e t e s t , one s t a t i s t i c a l l y s ig n ific a n t event reached the 0.05 le v e l of confidence. The second grade heavyweight boys’ group in the bowling s k i l l out-performed t h e i r eq u iv alen t lig h tw eig h t group. In the b a sk e tb a ll s k i l l th is same group had a performance mean score g re a te r than the lig h tw eig h t groups* but the d iffe ren ce was s ig n i f ic a n t a t the 0.01 le v e l of confidence. On the b asis o f s t a t i s t i c a l sig n ific a n c e , th ere is v ir tu a lly no evidence to support the hypothesis th a t the use of lig h tw eig h t equipment b e n e fits the le a rn in g and re te n tio n o f s k i l l s by young c h ild re n . Of the fiv e events showing s ig n if ic a n t d iffe re n c e s (of a t o t a l of th irty -tw o items te s te d ) , not one event favored the use o f the l i g h t weight equipment. Sex D ifferences In the i n i t i a l t e s t s , w ith two exceptions, the means fo r the boys' groups exceeded the means of the g i r l s ' groups. Ten o f these six teen d iffe re n c e s were s t a t i s t i c a l ly s ig n if ic a n t. (Table XVI, page 104) These ten s ig n if ic a n tly d if f e r e n t events were spread more or le s s throughout the s k i l l s of b a sk e tb a ll, b a se b a ll, and ta rg e t throwing. The bowling t e s t item did not display a c le a r-c u t p a tte rn in favor of the boys' performance. 104 TABLE XVI VALUES OP T FOR SEX DIFFERENCES BETW EEN M EANS OF INITIAL TEST INTRA-GROUP SKILL M EASURES W ithin D ifferen ces S k ill Groups Between t Level o f Tested B oys-G irls Means Confidence Bowling I I I Heavy -0.583 0.845 I I I L ight 1.750 2.551* 5% I I Heavy 0.933 1.425 I I L ig h t 0.500 0.712 B a sk e tb a ll I I I Heavy 1.916 2.658* 5 % I I I L ight -0.750 1.394 I I Heavy 2.417 2.688* 5 % I I L ig ht 3.000 4.237* B aseball I I I Heavy 2.666 3.703* 1* I I I L ight 0.666 1.122 I I Heavy 2.417 2.579* 5% I I L ight 0.000 0.000 Throwing I I I Heavy 2.750 5.046* 1* I I I L ight 1.500 3.095* I I Heavy 2.666 8.743* I I L ight 1.333 3.537* * S ig n i f ic a n t a t the 0 .0 5 or 0 .0 1 l e v e l o f c o n fid e n c e . 105 In the r e t e s t s , the same o v e r-a ll general p attern was ev id en t. The boys' means exceeded the g i r l s ' In every event te s te d . Eight of the six teen d iffe re n c e s In mean scores were s t a t i s t i c a l l y s ig n if ic a n t. (Table XVII, page 106) Again, these e ig h t s t a t i s t i c a l l y s ig n if ic a n t values were g en e rally spread throughout the b a sk e tb a ll, b a se b a ll, and ta rg e t throwing s k i l l s . No s ig n if ic a n t d iffe ren ce s were p resen t In the bowling t e s t event. R etention of Learning Analysis of R etention Scores The means o f the raw t e s t scores and r e t e s t scores fo r every s k i l l event te ste d were computed fo r a l l groups. The percentage of re te n tio n was determined by divid in g the mean raw Bcore made on the r e t e s t by the mean raw score achieved on the I n i t i a l t e s t . In ord er to work with percentages, a l l raw scores o f zero were a r b i t r a r i l y given the value o f one. Table XVIII, page 107* p resen ts the mean percentages fo r re te n tio n o f le a rn in g fo r sex-groups a t both grade le v e ls . Sex D ifferences and R etention o f Learning No meaningful p a tte rn r e la tiv e to the weight of equipment used by the experim ental groups was apparent from the mean percentages o f re te n tio n . 106 TABLE XVII VALUES OP T FOR SEX DIFFERENCES BETW EEN M EANS OF RETEST INTRA GROUP SKILL M EASURES W ithin D iffe ren c es S k i ll Groups Between t Level o f Tested B oys-G lrls Means Confidence Bowling I I I Heavy 0.083 0.101 I I I L ight 0.833 1.284 I I Heavy 0.666 1.608 I I L ight 0.333 0.492 B ask etb all I I I Heavy 1.750 4.375* i : % I I I L ig ht 1.166 1.341 I I Heavy 2.916 5.391* I I L ight 0.378 0.378 B aseball I I I Heavy 1.666 2.645* 5% I I I L ight 1.083 2.315* 5! % I I Heavy 2.750 3.403* 1# I I L ight 0 .5 0 0 0.972 Throwing I I I Heavy 3.250 8.760* I I I L ight 1.416 2.613* I I Heavy 2.083 5.803* 1* I I L ight 0.916 1.997 * S ig n i f ic a n t a t the 0 .0 5 or 0 .0 1 l e v e l o f c o n fid e n c e . TA BLE XVIII M E A N PERCEN TA G ES FO R RETENTION OP LEARNING FO R SEX-GROUPS IN B O T H G R A D E LEVELS S k ill Tested Boys G irls I I H II L I I I H I I I L II H II L I I I H I I I L Bowling 105 84 125 104 ■ 116 79 102 158 Basketball 140 59 103 163 162 208 119 90 Baseball 104 143 99 109 106 120 109 90 Throwing 96 111 114 115 152 150 105 135 Average of four s k ills 111 99 110 123 ■ 134 134 109 118 108 The boys* groups using the heavyweight equipment showed g re a te r re te n tio n in th re e t e s t ev en ts, and le s s in f iv e . Boys re ta in e d an average o f 108 per cent o f o rig in a l le a rn in g . The g i r l s ' groups using the heavyweight equipment displayed g re a te r re te n tio n in fo u r ev e n ts, and le s s in fo u r. The t o t a l group o f g i r l s re ta in e d 124 p er cent o f o r ig in a l le a rn in g . I t should be remembered th a t the boys performed b e t te r on the i n i t i a l t e s t s so th a t i t req u ired a markedly su p e rio r performance in the r e t e s t to dem onstrate high re te n tio n means. The g i r l s , on the o th e r hand, did not perform as w ell in the i n i t i a l t e s t s and they req u ired a r e la tiv e ly sm all in crease in the r e t e s t to make co n sid er able re te n tio n score g ain s. When a l l the sco res fo r both sex-groups were com bined and tre a te d fo r the s ig n ific a n c e of d iffe re n c e s be tween means (Table XIX, page 109), d iffe re n c e s favoring the use o f the heavyweight equipment were found to be s t a t i s t i c a l l y s ig n if ic a n t fo r the b a sk e tb a ll fre e throw in both grade le v e ls and fo r bowling in the second grade. D iscussion o f the A nalysis o f the Data In d iscu ssin g the a n a ly sis of the data i t was found necessary to consider th re e experim ental groups o f hypotheses, as fo llo w s: (1) The data as i t r e la te d to the T A B L E XIX V A L U E S O P T FO R DIFFERENCES B E T W E E N M E A N S O F H E A V Y W E IG H T A N D LIGHTW EIGHT RETENTION SCO RES Second Grade Third Grade Group Mean Difference Between Means t S kill Test Group Mean Difference Between Means t II H 3.41 • Bowling I I I H 3.66 II L 2.37 1.04 2.695* I I I L 3.83 -0.7 0.345 II H 3.71 Baskethall I I I H 4.46 II L _ 2.33 1.38 3.370* I I I L 3.50 0.96 2.187* II H 7.21 Baseball I I I H 8.08 I I L 7.58 -0.37 0.715 I I I L 8.29 -0.21 0.340 II H 3.51 Throwing I I I H 4.40 II L 3.26 0.25 1.034 I I I L 4.07 0.33 0.265 * S ignificant a t the 0.05 (2.069), or 0.01 (2,807) levels of confidence. 601 110 two s u b s id ia ry hypotheses s ta te d in the statem en t o f the problem o f t h i s stu d y . (2) The two pragm atic hypotheses a ls o p o s tu la te d in the statem en t o f th e problem o f t h i s stu d y . (3) The o v e r - a ll purpose o f t h i s study concerned w ith the t e s t i n g o f hypotheses r e la te d to the neuro- p h y s io lo g ic a l phenomenon o f p ro p rio c e p tiv e f a c i l i t a t i o n . The S u b sid ia ry Hypotheses An a n a ly s is o f the d a ta , in g e n e ra l, supported the h y p o th e sis t h a t d iffe re n c e s in performance a re e x h ib ite d by age groups in re s p e c t to the type o f equipment used d u rin g the a c q u irin g and r e ta in in g o f s k i l l s . That the seven y e a r o ld group o f g i r l s performed b e t t e r u sin g the lig h tw e ig h t equipment could be p a r tly due to th e n a tu re o f two o f th e t e s t ite m s. The b a s k e tb a ll and b a s e b a ll t e s t item s possessed a s tre n g th w eighting th a t could be a f a c t o r in flu e n c in g th e sco res made by th e r e l a t i v e l y younger and l e s s stro n g g i r l s . Using th e heavyweight equipm ent, the weaker g i r l s might have become fa tig u e d as th e t r i a l a tte m p ts were made and the e f fic ie n c y o f t h e i r perform ances m ight have been in h ib ite d . The o ld e r and s tro n g e r e ig h t y e a r old group o f g i r l s perform ed e q u a lly , ir r e s p e c tiv e o f the w eight o f equipment u sed . The l i g h t w eight group and the heavyweight groups each performed b e t t e r in fo u r o f th e e ig h t item s t e s t e d . The s tre n g th f a c to r could account f o r t h i s in c re a se in p re fere n ce f o r I l l the heavyweight equipment. Both the seven and e ig h t y ear old group o f boys performed b e t te r w ith the heavyweight equipment and th is trend could be p a r ti a l l y due to the f a c t th a t boys tend to have had more experiences and con t a c t w ith the standard type o f sp o rts equipment than the g i r l s ' groups. There i s a p o s s i b i li ty th a t the l i g h t weight equipment may have f e l t "stran g e" to them as a group. With re fere n ce to sex d iffe re n c e s , the boys, as a group, out-perform ed the g i r l s w ith both the heavyweight and lig h tw e ig h t equipment. In g e n e ra l, they performed b e tte r than the g i r l s w ith the heavyweight but a lso had se v e ra l s ig n if ic a n tly h ig h er scores in many lig h tw eig h t t e s t item s. The i n t r i n s i c n atu re o f the s p o rts -ty p e s k i l l s se le c te d might explain th is f a c t . As these s k i l l s were a l l elem ents o f major games o r s p o rts , i t was ex pected th a t most boys would have had more experience in the a c tu a l game s k i l l s than the g i r l s of a contemporary age l e v e l. I f a m ajo rity o f the boys p a r tic ip a tin g in th i s study had o p p o rtu n itie s fo r previous experiences in the s k i l l s used in t h i s experim ent, then i t would be expected th a t they would perform b e st w ith the weight o f equipment u t ili z e d e a r l i e r in the le a rn in g and p ra c tic in g o f the s k i l l s involved. In most ca se s, i t would be assumed th a t the stan d ard , heavyweight type o f equipment would be most a v a ila b le to th ese boys. This might explain why the 112 boys performed b e tte r than the g i r l s w ith the heavyweight equipment and also managed to out-perform them w ith the lig h tw eig h t equipment. The Pragmatic Hypotheses The only group th a t supported the hypothesis th a t the le a rn in g of s k i l l s Is favored by the use o f r e la tiv e ly lig h tw eig h t sp o rts equipment was the second grade g i r l s ' group. As a t o t a l group, a l l g i r l s performed b e tte r w ith the lig h tw eig h t equipment but only one event of six teen was s t a t i s t i c a l l y s ig n if ic a n t. The boys favored the use o f the heavyweight equipment but only two of six teen events were s t a t i s t i c a l l y s ig n if ic a n t. The data from the i n i t i a l t e s t s dem onstrates the trend but these d iffe re n c e s In p er formance are not s ig n ific a n t and may not be d iffe re n c e s r e a lly due to the experim ental design. They might be due to the sampling procedures o r population b ia s . That the second grade g i r l s displayed h ig h er performance scores using the lig h tw eig h t equipment does re q u ire fu rth e r in v e stig a tio n and a n a ly sis . The hypothesis th a t re te n tio n of s k i l l s by young ch ild ren is more e ffe c tiv e i f lig h tw eig h t equipment is u tiliz e d was not supported or denied by the evidence. Boys using heavyweight equipment had g re a te r re te n tio n p ercent ages in th ree events, and le s s in fiv e . The g i r l s using heavyweight equipment showed g re a te r re te n tio n in four s k i l l e v e n ts, and le s s in fo u r. I f th e p re se n t stu d y had d u p lic a te d the Egstrom, Logan and W allis experim ental de s ig n , the heavyweight and lig h tw e ig h t groups would have been te s te d in t h e i r a b i l i t y to tr a n s f e r le a rn in g to the o p p o site w eight o f equipment th a t they used in th e s k i l l t e s t and r e t e s t . Perhaps s i g n i f i c a n t d iffe re n c e s in r e te n tio n of le a rn in g m ight have been o b tain ed i f t h i s p ro cedure had been adopted. Again, the method used to measure th e r e te n tio n o f le a rn in g m ight a lso have c o n sid e r ab le b ea rin g on the fin d in g s r e s u l t a n t from a s t a t i s t i c a l tre a tm e n t o f the d a ta . The method o f comparing t e s t and r e t e s t sc o re s and co n v ertin g them in to p ercen tag es was con sid e re d most s u ite d to the p re se n t stu d y . This b a s is f o r m easuring the r e l a ti v e amount o f re te n tio n of le a rn in g does n o t take in to c o n s id e ra tio n the f a c t th a t groups t h a t p e r form w ell on the i n i t i a l t e s t must perform a t high le v e ls on th e r e t e s t in o rd e r to show s i g n i f ic a n t p ercen tag es o f r e te n tio n . On th e o th e r hand, groups who have low sco res on the i n i t i a l t e s t only re q u ir e a reaso n ab le Increm ent in t h e i r r e t e s t sc o re s to show marked g ain s in r e te n tio n p e rc e n ta g e s. This Increm ent r a t i o fa v o rs low i n i t i a l t e s t s c o re s . T heories o f P ro p rio ce p tio n For the purposes o f t h i s stu d y , i t would appear t h a t the theory o f "flow er spray ending feed back" has lim ite d a p p lic a tio n to the le a rn in g and r e te n tio n o f s p o rts s k i l l s by elem entary school age c h ild re n . The f a c t th a t the seven y e a r old g i r l s had b e t t e r perform ances using the lig h tw e ig h t equipment su g g ests th a t a d d itio n a l in v e s tig a tio n o f t h i s problem should be c a rrie d out w ith younger age groups. In a d d itio n , the p re se n t experim ent had d i f f i c u l t y w ith i t s experim ental design because the c h ild re n l o s t i n t e r e s t in re p e a tin g the s k i l l s in the teach in g le s s o n , the i n i t i a l t e s t , and the r e t e s t . For a more s ig n i f i c a n t in d ic a tio n o f each c h i l d 's r e la tiv e performance in the s k i l l t e s t s , ten p ra c tic e t r i a l s o f the t e s t would have produced more m eaningful d a ta . U n fo rtu n a tely , the p i l o t study had shown t h a t the seven y e a r old group tended to be unable to m aintain i n t e r e s t in r e te s ti n g techniques fo r any d u ra tio n o f tim e. At th i s age, m otivation proved to be the most d i f f i c u l t f a c to r to c o n tro l and s tim u la te . In o rd e r to ad equately t e s t the theory o f "flow er spray ending feed back" w ith young c h ild re n , d u p lic a tio n o f E gstrom 's experim ent would n e c e s s ita te the le a rn in g o f a novel s k i l l w ith the n o n -p re fe rre d hand and numerous p ra c tic e t r i a l s o f the s k i l l . I t w ill be remembered th a t E gstrom 's (17:422) heavyb all p ra c tic e group dem onstrated a s ig n if ic a n tly low er score ( s ig n if i c a n t a t the 1 per cen t le v e l o f confidence) when they tr a n s f e r r e d to the l i g h t - b a l l . This r e s u l t may have a s im ila r b earin g on the second and th ir d grade groups who were assigned th e l i g h t - 115 w eight equipment fo r the duratio n of the experim ent. I f members o f th ese groups had been exposed to the standard weighted equipment before-hand , and then were expected to tr a n s f e r to the lig h tw eig h t equipment, the f a c i l i t a t o r y p rin c ip le o p erativ e w ith Egstrom 's heavyball p ra c tic e group could also be a ffe c tin g the performances o f the two lig h tw e ig h t groups. The n eu ro -p h y sio lo g ica l b a sis regu l a t i n g the p ro p rio c ep tiv e f a c i l i t a t i o n o f the muscle groups involved could c e n te r upon the f a c t th a t w ith the decrease in r e la tiv e w eight, the flow er spray endings would no longer be stim u lated to e l i c i t a response and the impulse would n o t reach a conscious le v e l. Thus, th is feed back mechanism would no lo n g er aid the r e f le x con t r o l of the s k i l l movements. A dditional inform ation might be gathered from the p re se n t type o f study i f the groups could have been te s te d in t h e i r performances uBing the o p p o sitely weighted equipment. This could have been done a f t e r the i n i t i a l teB ts were completed but fo r the purposes o f the re te n tio n o f le a rn in g study, th i s procedure was considered highly c o n tro v e rs ia l. The a n a ly sis of the d ata o f th is study s u b s ta n tia l ly support the f a c t th a t g re a t care should be ex ercised in tr e a tin g boys' and g i r l s ' performance scores in sp o rts s k i l l s . Because both sexes e x h ib it div erg en t and d i f f e r ing s t a t i s t i c a l d ata o f c e n tr a l tendency and spread, ex- 116 treme caution Is req u ired when t h e i r performance measures are tre a te d as a sin g le in d ic a tio n o f t h e i r combined p er formance. Summary Two su b sid ia ry hypotheses and two pragm atic hypotheses were te s te d s t a t i s t i c a l l y by examining the evidence provided by the d a ta . 1. Data derived from t e s t and r e t e s t performances o f seven and e ig h t year old c h ild re n a c q u irin g and r e t a i n ing sp o rts s k i l l s w ith d if f e r in g w eights o f equipment were used to t e s t the su b sid ia ry hyp othesis th a t the age of su b je c ts was a f a c to r to be considered when using r e l a tiv e ly lig h tw e ig h t equipment. With re fe re n c e to the t e s t and r e t e s t , the hypothe s i s was p a r ti a l l y supported by the seven y ear old group of g i r l s who performed b e tte r w ith the lig h tw e ig h t equipment in fiv e ev en ts, had equal performances w ith two o th e r ev e n ts, and had a h ig h er mean using the heavyweight equip ment w ith the one rem aining ev en t. However, in d ir e c t c o n tr a s t, the seven y ea r old group o f boys out-perform ed th e lig h tw e ig h t group in seven o f the e ig h t ev e n ts. The e ig h t y ear old group o f g i r l s showed no p er formance d iffe re n c e s in th a t the heavyweight group p er formed b e tte r in fo u r events and the lig h tw e ig h t group also performed b e tte r in fo u r ev en ts. The e ig h t y ear old boyB 117 using the heavyweight equipment out-perform ed the l i g h t weight group of boys In s ix o f the eig h t sp o rts s k i l l events. 2. Data concerning the performance scores o f the experim ental group In the t e s t and r e te s t were used to t e s t the su b sid iary hypothesis th a t th ere are sex d i f ferences re la te d to the use o f lig h tw eig h t equipment when young ch ild ren acquire and re ta in sp o rts s k i l l s using e ith e r the lig h tw eig h t o r heavyweight type of equipment. With referen ce to sex d iffe re n c e s, in the i n i t i a l t e s t s , w ith two exceptions the means fo r the boys exceeded the means fo r the g i r l s in a l l t e s t s . Ten of the six teen d iffe re n c e s were s t a t i s t i c a l l y s ig n if ic a n t. In the r e t e s t s , the same p a tte rn was ev id en t. The boys' means exceeded the g i r l s ' in every event te s te d . E ight of the six teen d iffe re n c e s were s t a t i s t i c a l l y s ig n if ic a n t. Of the eighteen s t a t i s t i c a l l y s ig n ific a n t d i f ferences, boys using lig h tw eig h t equipment had higher means than the g i r l s in s ix events while boys using heavyweight equipment had h igher means than the g i r l s in twelve ev en ts. Thus, i t can be sta te d th a t the boys tend to perform b e tte r than the g i r l s irre s p e c tiv e of the weight o f equipment used in the t e s t s . 3. Data concerning the a c q u is itio n o f sp o rts type s k i l l s by second and th ir d grade ch ild ren as they performed four s k i l l t e s t events were used to t e s t the pragmatic 118 h y p o th esis t h a t , fo r young c h ild re n , the le a rn in g o f s k i l l s Is more e f f e c tiv e when r e l a t i v e l y lig h tw e ig h t equipment i s used. This h y p o th esis was n o t supported by the evidence as i t r e la te d to th e a c tu a l perform ances o f the second and th ir d grade boys. However, th e th ir d grade g i r l s showed no p referen ce f o r e i t h e r weight o f equipment, w hile the second grade g i r l s favored the lig h tw e ig h t equipm ent. The i n i t i a l t e s t s dem onstrated t h a t , w ith one ex c ep tio n , the boys tended to do b e t te r w ith the heavyweight equipment, and in two events th ese d iffe re n c e s were s t a t i s t i c a l l y s ig n if i c a n t. C onversely, w ith two ex c e p tio n s, the g i r l s performed b e t t e r w ith th e lig h tw e ig h t equipm ent, but only one event was s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t . 4. Data derived from both the i n i t i a l t e s t and the r e t e s t were used to t e s t the h y p o th esis th a t young c h ild re n r e ta in s k i l l s more e f f e c tiv e ly when th ese s k i l l s are ac quired u sin g lig h tw e ig h t equipm ent. This h y p o th esis was n e ith e r supported n o r re fu te d by the evidence as i t r e la te d to the re te n tio n o f le a r n in g . No d e f in ite p a tte rn r e la ti v e to th e w eight o f equipment u t i l i z e d in the a c q u is itio n and the r e te s tin g o f the s p o rts s k i l l events was d iscern ed . The boys, using heavyweight equipm ent, showed g r e a te r r e te n tio n in th re e e v e n ts, and le s s in f iv e . The g i r l s , u sin g the heavyweight equipment, d isp lay ed g r e a te r re te n tio n in fo u r 119 s k i l l ev en ts, and le s s in fo u r. 5. The d ata derived from the i n i t i a l t e s t tend to support the theory of "flow er spray ending feed back" in re sp e c t to the performances o f the seven year old g i r l s . Using the lig h tw e ig h t equipment, t h i s group performed the s k i l l t e s t s b e t t e r than t h e i r e q u iv a le n t heavyweight group. They also displayed the g r e a te s t percentage o f re ta in e d le a rn in g based on these i n i t i a l t e s t sc o re s. The th ir d grade g i r l s showed no p reference fo r e i t h e r type of w eighted equipment. Both second and th ir d grade boys' groups performed b e t te r w ith the heavyweight equipment. CHAPTER V I I SU M M A R Y AND CONCLUSIONS This study was m otivated by ex p erim en tal fin d in g s o b tain ed from the t e s t i n g o f c e r t a in h ypotheses about the n e u ro -p h y s io lo g ic a l phenomenon o f p ro p rio c e p tiv e f a c i l i t a tio n as they r e l a t e to th e le a r n in g o f movement s k i l l s . This i n t e r e s t was h eig h ten ed by th e p o s tu la tio n o f the ooncept o f the th eo ry o f "flo w er spray ending feed back" as r e la te d to pragm atic ex p erim en tal re s e a rc h in v e s tig a t i o n s . The purpose o f t h is study was to t e s t some hypo th e se s concerning p ro p rio cep tiv e f a c i l i t a t i o n by ob servin g th e r e la t iv e e f f e c t s o f underload and overload on the le a r n in g and r e te n tio n o f s e le c te d s k i l l s by ch ild ren in the Becond and th ir d grad es. g u m m a p y W ithin th e c o n te x t o f the g e n e ra l purpose, the s p e c if ic problem o f t h i s study was to t e s t two h y p o th eses, a s fo llo w s t (1) In term s o f perform ances dem onstrated by second and th i r d grade c h ild re n , le a r n in g o f s k i l l s i s favored by th e use o f r e l a t i v e l y lig h tw e ig h t s p o rts eq u ip m ent. (2) In term s o f th e ex p erim en tal design o f t h i s stu d y , r e te n tio n o f B k ills by young c h ild re n i s more e f - 1 2 1 fe c tlv e i f lig h tw e ig h t equipment i s u t i l i z e d during the le a rn in g o f the s k ills * The d ata were a lso used to t e s t c e rta in su b sid ia ry hypotheses, as fo llo w s: (1) D ifferen ces in performance are e x h ib ite d by age groups in re sp e c t to the type of equipment used during the a c q u is itio n and re te n tio n o f s k i l l s . (2) Sex d iffe re n c e s , as dem onstrated by the perform ances o f both boys and g i r l s , are Influenced by the types o f equip ment used. S ubjects f o r the study were n in e ty -n in e c h ild re n in approxim ately the second and th ir d grades a tte n d in g the U n iv ersity Elementary School which is th e la b o ra to ry school o f the Department o f E ducation, U n iv ersity o f C a lifo rn ia , Lob A ngeles. For the purpoBSB o f the experim ent proper, t h i s number was reduced to n in e ty - s ix c h ild re n . A fiv e item p h y sical performance t e s t b a tte ry was adm inistered to the sample o f n in e ty -n in e seven and e ig h t y ear old c h ild re n , and on the b a sis o f summed standard sco res derived from the raw sco res o f the p h y sical p er formance t e s t , the Bample was equated in to fo u r equal groups o f tw enty-four c h ild re n . Each group co n siste d o f twelve boys and twelve g i r l s , and th e re were two equated groups a t both the second and th ir d grade le v e ls . One group in each grade le v e l was randomly assigned to use th e lig h tw e ig h t equipment, w hile the o th e r grade group was assigned the re g u la tio n type equipment th a t was 1 2 2 c l a s s i f i e d as heavyw eight equipm ent. Each lig h tw e ig h t group and each heavyweight group were ta u g h t fo u r s p o rts -ty p e s k i l l s and then te s te d in the perform ance o f the s k i l l two days a f t e r th e i n s t r u c t i o n a l le s s o n . Nine months a f t e r th e i n i t i a l t e s t s were com pleted, a l l fo u r groups were again te s te d in th e fo u r s k i l l s to g a th e r d a ta f o r th e r e te n tio n o f le a r n in g stu d y . F indings P h v slo al Perform ance T ests 1. For a l l item s in th e p h y sio al perform ance t e s t b a tte r y , except th e sta n d in g broad Jump, th e tre n d f o r each sex in a l l fo u r h a lf-g ra d e groups was to d is p la y perform ance means th a t in c re a se d w ith age. The means f o r boys exceeded th e means f o r g i r l s . 2. The sta n d in g broad Jump t e s t item e x h ib ite d g r e a te r v a r i a b i l i t y in age groups, and the g i r l s perform ed b e t t e r than th e boys in a l l h a lf-g ra d e groups e x c ep tin g Group I I I A. S n o rts S k i l l T ests 1 . The su b s id ia ry h y p o th e sis t h a t d iffe re n c e s in perform ance a re e x h ib ite d by age groups in re s p e o t to the type o f w eighted equipment used d u rin g th e a c q u irin g and r e ta in i n g o f s k i l l s was p a r t i a l l y supported by th e e v i- 123 denoe d eriv e d from th e s k i l l t e s t s f o r both sexes in th e seven and e ig h t y e a r o ld age g ro u p s. The seven y e a r old g i r l s perform ed b e t t e r u sin g th e lig h tw e ig h t equipment w hile the seven y e a r o ld boys perform ed b e t t e r w ith the heavyw eight equipm ent. The e ig h t y e a r o ld g i r l s showed no d iffe re n c e s in perform ance, perform ing e q u a lly w ith bo th ty p es w hereas th e e ig h t y e a r o ld boys perform ed b e t t e r w ith th e heavyw eight equipm ent. 2. The s u b s id ia ry h y p o th e sis t h a t sex d if f e r e n c e s , as dem onstrated by th e perform ances o f both boys and g i r l s , a re in flu e n c e d by th e ty p e s o f equipm ent u sed , was sup p o rte d by evidence d e riv e d from th e s k i l l t e s t s . Boys tended to perform s i g n i f i c a n t l y b e t t e r than th e g i r l s i r re s p e c tiv e o f th e type o f equipm ent u sed . In a d d itio n , th e s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t d iffe re n c e s between th e boys' and g i r l s ' perform ances fav o red th e use o f th e heavyw eight equipment r a t h e r than th e lig h tw e ig h t. 3# The h y p o th esis th a t le a r n in g o f s k i l l s i s favored by the use o f r e la t iv e ly lig h tw e ig h t sp o r ts eq u ip ment was n ot s u b s ta n tia lly supported by th e evid en ce d erived from performance so o res ach ieved in th e s k i l l s t e s t s . There was ev id en ce, however, th a t th e g i r l s per formed b e tte r u sin g th e lig h tw e ig h t equipm ent. 4 . The h y p o th e sis th a t young o h lld ren r e ta in s k i l l s more e f f e c t iv e ly when th e se s k i l l s are learn ed u sin g lig h tw e ig h t equipment was n e ith e r supported nor refu ted by 124 th e evid en ce d erived from performance sc o r e s ach ieved In th e t e s t and r e t e s t o f th e fou r sp o rts s k i l l s . C onclusion O n the b a sis o f fin d in g s r e s u ltin g from r e c e n tly conducted exp erim en tal I n v e s tig a tio n s s ta te d In the Review o f L itera tu r e o f t h is stu d y t and w ith in th e lim it s o f the evid en ce provided by th e methods u sed , I t appears reason a b le to conclude th a t c e r ta in h yp oth eses about the neuro- p h y s lo lo g lc a l phenomenon o f p ro p rio cep tiv e f a c i l i t a t i o n do In flu en ce th e le a r n in g and r e te n tio n o f s e le c te d movement s k i l l s by ch ild r en In the second and th ir d grade. The theory o f "flow er spray ending feed back" as r e la te d to th e method used and evid en ce produced from t h is study would support th e oon clu slon th a t g i r l s , seven and e ig h t y ea rs o f a g e, aoqulre and perform sp o r ts-ty p e s k i l l s b e tte r u sin g equipment th a t I s lig h t e r than th e standard, r e g u la tio n w eighted equipm ent. p^nnnimq n d a tlo n a This study has dem onstrated th a t se x and age d i f fe r e n c e s In performance do e x i s t In some degree when young o h lld ren lea rn s k i l l s u sin g e ith e r lig h tw e ig h t or heavy w eigh t equipm ent. In the li g h t o f th e evid en ce presented In t h is stu d y , I t would appear th a t fu rth er in v e s tig a tio n ooncerning th e a p p lic a tio n o f th e theory o f "flow er spray 125 ending feed back” and o th e r p ro p rio cep tiv e f a c i l i t a t i o n hypotheses to pragm atic teaching techniques might be under tak en . ▲ sim ilar* more com prehensively organized study using young children might be attempted In order to d u p licate the Egstrom (17) experim ent. This present study did not examine the r e la tiv e performances o f ch ildren who learned the B k llls using lig h tw eig h t equipment and then la t e r transferred to the h eavier type o f equipment. Ac cordingly* s ig n ific a n t evidence supporting the theory o f "flower spray ending feed baok" might be produced from t h is experim ental d esign . Two curriculum recommendations would appear to emerge from the fin d in g s of th i s study. F irs tly * teach ers should use lig h tw eig h t equipment as an a d d itio n a l teaching aid or technique when teaching s k i l l s to young ch ild ren i f stre n g th i s a f a c to r in h ib itin g e f f lo ie n t perform ances. Secondly* a d iv e rs ity o f teaching techniques might be req u ired to f a c i l i t a t e the le a rn in g of s k i l l s w ith seven and eig h t y ea r old children* and the use of lig h tw eig h t equipment could be one method o f Improving the r e la tiv e le v e l o f performance. i BIBLIOGRAPHY BIBLIO G RAPH Y 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7 . 8. 9 . 10. 11. 1 2 . Adrian, E. D. The BaBla o f S en sation . New York: W . W . Norton and Company, In c• , 1928. . The Phyalcal Background o f P erception. Oxford, England: The Clarendon P ress, 1947. American A ssociation fo r H ealth, P h ysical Education and R ecreation (Youth P ltn ess P r o je c t). Youth F itn ess Test Manual. Paul A. Hunslcker, D ir e c to r .W a sh in g to n , D. 0 .: 1958. 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"R elation o f K in esth etic Perception to a S elected Motor S k ill fo r Elementary School C h ild ren ," Research Q u a r t e r l y f A m eric an A ssocia tio n o f H ealth. P hysical Education and R ecreatio n . Vol. 33, No. 3 (October, 1 9 6 2 ), 476-404. 39. Woodfln, Gene R. "The Anatomical B asis o f the Neuro m uscular Mechanism." Paper presented a t "A Symposium on the Development o f Neuromuscular C o n tro l." U niversity o f W isconsin, Madison, W isconsin, February 18-19, 1949. APPENDICES APPENDIX A G R O U P D A T A 135 G R O U P D A T A Group I I I . Heavyweight Equipment 22X£ Name Kim M. Tom J* Mike A. Jim Y. Rob K. Dick P. David 0 . John K. Mark B. John G. Duff H. Glen A. G i£l8 L isa H. Kim G. Wendy K. Nina P. Sandra K. Eve B. Wendy 0 . Sharon G. Marya K. A lice B. Rozie D. L isa T. Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0 1 1 12 13 14 15 1 6 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Age (As o f S ep t. 1961) in Years and Months 8 - 5 7 - 9 8 - 4 8 - 3 8 - 6 8 - 1 8 - 3 8 - 3 8 - 4 7-11 8- 0 8 - 8 P h ysical Performance Test Index Measure 349 333 309 309 300 297 292 287 286 282 282 270 8 - 3 Mean Age 8 - 8 320 8 - 4 306 7-11 267 8 - 5 265 7-11 249 8 - 0 246 7-10 242 8 - 5 241 8 - 0 239 8 - 1 233 8 - 8 232 8 - 4 232 8 - 3 Mean Age 1 3 6 G R O U P D A T A (Continued) Group I I I . L ightw eight Equipment Boys L e s lie B. John H. John L« Jamie K. Tony G .. C u rtis B. C h ris Ba Randy S. Lon L. Steve G. John Sa C hris Ca Number 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Age (As o f S e p t. 1961) in T ears and Wontha 8 - 6 8- 7 8 - 9 8- 8 8- 8 7- 9 7 - 9 7 - 9 8 - 8 7-11 8- 3 8- 4 P h y sical Perform ance T est Index Measure 336 324 314 309 302 300 300 286 283 282 252 232 8 - 4 Mean Age G irls Joan J . 37 8 - 8 306 Linda N. 38 8 - 5 297 Jan P . 39 8 - 2 295 Laurie T, 40 8- 7 287 Cathy S. 41 7-10 287 Jody 0. 42 8 - 7 281 Jean MoG. 43 7 - 5 269 Cynthia B. 44 8- 4 266 Kathy P. 45 8 - 0 259 K r is tie B. 46 8 - 4 247 Meri W. 47 7-10 241 E llen B. 48 8 - 6 241 8 - 3 Mean Age 137 Name Hike B. Hanly B« Mike 1 . David B. Paul R. Tom N. Herb 0. K elly 0. Steve B. Tom H. Bob N. S o o tt T. g i r l s Cheryl P. Eve G. N ik i L. Naomi N. Jennie V. Susan L. Cathy H« Jaokie W. P a t t ie B« L isa T. Eve B. R iki V. G R O U P D A T A (Continued) Group I I . H aa v w aig h t Equipment Number 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 Age (As o f S ep t. 1961) in T ears and Months 7 - 8 6-11 7 - 6 7 - 6 7 - 1 6 - 9 7 - 1 7 - 7 7 - 5 7 - 0 6- 9 7 - 1 P h y sical Performance Test Index Measure 273 264 254 247 244 240 232 230 229 218 203 201 7*- 2 Mean Age 61 7 - 5 258 62 7 - 7 251 63 7 - 6 225 64 7 - 7 210 65 7 - 1 210 66 7 - 7 207 67 7 - 9 199 68 7 - 8 191 69 7 - 5 189 70 8 - 0 188 71 8 - 3 180 72 6-11 156 7 - 6 Mean Age 1 3 8 GROUP DATA (C o n tin u e d ) Group I I . L ig h tw eig h t Equipm ent Boy 8 Age (As o f S ep t. 1961) P h y sica l Performance Name Number in Year8 and MonthB T est Index Measure E ric P. 73 7 - 3 288 Steve D. 74 7 - 6 266 Ted P. 75 7 - 6 258 B illy E. 76 7 - 1 252 Robert L. 77 6-11 250 Fran G. 78 7 - 9 246 C l i f f M . 79 8 - 1 237 Roble B. 80 7 - 8 232 S o o tt A. 81 7 - 4 206 Paul S . 82 7 - 3 203 Robert H. 83 7 - 9 200 S teve L. 84 7 - 4 200 7 - 5 Mean Age Becky S. 85 7 - 8 258 Am y S . 86 6 - 9 242 Carol R. 87 6-11 239 E lisa b e th 8 . 88 7 - 1 231 Nanoy G. 89 7 - 1 226 Li aa G. 90 6-11 224 Laurel P. 91 7 - 7 216 Joan S. 92 6-11 210 Maria A. 93 7 - 2 208 Debbie K. 94 7 - 7 197 Janet 0 . 95 6-11 191 Nadia M . 96 7 - 1 179 7 - 2 Mean Age APPENDIX B INITIAL TEST SC O R E S 1 4 0 IN ITIAL TEST SCORES T hird Grade Groups Group I I I H B a sk e t- Boys S k i t t l e b a ll B a se b a ll 1 1 7 9 2 4 7 10 3 6 7 9 4 1 1 8 5 2 6 8 6 3 4 10 7 2 5 9 8 4 5 7 9 2 6 1 0 10 4 4 10 11 3 5 10 12 4 4 10 G ir ls 13 1 3 8 14 3 7 8 15 3 1 6 16 4 3 7 17 7 1 5 18 3 2 6 19 6 6 9 2 0 6 6 8 21 2 4 8 22 1 1 2 23 3 3 7 24 3 1 4 T arg et 72 54 74 38 56 70 30 30 6 0 44 48 6 6 34 44 32 26 2 0 28 16 46 26 4 16 2 0 1 41 INITIAL TEST SCORES (C o n tin u e d ) Third Grade Groups Group I I I L B asket- B o y s S k i tt le b a ll B a se b a ll T arget 25 7 2 8 32 26 4 4 9 40 27 4 1 9 48 28 3 4 10 68 29 6 1 10 42 30 3 7 10 56 51 4 4 10 34 32 4 1 10 32 33 2 2 3 40 34 3 3 10 40 35 6 0 10 42 36 3 1 5 22 filEJjL 37 0 3 6 16 38 2 3 8 20 39 1 5 8 26 40 3 3 8 16 41 3 5 9 48 42 2 5 8 32 43 3 4 7 30 44 1 1 9 40 45 2 3 6 16 46 3 4 9 22 47 2 0 9 24 48 4 3 9 8 1 4 2 INITIAL TEST SCORES (C o n tin u e d ) Seoond Grade Groups Group I I H Bgy» 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 S k i t t l e 2 6 2 6 5 4 5 5 3 3 0 2 Basket- b a l l 8 7 1 1 7 4 2 4 3 4 2 2 B a se b a ll 10 9 9 7 8 9 1 0 7 8 5 7 8 T arg et 54 52 18 42 50 48 52 36 54 46 32 28 GlrlB 61 62 63 64 65 6 6 67 68 69 70 71 72 2 1 5 8 3 3 2 1 2 3 0 2 2 0 3 1 1 0 5 1 1 1 1 0 9 1 0 6 10 1 5 6 8 2 4 6 1 30 30 18 2 6 8 2 0 2 0 22 2 0 8 2 143 INITIAL TEST SCORES (C o n tin u e d ) Second Grade Groups Group I I L B ask et- Boys S k i ttl e b a l l B aseb all T arget 73 1 8 5 62 74 7 4 9 60 75 4 3 10 38 76 5 6 8 38 77 3 7 5 42 78 3 5 8 24 79 2 3 8 14 80 3 4 4 3 0 81 2 4 2 24 82 2 3 3 8 83 3 1 2 46 84 4 1 5 26 G irls 8 5 3 0 1 0 26 8 6 2 0 5 30 87 1 0 7 24 8 8 2 1 6 34 89 3 2 9 18 90 4 2 9 12 91 6 1 7 12 92 2 2 3 16 93 3 1 3 18 94 2 1 4 14 9 5 2 0 2 18 96 3 3 4 28 APPENDIX C RETEST SCORES 1 4 5 HETBST SCORES Third Grade Groups Group I I I H B aeket- Boya S k i t t l e b a ll B a se b a ll 1 5 6 10 2 4 8 10 3 5 4 8 4 3 5 5 5 4 4 10 6 7 6 9 7 0 5 8 8 4 6 10 9 3 5 10 1 0 1 5 7 11 7 6 10 1 2 2 4 10 G lrla 13 3 4 10 14 5 4 10 15 5 6 6 16 4 3 8 17 5 2 4 18 2 4 7 19 5 ? I 2 0 5 4 7 21 2 3 9 2 2 3 3 5 25 2 4 7 24 2 3 7 T arget 84 70 64 56 44 68 48 52 80 46 54 34 12 28 24 18 26 42 34 6 26 26 1 4 6 RETEST SCORES (C o n tin u e d ) T hird Grade Groups Group I I I L Boy a 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 S k i t t l e 6 4 2 4 5 6 6 3 2 3 4 6 Basket* b a l l 3 6 5 7 5 7 6 3 3 0 1 3 B a s e b a ll 1 0 10 8 1 0 10 10 10 9 8 10 9 2 l& £get G ir ls 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 4 3 6 4 1 2 6 2 3 3 4 3 2 4 5 4 0 3 1 3 1 4 5 3 7 8 8 10 8 8 7 9 5 1 0 9 4 36 38 36 36 50 36 22 46 24 28 22 34 147 RETEST SCORES (C o n tin u e d ) Second Grade Groups Group I I H 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 S k i t t l e 4 7 4 5 4 3 4 4 5 3 1 1 Basket* b a ll 6 6 6 6 6 5 7 7 5 3 2 3 B aseb a ll 10 8 9 10 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 6 T arget 72 40 36 58 54 40 36 46 48 52 34 46 GlrlB 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 3 6 3 5 1 3 6 3 2 2 2 1 5 1 2 2 1 2 4 2 3 2 3 0 10 1 0 7 6 3 4 9 10 4 3 3 1 32 36 26 30 14 22 28 20 26 26 6 16 148 RETEST SCORES (C o n tin u e d ) Second Grade Groups Group I I L B asket- Bovs S k i tt l e b a ll B aseb all T arget 73 2 3 10 58 74 5 4 10 54 75 6 2 5 48 76 4 4 9 56 77 2 5 10 44 78 2 2 9 28 79 3 1 7 50 80 3 3 9 34 81 2 2 9 28 82 0 0 5 12 83 2 2 6 32 84 0 1 5 12 G irls 85 5 5 10 26 86 3 2 8 38 87 1 3 6 26 88 1 1 6 28 89 3 3 9 40 90 3 3 8 26 91 2 2 8 16 92 2 3 9 20 93 1 1 5 38 94 1 1 6 20 95 2 2 6 24 96 3 1 7 24 APPENDIX D D e sc rip tio n o f th e P h y sic al Perform ance T ests 150 DESCRIPTION OP TH E PHYSICAL PERFO RM A N CE TESTS S tanding Broad Jump F a c i l i t i e s and Equipm ent, —A le v e l a re a o f the a sp h a lte d playground was marked w ith a s i l v e r p a in te d ta k e o f f l i n e . At In te r v a ls o f one fo o t, one Inch wide lin e s were p a in te d p a r a l le l to th e ta k e - o f f l i n e . A djacent to each o f th ese p a r a lle l lin e s was p a in te d the d ista n c e th a t each lin e re p re s e n te d . A ta p e measure was stak ed out be sid e th e stan d in g broad jump a re a In o rd e r to a c c u ra te ly measure th e le n g th o f each jump. A wooden y a r d -s tlc k was used to form the n ecessary r i g h t an g le from the p o in t o f s tr ik in g to th e fix e d tap e m easure. Chalk was used to In d ic a te th e p o in t o f c o n ta c t on th e a s p h a lt s u rfa c e . T e s t. — The stu d e n t stood w ith f e e t s e v e ra l Inches (h lp -w ld th ) a p a rt and w ith to e s behind th e ta k e - o f f l i n e . The ta k e - o f f was made from both f e e t , and th e stu d e n t jumped forw ard as f a r as p o s s ib le , lan d in g on both f e e t . Free movement o f th e arms and bending o f th e knees was p e rm itte d , b u t no p a r ts o f th e f e e t were allow ed to leave th e ground u n t i l th e a c tu a l jump was made. R u les. — 1 . Three f a i r jumps were allow ed and th e b e s t jump 151 o f th e s e th re e re co rd ed as th e s tu d e n t's m eaeure f o r th e S tan d in g Broad Jump. 2 . The s tu d e n t's perform ance was re co rd ed in in c h e s to th e n e a r e s t te n th . 3 . The m easurem ent was tak en from th e h e e l o r n e a r e s t p o in t on th e ground touched by any p a r t o f th e body to th e s t a r t i n g l i n e . 4 . V io la tio n o f any p o in ts d e sc rib e d above in th e d e s c r ip tio n o f th e "T e st" c o n s titu te d a fo u l Jump. I n s tr u c tio n s . — The fo llo w in g in str u c tio n s were read to each c h ild being te s te d : "Stand w ith both f e e t behind the ta k e -o ff l i n e . Jump forw ard a s f a r as you can and tr y to le a v e th e f lo o r w ith b o th f e e t to g e th e r . The d is ta n c e t h a t you 3ump w i ll be m easured from th e ta k e - o f f l i n e to th e n e a r e s t h e e l o r p a r t o f y o u r body t h a t to u ch es th e ground a f t e r you la n d ." The S tan d in g Broad Jump was in c lu d e d in t h i s t e s t b a tte r y a s th e m easure o f dynamic s p rin g and s p e c if ic movement c o o rd in a tio n . Knee B ant S lt-U n F a c i l i t i e s and Equipment. —A d e a n area on the grass playground. T e s t. —The s tu d e n t la y on h is back on th e g rass* 152 w ith h is knees b en t and h is f e e t f l a t on th e g ra ss s u r fa c e . The an g le a t th e knees was l e s s than 90 d e g re e s. Hands were p laced behind th e neck and th e fin g e rs clasped firm ly to g e th e r. The t e s t e r h eld th e s tu d e n t's f e e t on th e g ra ss a t a l l tim e s. To perform th e s i t- u p , th e s tu d e n t c u rle d up to touch h is elbows to h is k n ees. The s tu d e n t re tu rn e d to th e s t a r t i n g p o s itio n w ith h is elbows on th e mat b efo re he s a t up a g a in . This two phase a c tio n c o n s titu te d one s i t- u p . R u les. — 1 . Only one t r i a l was allow ed b efo re th e a c tu a l t e s tin g began. 2. Ho e x c e ssiv e ly long r e s t s were allow ed between su cc essiv e s lt- u p s . 3* The s tu d e n t's perform ance f o r th e s it- u p t e s t was reoorded as th e number o f c o r r e c tly executed s lt- u p s he was ab le to perform . 4. Ho s it- u p was counted in which th e stu d e n t f a ile d to (a ) keep th e fin g e r s olasped behind h is head; (b) brought both elbows forw ard in s t a r t i n g th e s it- u p by pushing o f f th e ground w ith only one elbow; (c ) re tu rn e d to B ta rtin g p o s itio n w ith elbows f l a t on ground before s i t t i n g up a g a in . I n s tr u c tio n s . —The fo llo w in g in s tr u c tio n s were read 153 to each c h ild b ein g te s te d in th e s it - u p t e s t : "C lasp y o u r hands firm ly behind your n eck . When you c u r l up to touch y our elbows to your k n ee s, make su re y o u r hands a re s t i l l c la s p e d . I w il l count o u t every c o r r e c t s i t - u p you do, b u t you m ust r e tu r n to th e s t a r t i n g p o s itio n in o rd e r to sco re one good s i t - u p . B reath e norm ally and sto p i f you f e e l any p ain in your tummy o r c h e s t." The Knee B ent S it-U p T est was in clu d ed in th is b a tte r y in o rd e r to m easure abdom inal s tr e n g th and g e n e ra l c a r d io - r e s p ir a to r y end u ran ce. F lftv -Y a rd Dash F a c i l i t i e s and Equipm ent. —A f if t y - y a r d le v e l ru n n in g s u rfa c e on th e g ra ss playground a re a ; two sto p w atches; a s t a r t i n g and a f in is h in g l i n e ; one re d handker c h ie f . T e s t. — The s tu d e n t took up h is s t a r t i n g p o s itio n behind th e s t a r t i n g l i n e . Any s t a r t i n g p o s itio n was a l low ed. The s t a r t e r gave th e commands, "Get on your mark! G et s e t! Go!" The word "go" was accom panied by a down ward sweep o f th e s ta r te r * s hand th a t h eld th e red hand k e r c h ie f . Each s tu d e n t was tim ed on one sto p w atch. The tim e r sto o d a t th e f i n i s h l i n e in o rd e r to Judge th e e x a c t tim e in w hich th e s tu d e n t c ro sse d th e f i n i s h 1 5 4 l i n e . R ulea. — 1 . Only one t r i a l was given in one c la s s p e rio d . 2 . A re aso n ab le warm-up was given in o rd e r to guard a g a in s t th e p o s s i b i li t y o f p u lle d m uscles o r lig a m e n ts. 3* The sco re was reco rd ed as th e tim e elap sed between th e s t a r t i n g s ig n a l and th e moment th e ru n n e r c ro sse s th e f in is h l i n e . 4 . Any s tu d e n t who s ta r te d b efo re th e s t a r t e r sa id th e command H GoIM was re c a lle d and given a n o th e r chance a t s t a r t i n g c o r r e o tly . Any s tu d e n t who f e l l d u rin g h is tim e t r i a l was r e te s te d a t a l a t e r tim e . 5* The ru n n e r's tim e was recorded in whole seconds and te n th s o f a second. U t i l i t y B a ll Throw f o r D istance F a c i l i t i e s and Equipm ent. — The b a s k e tb a ll c o u rt on th e a sp h a lte d playground was used fo r te s tin g th e b a ll throw ing s k i l l fo r d is ta n c e . The b a s e -lin e o f th e o o u rt was used as th e throw ing fo u l l i n e . At fiv e fo o t in te r v a ls p a r a l le l lin e s were p a in te d to t h i s fo u l l i n e . On th e sid e lin e s o f th e b a s k e tb a ll o o u rt, one fo o t marks were measured and drawn in o rd e r to have a method o f lo c a tin g 155 th e s tr ik in g p o s itio n o f th e b a ll between eaoh spaced fiv e fo o t l i n e . A V olt P.G. #8& rubber b a ll was thrown fo r t h is t e s t . 1 tape measure was a lso fix e d along the sid e lin e o f the b a sk e tb a ll court ad jacen t to the s ta r tin g p oin t o f the f iv e fo o t l i n e s . T est. —A fter th ree warm-up throw s» th e stu d en t threw the b a ll side-arm or overhand as fa r as p o ssib le from behind the fo u l l i n e . Any number o f s te p s were a l lowed as lon g as he did n ot cro ss the fo u l lin e a t any p o in t o f th e run-up or the throw. The t e s t e r stood be sid e the sid e lin e and sp otted the approximate p oin t where the b a ll stru ck the a sp h a lt. R u les. — 1 . Three t r i a l s were taken w ith no r e s t between t r i a l s . The lo n g e st o f th ese three throws was recorded. 2 . Measurement o f th e len g th o f the b est throw was taken a t th a t p oin t o f co n ta ct a t r ig h t a n g les to the fo u l l i n e . A s tr a ig h t lin e was drawn to the sid e lin e and th e len g th o f the throw read o f f th e ad jacent fix e d tape measure• 3 . The score fo r the throw was reoorded to the n e a r e st f o o t . 4 . An overhand or side-arm throw had to be u sed . One o r two hands were allow ed on th e b a ll* 5 . ▲ re s p o n s ib le te a c h e r was used to check any s tu d e n ts who com m itted a " fo u l throw " by c ro s s in g th e fo u l lin e * 6 * Any form o f approach was allow ed f o r th e throw* Hand Dypnmnmnte r S tre n g th T est F a c i l i t i e s and Equipm ent.- - T h is t e s t was ad m in is te r e d in th e classroom w ith dynamometers prov id ed by th e Human Perform ance L aboratory* P h y s ic a l E ducation D ep art ment* th e U n iv e rs ity o f C a lifo rn ia * Los A n g eles. This in stru m e n t was c a lib r a te d in pounds o f p re s s u re and had an a d ju s ta b le hand g r ip . The p o in te r on th e d i a l o f th e gauge t h a t r e g is te r e d th e amount o f fo rc e e x e rte d on th e dynamometer rem ained fix e d a t th e maximum poundage ex erted * By sim ply re a d in g th e p o in te r a t th e end o f each t r i a l * th e hand g rip s tr e n g th o f each su b je o t was m easured and reoorded* l a s t . - -The s tu d e n t was to ld to ta k e an easy w e ll- b alan ced s ta n d in g p o s itio n w ith h i s f e e t h lp -w id th a p a rt* He was handed th e dynamometer and to ld to check th e e ls e o f th e g rip * A djustm ents w ere th en made to make th e g rip s u ita b le * K eeping th e arm away from th e r e s t o f th e body* th re e su c c e ssiv e a l l - o u t t r i a l s o f hand s tr e n g th were attem p ted by th e su b je c t* The dynamometer was shown 1 57 d ir e c tly to th e te e te r* and th e maximum re ad in g on th e d i a l was read as th e measure o f hand s tre n g th (g rip ) f o r t h a t s u b je c t. The p o in te r on th e d ia l was re tu rn e d to zero in p re p a ra tio n fo r th e n ex t s tu d e n t. I f th e hand g rip su rfa c e beoame too s lip p e ry and d i f f i c u l t to h an d le, some gym ch alk was a p p lie d to th e palms o f th e hands o f th e t e s t e e . B£Le&.— 1 . Three t r i a l s were allow ed fo r each s u b je c t once th e hand g rip was s e t c o r r e c tly . 2. No p re ss in g o f th e arm o r dynamometer was p e r m itte d a g a in s t the sid e o f th e body. In B tru o tio n s. — The fo llo w in g in s tr u c tio n s were read to eaoh c h ild te s te d ) "T his iB a machine to measure th e amount o f s tre n g th in your hand g r ip . Hold th e maohine in your hand and squeeze as hard as you can. Keep your arm and th e dynamometer away from your body. Attem pt th re e squeezes and t r y to keep your norm al b re a th in g ." The Hand Dynamometer T est was in clu d ed in th e b a tte r y o f t e s t s as a measure o f hand g rip s tre n g th . The measure f o r hand s tre n g th was recorded to th e n e a re s t whole pound. APPENDIX E P h y sic a l Perform ance T est PH Y SIC A L FEffO BM lNCE BBT Raw Scores = Mean o f 3 Trials Subject lumberi lame Age Sen S it- U D 8 H an d Strength (Pounds) Birow CTMt) 50 ZU Dash (Seconds) Standing Bread Junp 1 G D L a n A * (8- 8) M 5 35 42 9.5 54 2 Mike A. (8 -4 ) M 19 43 40 8.8 52 3 L eslie B. (8 -6 ) M 20 43 46 8.5 61 i^ Curtis B. (7 -9 ) M 16 37 46 9.0 54 5 Chris C. (8 -4 ) M 11 25 19 9.9 52 6 Bony 0* (8 -8 ) M 24 33 52 9.4 48 7 Robert K. (8 -6 ) M 16 33 42 8.2 54 8 John K. (8- 3) M 16 32 42 9;4 56 9 James K. (8 -8 ) M 13 35 50 8.5 58 10 D o n L. (8 -8 ) M 14 32 36 8.6 54 11 John L. (8- 9) M 24 37 45 8.7 51 12 John M . (8- 7) M 22 38 43 8.6 57 13 Kin M . (8 -5 ) M 24 45 47 8.2 62 14 Jin 1« (8- 3) M 20 40 39 8.3 50 M » 8-6 5-24 25-45 19-52 8.2-9.9 48-62 F B 1 S IC A L P O T O H H A N C E 1ST (Continued) S aw Scores = M ea n of 3 fr ia ls Subject S it- H a n d Strength Ihrow (Feet) 50 Id. Dash Standing Broad Jap 15 m m B. (8 -6 ) F 10 28 26 9.2 46 16 Cynthia B. (8 -4 ) F 15 32 29 9.4 52 17 K ristie B. (8- 4) F 7 30 26 9.6 53 U B A lice B. (8- 7) F 13 26 18 9.8 49 19 Jody C. (8- 7) F 30 30 31 9.4 45 20 Lisa H. (8 -8 ) F 24 40 43 8.6 60 21 Joan J . (8 -8 ) F 22 40 32 8.9 55 22 Linda M . (8- 5) F 29 32 25 9.2 57 23 Nina P. (8- 5) F 13 32 30 9.2 51 24 Laurie T. (8 -7 ) F 23 27 27 8.6 57 25 Sharon G. (8 -4 ) F 7 30 28 9.8 50 26 Vivian 0* (8 -4 ) F 16 30 27 9.2 51 M = 8-6 7-30 26-40 18-43 8.6-9.8 45-60 H 0\ O 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 y* 35 36 37 38 39 P H Y S I C A L P C T O H H A H C E T E S T (Continued) R a w Scores = M ea n of 3 TWals ■■Tiur'inr'ir r ’ u-.i Sit- Haee Axe Sex U D B Chris B. (7- 9) M 17 M a rk B. (8- 4) M 20 Richard B. (8- 3) M 20 David C. (8- 3) M 18 Jackie 0. (8- 0) M 20 Steve 0. (8- 0) M 17 Duff H. (8 -0 ) M 20 D o n J* (7- 9) M 20 John P. (7- 9) M 20 Dick P. (8- 1) M 20 Brie S. (8- 3) M 14 John S. (8- 3) M 15 Randy S. (7 -9 ) M 17 M s 8-0 14-20 Standing H a n d 50 Id, Broad Strength T h row Dash Junp (Pounds) (Feet) (Seconds) (Indies) 36 42 9.0 55 32 35 8.8 51 22 32 10.1 48 36 31 8.5 52 30 38 9.8 56 32 35 8.8 52 32 44 9.8 50 36 63 8.9 59 27 31 8.5 55 34 36 9.5 60 20 19 10.2 33 33 30 9.2 39 35 39 9.4 52 20-36 19-63 8.5-10.2 33-60 F H T S I C A L F S fF O B M M C S T B S T (Continued) R a w Scores = M ea n of 3 friala Standing object mban K ane S it- H a n d Strength T h row (Feet) 50 Id. Dash (Seconds) Broad Junp (Bodies) 40 Bre B. (8- 0) F 20 a a 10.0 55 41 W end y C. (7- 9) F 12 22 28 10.0 56 42 Kathy F. (8 -0 ) F 18 30 23 8.9 48 43 Kin 0 . (8 -0 ) F 19 33 38 8.7 61 44 Sandra K. (8- 0) F 15 25 28 9.2 48 45 W end y K. (8 . 0) F 20 25 30 9.6 55 46 M ary* I , (8 -0 ) F 18 28 24 10.2 44 47 Jean M c Q . (7- 5) F 20 28 20 9.0 56 48 Jan P. (8- 1) F 20 38 35 9.8 57 49 Kathy S. (8- 0) 18 30 29 9.2 63 50 Lisa T. (7-11) F 12 24 26 9.4 48 51 Mari W . ( 7 -9 ) F 18 28 24 10.5 47 O c A n X 12-20 21-33 20-38 8.7-10.5 44-63 H o\ to P H E IC A L P H F O R M A H C K T B S T (Continued) R a w Scores = M ea n of 3 M a le Subject Busbart M a n e Ase Sex S it- USB H a n d Strength (Pounds) T h row (Feet) 50 H . Dash (Seconds) Standing Broad Juap (Ihcbes) 52 Mike A. (7- 6) M 11 27 25 8.8 52 53 Scott A * (7- 4) M 9 25 17 10.4 42 5* David B. ( 7 -6 ) M 10 26 41 9.5 45 55 Robert B. (7- 9) M 10 36 32 10.2 33 56 Mike B. (7- 9) M 12 25 44 8.8 54 57 Steve B. (7- 5) M 10 22 37 9.8 42 58 K elly C. (7- 7) M 10 26 29 9.6 41 59 Steve D. (7- 9) M 12 30 43 9.8 51 60 Francis G. (7- 9) M 11 33 27 9.4 42 61 Steve L. (7- 4) M 8 30 IB 11.4 40 62 T ed P. (7- 5) M 12 27 34 9.4 52 63 C liff M . (7- 6) M 8 27 26 9.4 47 £ u a c 8-12 22-33 17-44 8.8-11.4 33-54 On V jI P H T 5 IC A L P E ffO H M lN C E BBT (Continued) Rev Scores = M ea n of 3 fr ia ls Subject Nwe S it- H a n d Strength (Pounds) T h row (Feet) 50 Id. Dash (Seoonds) Standing Broad J u w p 64 P attie B. 17- *) F 7 20 11 11.2 48 6 A Ire B. (8- 3) F 6 26 10 11.0 36 66 Eve Q . (7- 9) F 11 27 22 8.6 50 67 Susan L * (7- 9) F 11 17 17 10*2 47 68 Nacni H. (7 -9 ) F 8 24 17 10.6 47 69 Cheryl P. (7- 5) F 11 24 27 8.4 53 70 Becky S. (7- 9) F 12 30 33 8.8 45 71 Jackie W . (7- 9) F 7 26 17 10.8 36 72 Dabble I . (7 -7 ) F 6 24 14 10.6 43 73 Laurel P. (7- 7) F 11 29 20 11.0 74 Lisa T. (7- 6) F 9 20 16 11.8 42 75 Niki L. (7- 9) F 11 23 22 10.6 52 X I I S 6-12 17-30 10-33 8.4-11.2 36-53 1 64 76 77 78 79 60 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 P H Y S I C A L PBFOBIM CB T E S T (Continued) Rev Scores = M ea n o f 3 friela H a n d 50 H . S it- Strength T hrow Dash f Founds) Hanley B. (6-11) M 6 25 *3 9.0 Herbert C. (7- 1) M 12 27 30 10.8 B illy S. (7- 1) M 13 30 37 10.2 Robert H. (7- 9) M 10 27 23 11.4 T h om as H. (7- 0) M 13 22 32 10.5 Robert L. (6-11) M 10 27 39 11.0 Bobby N. (6 -9 ) M 13 20 25 11.5 Tony N. (6 -9 ) M 15 26 37 11.0 Sric P. (7- 3) M 15 30 47 9.0 Paul H . (7- 1) M 10 28 33 10.4 Scott T. (7- 1) M 5 30 28 11.4 P a u ls. (7- 3) M 6 25 23 10.6 M * 7-0 5-15 20-30 23-^7 9.0-11.5 F H X S I C A L P K T O B M A N C E 1 B S T (Continued) R a w Scores = Naan of 3 Trials Subjaet Buabert Nane Aae Sex S it- UD8 B and Strength (Pounds) T h row (Feet ) 50 Dash (Seconds) Standing Broad Junp (Ihches) 8 8 Maria A * (7- 2) r 4 26 23 10,6 04 89 Janet C. (6-11) F 5 22 17 11.8 51 90 lis a 0. (6-11) F 14 20 17 10.2 52 91 Nancy G . (7- 1) F 6 26 29 10,5 50 92 Nadia M . (7- 1) F 5 15 a 10.8 39 93 Carol R. (6-11) F 14 25 25 10.6 54 9* Elis* S. (7- 1) F 10 25 20 10.2 54 95 Joan S. (6-11) F 6 a 13 9.6 49 96 Any S . (6- 9) F 7 30 33 10.2 50 97 Jennie V * (7- 1) F 12 23 16 11.2 50 98 Rickie W . (6-11) F 4 16 14 11.8 37 99 Cathy M . (7- 1) F 4 18 23 11.0 51 M = 7-0 4-14 15-30 13-33 9.6-11.8 37-54 1 6 6

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Creator Wright, Edward John Albert (author)

Core Title Effects Of Light And Heavy Equipment On The Acquisition Of Sports-Type Skills By Young Children

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Degree Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Program Physical Education

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Education, Physical,OAI-PMH Harvest

Language English

Advisor Metheny, Eleanor (committee chair), Fredericks, J. Wynn (committee member), Hall, J. Tillman (committee member), Lockhart, Aileene (committee member), Morris, Royce (committee member)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c18-347650

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Legacy Identifier 6413516.pdf

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Document Type Dissertation

Rights Wright, Edward John Albert

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Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

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