Towards Identifying a Dosage Effect for Improving Fundamental Motor Skills of Preschool Children with a Mastery Motivational Climate Intervention.

Previous mastery motivational climate (MMC) movement interventions have enhanced fundamental motor skill (FMS) competence across diverse groups of preschool-age children. Yet, an adequate intervention length has not been established. Our purposes in this study were to (i) compare FMS competence in preschool children across two doses of MMC interventions, and (ii) describe changes in children's FMS 'mastery' across doses. We used secondary data analysis from a larger MMC intervention study in which 32 children (Mage = 4.4) received FMS testing (TGMD-3) at the mid-point of intervention and at post-intervention. A two-way mixed ANOVA with Group as the independent variable and FMS competence across three Time points as the repeated measure was significant for both Group and Time main effects for locomotor and ball skill competences separately. There was a statistically significant interaction between Group and Time on locomotor (p = .02) and ball skills (p < .001). Both groups showed significant improvements in their locomotor skills at each time point, but the intervention group improved faster than the comparison group. For ball skills, only the MMC group significantly improved by mid-intervention, and the comparison group showed significant improvements from pre-to post-intervention only. Children in this study were most likely to show mastery in running first, followed by sliding at mid-intervention. Few children mastered skipping, galloping, and hopping across the study. For ball skills, overhand and underhand throwing were more likely to be mastered, and few children mastered one and two-hand striking across the study. Collectively, these findings suggest that duration of instructional minutes may not be the most effective proxy for identifying a dose-response relationship of MMC intervention. Moreover, focusing on the patterns of skill mastery can help inform researchers and practitioners as to how to allocate instructional time during MMC interventions to optimize FMS competence for young children.

Intervention Strategies to Elicit MVPA in Preschoolers during Outdoor Play.

Approximately 50% of preschoolers do not meet physical activity recommendations and children who reside in low-income rural communities may be further at risk for higher levels of sedentary behavior. Outdoor play is essential for preschool children; however, literature is unclear as to which types of interventions elicit moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) for all preschoolers. The aim of this study was to determine which type of intervention, physical activity or fundamental motor skill focus, elicits MVPA during outdoor play. Ninety-eight preschool children (M age = 4.48 years) from one Head Start center participated in an outdoor play intervention two days per week for 7 weeks. Classes were randomly assigned to one of four groups: fundamental motor skill focus (FMS), physical activity focus (PA), FMS and PA (FMS + PA), and control. An accelerometer worn on the hip measured MVPA. Results showed that age, sex and group assignment contributed to MVPA at the beginning of the intervention and age, sex, group assignment and MVPA during the beginning of the intervention contributed to MVPA at the end of the intervention. Overall, the FMS + PA group elicited MVPA from males and females of all ages. Interventions that combine both FMS and PA may reduce physical activity disparities in preschool children.

Changes in Fundamental Motor-Skill Performance Following a Nine-Month Mastery Motivational Climate Intervention.

Purpose: Children who do not learn their fundamental motor skills (FMS) are more likely to be unskilled, sedentary adults. By consequence, it behooves those teaching physical education to put in place mechanisms that promote as well as motivate children to master their FMS. One approach to achieving this goal is through the adoption of mastery motivational climates (MMC) in physical education. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a year-long (9-month) MMC physical education program on preschool children's FMS learning. Method: Participants (N = 96, MMC = 58, Comparison = 38) completed the Test of Gross Motor Development-Third Edition prior to and after intervention. Intact classrooms were randomly assigned to either a MMC or comparison group. A repeated measures nested MANOVA was used to test changes by group. Follow-up measurements included univariate repeated measures and simple effects analyses. Results: There were no significant multivariate differences based on class membership (p = .249), indicating the nested structure was not associated with any meaningful differences in test scores. There was a significant multivariate difference based on the interaction of time (pre- versus post-test) and group (p < .001). Both locomotor and ball skills significantly varied between groups and across time. Children in both groups improved from pre-test to post-test, but the rate of improvement was significantly greater for the MMC group. Conclusions: A year-long MMC intervention is beneficial for improving children's FMS.

Effects of a Multi-Ingredient Energy Supplement on Cognitive Performance and Cerebral-Cortical Activation.

This study assessed whether a multi-ingredient energy supplement (MIES) could enhance cerebral-cortical activation and cognitive performance during an attention-switching task. Cerebral-cortical activation was recorded in 24 young adults (12 males, 12 females; 22.8 ± 3.8 yrs) via electroencephalography (EEG) both at rest and during the attention-switching task before (pretest) and 30 min after (posttest) consumption of a single serving of a MIES (MIES-1), two servings of a MIES (MIES-2), or a placebo (PL) in a double-blinded, randomized crossover experimental design. EEG upper-alpha power was assessed at rest and during the task, wherein d' (Z[hit rate]-Z[false alarm rate]) and median reaction time (RT) for correct responses to targets on attention-hold and attention-switch trials were analyzed. For both d' and RT, the Session (MIES-1, MIES-2, PL) × Time (pretest, posttest) interaction approached statistical significance (p = .07, η2p = 0.106). Exploring these interactions with linear contrasts, a significant linear effect of supplement dose on the linear effect of time was observed (ps ≤.034), suggesting the pretest-to-posttest improvement in sensitivity to task target stimuli (d') and RT increased as a function of supplement dose. With respect to upper-alpha power, the Session × Time interaction was significant (p < .001, η2p = 0.422). Exploring this interaction with linear contrasts, a significant linear effect of supplement dose on the linear effect of time was observed (p < .001), suggesting pretest-to-posttest increases in cerebral-cortical activation were a function of supplement dose. In conclusion, our findings suggest that MIES can increase cerebral-cortical activation and RT during task performance while increasing sensitivity to target stimuli in a dose-dependent manner.

Molecular evidence for an Asian origin of monitor lizards followed by Tertiary dispersals to Africa and Australasia.

Monitor lizards are emblematic reptiles that are widely distributed in the Old World. Although relatively well studied in vertebrate research, their biogeographic history is still controversial. We constructed a molecular dataset for 54 anguimorph species, including representatives of all families with detailed sampling of the Varanidae (38 species). Our results are consistent with an Asian origin of the Varanidae followed by a dispersal to Africa 41 (49-33) Ma, possibly via an Iranian route. Another major event was the dispersal of monitors to Australia in the Late Eocene-Oligocene 32 (39-26) Ma. This divergence estimate adds to the suggestion that Australia was colonized by several squamate lineages prior to the collision of the Australian plate with the Asian plate starting 25 Ma.