Action possibilities may emerge or disappear over time due to interactions among multiple moving objects. Which action possibility and how it is actualized reflect the interplay among environmental constraints and individual capabilities and preferences. The present study aimed to identify individual and task-specific factors that predict target selection in an interception task and characterize the solutions executed by individuals to realize the chosen action possibility. We created a video game simulating team sports such as American Football, in which the participant controlled the thrower attempting to intercept one of the two moving targets. Near each target, there was a defender that could intercept the pass. In addition, a third defender moved from the endzone toward the thrower. We manipulated target speed and defender distance to alter both temporal and spatial constraints. Our results indicated that target selection was influenced mainly by the difference between the defenders' relative gains. Throughout practice, participants also adapted all three execution variables that define the throwing outcome, with a relevant effect of target speed in scaling the values of each execution variable. This study demonstrated that during a virtual interception task with coexisting action possibilities, individuals select which target to intercept based on a high-order, relational variable and calibrate their movement according to the selected target speed.

The present study examined the effect of the Sport Education Model (SEM) in physical education (PE) classes on high school students' cognitive variables and motor skills. Furthermore, analyses were conducted by gender and teaching context. A randomized controlled trial was conducted with high school students from federal and private schools, allocated into an experimental group (EG; n = 37) and a control group (CG; n = 31). Students in the EG participated in an SEM season (18 to 20 invasion sports classes). Students assigned to the CG had no changes to their PE classes. We used the Game Performance Assessment Instrument to analyze cognitive variables and motor skills. We used the Generalized Estimation Equations to verify the effects of the intervention on the time and group factors, as well as the time*group interaction. In the overall analysis, SEM showed positive effects over time on support (d = 0.61). SEM showed more benefits for girls, with positive effects on support (d = 0.69) and game performance (d = 0.77). In the private network, the effects of SEM on support were greater than those of CG, which had a large effect size (d = 1.10). The intervention did not show positive effects on decision-making, skill execution, and game involvement. The implementation of SEM has proven beneficial for developing tactical content with high school students in Brazil, especially for girls and in contexts similar to the private education system.

Prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation during manual performance is often associated with motor control efficiency; however, its functional meaning depends on task demands and prior experience. Manual dexterity tasks differ in temporal structure, with discrete tasks involving clearly defined actions and continuous tasks requiring sustained visuomotor control. This study aimed to characterize task-dependent modulation of prefrontal metabolic activity during discrete and continuous manual dexterity tasks and to examine its association with prior experience in manual coordination activities and motor performance. Fourteen healthy right-handed adults performed discrete tasks (Box and Block Test [BBT] and Nine Hole Peg Test [NHPT]) and continuous tasks (sinusoid and spiral drawing) while PFC activity was recorded using hemoencephalography (HEG). Task-related changes in prefrontal activation were calculated as the difference between task execution and resting baseline (ΔHEG) and also measured during the post-task phase to assess maintenance of activity. Friedman tests showed no significant differences in prefrontal optical density across task phases for any task. Despite the absence of phase effects, all tasks exhibited negative median ΔHEG values during execution. Interindividual variability was greater in continuous than in discrete tasks and increased during the post-task phase. ΔHEG during the BBT was negatively associated with prior experience in manual coordination activities (ρ = -.728, p = .003), whereas greater ΔHEG during the sinusoid task was associated with longer NHPT time (ρ = 0.545, p = .044). Overall, prefrontal metabolic activity showed similar patterns across task phases, but task-specific associations with prior experience and motor performance were observed.

This study investigated the effects of a gamified physical activity intervention on sensory integration ability and physical fitness in children aged 6-7 years with sensory integration dysfunction. Forty first-grade students from a primary school in China, were randomly assigned to either an intervention group or a control group. The intervention group participated in a 12-week gamified exercise program conducted twice per week for 60 min per session, while the control group attended regular physical education classes. Pre- and post-intervention assessments were conducted for both sensory integration and physical fitness. Repeated measures ANOVA revealed significant interaction effects for vestibular function, tactile defensiveness, and proprioception (all p < .001), but not for learning ability (p = .794). Chi-square analyses indicated a significant improvement in the recovery rate of vestibular function (p < .001), whereas tactile defensiveness, proprioception, and learning ability showed no significant changes (p = .281, p = .178, p = .985, respectively). Additionally, repeated measures ANOVA demonstrated significant interaction effects for the 50-m sprint, one-minute rope skipping, and one-leg stance with eyes closed (all p < .001), but not for standing long jump or sit-and-reach (p = .070, p = .868). These findings suggest that gamified physical activity interventions can produce significant improvements in both sensory integration ability and physical fitness among first-grade children with sensory integration dysfunction.

In contemporary coaching, verbal augmented information (feedback and instruction) remains a widely used, but inconsistently applied tool for directing athletes' attentional search to improve their performance. Coaches often overlook how augmented information may be used to guide athletes' search for functional solutions within dynamic performance environments. Feedback is typically delivered either concurrently (during an action) or terminally (after an action), often in the form of error correction aimed at reproducing idealized movement solutions. This position paper draws on an ecological dynamics rationale to help coaches become more effective in their use of verbal augmented information. This paper presents the Transitional Learning Model (TLM) as an applied framework that integrates and extends existing approaches to instruction, feedback, and practice design. Within this model, coaches may use clues, challenges and questions, priming athletes to attune to affordances available in their performance environment. This approach aims to promote athletes to search, discover and exploit functional movement solutions within the performance environment. TLM may be applied concurrently or terminally, with transitional information functioning to guide the athletes' ongoing search activities for their next action in a performance environment. The TLM is proposed as a conceptual framework and requires further empirical investigation through applied and in-situ research designs to examine its effectiveness in supporting athlete learning.

During early childhood, the critical period of self-regulation development coincides with significant motor development. That is why this age period is a window of opportunity for using movement to promote self-regulation skills. Based on the intrinsic association between movement and self-regulation, this analytic review discusses why and how different types of movement activities foster self-regulation in early childhood. These activities include movement games, cognitively demanding motor activities, music and dance, and mindful movement. The paper further outlines the underlying neurocognitive mechanisms that make movement activities beneficial for self-regulation and offers suggestions about how these activities should be designed.

This study investigated physiological responses during professional competitions by measuring heart rate variability (HRV) and salivary α-amylase and cortisol in elite archers. Based on the vagal tank theory, we examined psychophysiological dynamics and assessed differences in HRV and salivary biomarkers between high- and low-scoring matches to evaluate their association with performance. Eight elite archers (four male, four female) participated, with data collected across 184 matches of the Chinese Enterprise Archery League. HRV was recorded pre- and during matches, and salivary α-amylase and cortisol were measured pre- and post-match. Heart rate significantly increased from 97.0 ± 11.5 bpm pre-match to 110.7 ± 15.3 bpm during matches, while RMSSD, an index of cardiac vagal control, remained stable. Heart rate, RMSSD, and high-frequency power were similar between high- and low-scoring matches. Post-match α-amylase concentrations were lower in high-scoring matches (51.37 ± 49.44 U/ml) than in low-scoring matches (71.00 ± 88.13 U/ml; p = 0.037), after controlling for pre-match values, whereas cortisol levels remained unchanged. These findings suggest that elite archers engage sympathetic arousal to mobilize cognitive and physiological resources while maintaining vagal regulation to preserve precision and composure. The observed autonomic profile aligns with the vagal tank theory, indicating that self-regulation capacity was maintained during competition. Lower post-match AA levels, an indicator of sympathetic-adrenal-medullary pathway activity, were associated with better performance, suggesting that effective anxiety management may enhance accuracy. Psychological skills training to manage competition-related stress may therefore improve performance in elite archery.

Police firearm training requires perceptual discrimination, decision-making, speed-accuracy control, and technical motor execution under institutional evaluation. This retrospective longitudinal study examined whether self-regulation-related psychological characteristics predicted firearm skill acquisition during an official Brazilian Federal Police training program. Two hundred five trainees completed a 13-week firearm course with standardized live-fire assessments using the Four-Color Target Test. Impulsivity, perceived stress, and self-control were assessed with the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11), the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10/EPS-10), and the Brief Self-Control Scale (BSCS). Adjusted linear regression models tested associations with early shooting performance and final shooting performance, whereas linear mixed-effects models tested whether psychological scores predicted the rate of improvement across repeated assessments. Models adjusted for age, body mass index, sex, hand dominance, and previous firearm-training experience; final-performance models also adjusted for early shooting performance. Shooting performance improved across training, and early standardized shooting performance predicted final attainment. However, BIS-11, PSS-10/EPS-10, and BSCS scores did not significantly predict early performance, the linear rate of improvement, or final performance after accounting for early shooting ability. BIS-11 subscales and a composite self-regulation index showed the same general pattern. These findings indicate that, in a highly structured and supervised police academy firearm-training context, broad self-regulation-related self-report traits had limited value for predicting firearm skill acquisition.

It is widely known that artificial intelligence (AI) offers creative opportunities for enhancing English language students' performance. Nevertheless, there is little information regarding the effect of AI-based tools on students' willingness to communicate (WTC). In addition, emotional variables like grit and enjoyment can affect the EFL students' WTC. Thus, the present research investigated the effect of AI on the learners' WTC by taking into account the mediating effect of enjoyment and grit. To this end, 240 English as a foreign language learners in China participated in this research and were assigned to two groups, namely the experimental group and the control group. The former got engaged in communicative tasks with an AI-based tool; however, the other one got engaged in traditional communicative tasks. After the eight-week intervention, both groups completed the questionnaires. A parallel mediation analysis was run, and the results revealed that both groups showed improvement in WTC, while the improvement in the experimental group was greater. The results also revealed that both grit and enjoyment were significant mediators in this effect. Grit uniquely accounted for 9.72% of the effect, and enjoyment accounted for 13.31% of it. In addition, the results can direct future research on embedding AI-based tools into language teaching, spreading supportive and inclusive settings. Suggestions are also provided for FL teachers.

Background: Motor competence shapes childhood health, but its heterogeneity in low- and middle-income countries remains unclear. Purpose: This study used unsupervised clustering to identify distinct motor performance profiles among Nigerian school-age children.Research Design: A cross-sectional study.Study Sample: The study included a convenience sample of 200 school-age children aged 6-16 years from five schools in Ebonyi State, Nigeria.Data Collection and Analysis: Motor performance was assessed using 15 motor tasks. K-means and hierarchical clustering were applied to 17 features, including motor tasks, age, and sex, with cluster validity assessed using internal validation indices and between-cluster differences examined using the Mann-Whitney U test or Kruskal-Wallis H test, as appropriate. A Bernoulli mixture model (BMM) was applied as a model-based validation approach specifically designed for binary data.Results: Across clustering approaches, approximately 31-36% of children were classified within a motor-delayed performance phenotype characterized by an age-performance mismatch: despite being chronologically oldest (median age 14.0 years in k-means and 12.0 years in hierarchical clustering), this group demonstrated selectively reduced coordination and balance performance. Team balance on beam consistently emerged as the strongest task-level discriminator, showing the largest performance gap in k-means clustering (54.2% vs. 86.6-86.9%, p < 0.001), and robust separation in hierarchical clustering (35.4% vs. 94.0%, p < 0.001). The BMM corroborated this two-profile structure (BIC-optimal two-class solution; ∼31% lower-performing), with perfect classification stability (ARI = 1.0). The motor-delayed group also exhibited higher prevalence of reported disabilities (16.9-19.4%), prior therapy exposure (15.4-19.4%), and lower sports participation compared with higher-performing groups. Hierarchical clustering demonstrated stronger between-cluster discrimination in total motor score than k-means (ηH2 = 0.745 vs. 0.059) and identified one small outlier cluster (n = 2), while cluster composition did not differ significantly by sex.Conclusions: These findings indicate that unsupervised clustering can reveal distinct motor performance phenotypes in school-age children and highlight the value of balance-related tasks for differentiating coordination and motor control profiles during childhood.

Light-intensity physical activity (LPA) (a low level of effort with a slight increase in heart rate and breathing) supports children's cognitive development, particularly in brain regions responsible for attention and executive functions. This study investigated the effects of short-term LPA on prefrontal cortex (PFC) activity using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Thirty-three children aged 10 to 14 years completed seated, light-intensity exercises involving coordination and balance. Hemodynamic changes in oxygenated hemoglobin were recorded in three subregions of the PFC. A significant increase was observed during complex tasks, with mean Z-score changes of 0.68 in the middle PFC and 0.87 in the left PFC (p < 0.05). No significant differences were found between 10- and 20-s durations, suggesting that movement complexity - rather than duration - determines neural activation. These findings indicate that short, structured light-intensity motor tasks elicit measurable prefrontal cortex activation in children. Incorporating brief bouts of light-intensity physical activity into the school day may promote neural engagement of prefrontal regions, although future studies are needed to directly link these neural responses to cognitive performance.

Higher motor competence and fundamental motor skill levels have been linked to stronger executive and attentional functions in early childhood. Still, this evidence base is drawn almost entirely from high-income, so-called WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, Democratic) settings. In sub-Saharan African contexts, developmental opportunities are often shaped instead by informal outdoor play, household activity, active commuting, and uneven access to structured physical education. Therefore, it is unclear whether motor-cognitive associations described in WEIRD samples extend to this setting in the sub-Saharan African children's population. This exploratory cross-sectional study examined associations between motor performance and seven cognitive functions in 56 Zambian preschool children (mean age 4.80 ± 0.57 years; 22 boys, 34 girls) recruited from three government preschools in Lusaka. Motor performance was assessed with the Standing Long Jump, 4 × 5 m Shuttle Run, Lateral Jumps, Shifting Platforms, Right- and Left-Hand overarm throws, and the 20 m shuttle run(BEEP) test; cognition was assessed with the seven subtests of the Intelligence and Development Scales - Preschool (IDS-P). Linear regression models, stratified by age group (3-4.9 and 5-6.9 years) and adjusted for age and sex, identified six motor-cognitive associations that reached nominal significance, most consistently between faster Shuttle Run performance and higher Selective Attention scores in both age groups (older group: standardised β = -0.56, p = .003, R[2] = .37) and between Standing Long Jump and Visual Processing in the older group (β = 0.55, p = .003, R[2] = .32). None of these associations remained significant after false discovery rate (FDR) correction. The findings should be interpreted as preliminary, hypothesis-generating signals rather than confirmatory evidence of specific motor-cognitive pathways. Larger longitudinal and intervention studies that measure nutritional status, parental education, socioeconomic circumstances, home stimulation, habitual physical activity, sleep quality, and preschool context are needed in sub-Saharan African preschool populations.

Early childhood is characterized as a period of extensive development. It is during this period that children begin to develop Fundamental Motor Skills, Executive Functions, and the perception of motor competence.Background/ObjectivesThe aim of this research is to identify the relationship between Fundamental Motor Skills and Executive Functions in children from different clusters of Motor Competence Perception.MethodsThis study is a quasi-experimental, quantitative research with a cross-sectional design of descriptive and associative nature. 190 children aged 3 to 5 years from the city of Juazeiro do Norte participated, who met the inclusion criteria.ResultsThe results showed reasonably well-defined clusters, where Motor Competence Perception appeared in distinct forms between the groups. The network topology showed differences between the 3 clusters: cluster 1 had median connections, cluster 2 was the most disconnected and had the variable 'number' that did not connect to any other, and cluster 3 had the most connections. The highest values of expected influence were inhibitory control in clusters 1 and 2, and locomotion in cluster 3. This means that these variables have a greater tendency to modify the network, so a targeted intervention is important to improve the development of skills in these children.ConclusionsThese analyses are necessary because they provide more information about child development that can be useful for physical education professionals during classes, to intervene effectively in children's needs.

Objective: The objective of this study was to analyze the test-retest reliability of the Holistic Motor Competence Test (HOLMOT) and examine sex- and age-related differences in HOLMOT section and total completion times in young adults. Methods: A total of 333 participants, aged 18-29 years, completed HOLMOT, which integrates cognitive-motor, locomotor, and manipulative tasks. Section completion times and overall test time were recorded. A subsample of 198 participants completed the test twice with a one-week interval to assess reliability. Results: Men exhibited significantly shorter completion times than women in all HOLMOT sections and in Total Time (all p < .001). No statistically significant age-group differences were detected, although the small 24-29-year group (n = 40) limits interpretation. Test-retest reliability was good to excellent (ICC = 0.806-0.906), despite significant learning effects in the Cognitive-Motor and Manipulative sections and Total Time, suggesting that a separate familiarization session is required for accurate baseline measurement. Bland-Altman analyses revealed small mean biases, although heteroscedasticity in the Locomotor Section indicated greater test-retest variability among faster performers. Conclusion: These findings provide initial evidence for the test-retest reliability of HOLMOT and support its feasibility for assessing integrated, time-based motor performance, although its broader validity remains to be established.

The sense of force can be defined as the awareness of the force produced by the neuromuscular system. Compared with other modalities, sense of force has been less studied, and whether it can be trained remains an open question. This study investigated whether short-term training can improve force sense and whether such gain is force-level specific and transferable to the contralateral untrained limb. The sense of force was assessed in thirteen healthy adults with a force-reproduction task performed with the first dorsal interosseous muscle at 5% and 20% of their maximal force (MVC). The study design involved a 3-week control period followed by a 3-week training program (nine sessions) consisting of performing force-matching tasks at submaximal intensities (from 2.5 to 22.5% MVC). Absolute error (AE) and signed error (SE) were assessed before and after the two periods (control and training). No change was observed after the control period, regardless of the contraction intensity and hand. In contrast, training significantly reduced AE [before: 36 (16)%; after: 19 (14)%, p = 0.002] and SE [before: 35 (20)%; after: 13 (19)%, p = 0.022] at 5% MVC in the trained hand, with a trend for improvement in AE at 20% MVC. No change was observed in the contralateral hand, regardless of the contraction intensity. This study is the first to show that the sense of force is trainable, with improvements mainly confined to low-force conditions and specific to the trained effector. These findings open promising avenues for future research into its application in rehabilitation settings.Significance statementThis study shows, for the first time, that short-term training can improve the sense of force, revealing intensity and effector specificity.