Differences in Auditory Perception Between Young and Older Adults When Controlling for Differences in Hearing Loss and Cognition

This study was designed to examine age effects on various auditory perceptual skills using a large group of listeners (155 adults, 121 aged 60–88 years and 34 aged 18–30 years), while controlling for the factors of hearing loss and working memory (WM). All subjects completed 3 measures of WM, 7 psychoacoustic tasks (24 conditions) and a hearing assessment. Psychophysical measures were selected to tap phenomena thought to be mediated by higher-level auditory function and included modulation detection, modulation detection interference, informational masking (IM), masking level difference (MLD), anisochrony detection, harmonic mistuning, and stream segregation. Principal-components analysis (PCA) was applied to each psychoacoustic test. For 6 of the 7 tasks, a single component represented performance across the multiple stimulus conditions well, whereas the modulation-detection interference (MDI) task required two components to do so. The effect of age was analyzed using a general linear model applied to each psychoacoustic component. Once hearing loss and WM were accounted for as covariates in the analyses, estimated marginal mean thresholds were lower for older adults on tasks based on temporal processing. When evaluated separately, hearing loss led to poorer performance on roughly 1/2 the tasks and declines in WM accounted for poorer performance on 6 of the 8 psychoacoustic components. These results make clear the need to interpret age-group differences in performance on psychoacoustic tasks in light of cognitive declines commonly associated with aging, and point to hearing loss and cognitive declines as negatively influencing auditory perceptual skills.

PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS TRAINING FOR THE FORMATION OF SUBJECT-SUBJECT EDUCATIONAL RELATIONS WITH STUDENTS

The article, based on the methodological and theoretical analysis of scientific works, deals with the essence and specifics of professional training of pre-service teachers to form subject-subject educational relationships with students.It was found that the main tendency of study the willingness of the pre-service teacher to form subject-subject relations is to define their training as a holistic complex multilevel personal development. It is established that the integrity of the professional training of pre-service teachers in the development of the educational relationships should be considered in the unity of interdependent and interdependent components: scientific-theoretical, methodological and practical-activity.Criteria and indicators of future teacher’s willingness to form subject-subject relations with students are defined and systematized: critical type of thinking (personal flexibility, knowledge of the specifics of humane interaction, educational position in relations with students); creative and professional activity (knowledge of technologies of humane education, demonstration of own pedagogical skill, use of system of methods of pedagogical and psychotherapeutic influence); formation of practical skills and abilities (reflexive-perceptual skills, diagnostic skills, ability to create educational situations, skills of dialogical-humane communication).

The Efficacy of Re-Warm-Up Practices during Half-Time: A Systematic Review

Background and Objectives: The passive nature of rest breaks in sport could reduce athletes’ performance and even increase their risk of injury. Re-warm-up activities could help avoid these problems, but there is a lack of research on their efficacy. This systematic review aimed at analyzing the results of those randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that provided information on the effects of re-warm-up strategies. Materials and Methods: Four electronic databases (Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, and SPORTDiscus) were searched from their inception to January 2021, for RCTs on the effects of re-warm-up activities on sports performance. Interventions had to be implemented just after an exercise period or sports competition. Studies that proposed activities that were difficult to replicate in the sport context or performed in a hot environment were excluded. Data were synthesized following PRISMA guidelines, while the risk of bias was assessed following the recommendations of the Cochrane Collaboration. Results: A total of 14 studies (178 participants) reporting data on acute or short-term effects were analyzed. The main outcomes were grouped into four broad areas: physiological measures, conditional abilities, perceptual skills, and sport efficiency measures. The results obtained indicated that passive rest decreases physiological function in athletes, while re-warm-up activities could help to improve athletes’ conditional abilities and sporting efficiency, despite showing higher fatigue levels in comparison with passive rest. The re-warm-up exercise showed to be more effective than passive rest to improve match activities and passing ability. Conclusions: Performing re-warm-up activities is a valuable strategy to avoid reducing sports performance during prolonged breaks. However, given that the methodological quality of the studies was not high, these relationships need to be further explored in official or simulated competitions.

A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY ANALYSING THE PERFORMANCE OF TYPICALLY DEVELOPING INDIAN CHILDREN ON MOTOR FREE VISUAL PERCEPTUAL TEST-4 (MVPT-4)

Visual perception is the process by which individuals assign meaning, understanding, and interpretation to what they have seen. The aim of this study was to determine the visual perceptual skills of typically developing Indian children on MVPT-4. A sample of 180 typically developing Indian students were included in the study using convenience sampling method. They were divided in six age groups with age ranging from 6years to 12 years with 30 children in each age group. It was found that visual perceptual skills of typically developing Indian children in 6-12 years of age group can be assessed using MVPT-4. Analysis was done using One-way Anova to compare the mean raw score of each age group. There was a significant difference between the age groups at statistical value of p< 0.001. The score improved with age, signifying refined and matured visual perceptual skills in older children. Age influences visual-perceptual skills of these children. This study also provides a foundation for further researches and highlights the importance of MVPT-4 as a screening tool to be used by the occupational therapist in order to assess the visual perceptual skills of children.

Differences in discriminative reaction time between elite youth football players: a comparison between age-categories (Diferencias en el tiempo de reacción discriminativo entre jugadores de fútbol juvenil de élite: una comparación entre categorías de ed

Background: Several factors may affect the development of a player during the sports training process. Reaction time is considered an important aspect of perceptual skills in sports and can potentially affect football performance. During the maturation process of a player there may be changes in the cognitive skills, in addition to changes in the training levels that this player is submitted to. The aim of this study is to compare the discriminative reaction time (DRT) in elite young football players between categories U-15 and U-17. Methods: Participants were 236 elite Brazilian young male football players from categories U-15 (n = 139, Mage = 14.21, SD = 0.66 years) and U-17 (n = 97, Mage = 17.99, SD = 0.48 years). The Reaction Test (S5 version), provided by the Vienna Test System SPORTS® (VTS) was applied. Results: statistically significant difference was found in the DRT (p = .04) between football players of categories U-15 and U-17. U-17 players faster (M = 526 ms, sd = 65.30) when compared to the U-15 players (M = 543 ms, sd = 62.40), however with a small effect size (.13). Conclusion: Elite football players in the U17 category have better DRT values than players in the U15 category. Resumen. Introducción: Varios factores pueden afectar al desarrollo de un jugador durante el proceso de formación deportiva. El tiempo de reacción se considera un aspecto importante de las habilidades perceptivas en el deporte y puede afectar potencialmente al rendimiento futbolístico. Durante el proceso de maduración de un jugador pueden producirse cambios en las habilidades cognitivas, además de cambios en los niveles de entrenamiento a los que se somete este jugador. El objetivo de este estudio es comparar el tiempo de reacción discriminativo en jóvenes futbolistas de élite entre las categorías sub-15 y sub-17. Métodos: Los participantes fueron 236 jóvenes futbolistas brasileños de élite de las categorías Sub-15 (n = 139, Edad media = 14,21, sd = 0,66 años) y Sub-17 (n = 97, Edad media = 17,99, sd = 0,48 años). Se aplicó el Test de Reacción (versión S5), proporcionado por el Vienna Test System SPORTS® (VTS). Resultados: se encontraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas en el DRT (p = .04) entre los futbolistas de las categorías sub-15 y sub-17. Los jugadores sub-17 fueron más rápidos (M = 526 ms, sd = 65,30) en comparación con los jugadores sub-15 (M = 543 ms, sd = 62,40), aunque con un tamaño del efecto pequeño (.13). Conclusión: Los jugadores de fútbol de élite de la categoría sub17 tienen mejores valores de tiempo de reacción discriminativo que los jugadores de la categoría sub15.

What Improves Handwriting: Occupation-Based or Handwriting Interventions?

Date Presented Accepted for AOTA INSPIRE 2021 but unable to be presented due to online event limitations. Aims: This quantitative study compared effects of occupation-based versus handwriting interventions on handwriting. Methods: Twenty-seven participants, mean age 6.3, participated in a 3-week study. Initially, there was no significant difference between groups on handwriting. Results: Occupation-based interventions were more effective on handwriting and visual–perceptual skills. Handwriting interventions lead to a greater gain in perceptual–motor skills. Conclusion: Both interventions are beneficial. Primary Author and Speaker: Camille Skubik-Peplaski Additional Authors and Speakers: Jennifer Hight, Laura Bray, and Carol Rushing-Carr

FOREIGN LANGUAGE MOBILE LEARNING DESIGN

The formation of artificial virtual environments and their implementation in the educational environment of human activity is a current trend. Various textbooks, reference books, and dictionaries are created with virtual objects and interactive applications included in their content.The expanding capabilities and diversity of mobile devices support increasingly large-scale and interesting learningprojects.Mobile technologies provide new opportunities for curriculum development that differ from those provided by other e-learning technologies. They serve to support such a learning model, where the priorities are: free access to learning technologies, inclusiveness, and enhancing the students’ activity. In mobile learning, the central role is given to students with their individual technology preferences, while mobile learning is synonymous with unpredictability and constant change.Mobile-digital communication environments have huge number of tools and software to influence various cognitive and psychological aspects of students ' motivation to learn a foreign language. When using these environments, the learner's perceptual skills improve, since interaction with mobile devices with a learning purpose is most often initiated by the learner himself, at a convenient time and place for them.

A Narrative Review of Virtual Reality Applications for the Treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Virtual reality (VR) technologies allow for the creation of 3D environments that can be exploited at the human level, maximizing humans’ use of perceptual skills through their sensory channels, and enabling them to actively influence the course of events that take place in the virtual environment (VE). As such, they constitute a significant asset in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) via exposure therapy. In this article, we review the VR tools that have been developed to date for the treatment of PTSD. The article aims to analyze how VR technologies can be exploited from a sensorimotor and interactive perspective. The findings from this analysis suggest a significant emphasis on sensory stimulation to the detriment of interaction. Finally, we propose new ideas regarding the more successful integration of sensorimotor activities and interaction into VR exposure therapy for PTSD.