Roberta Rikli

California State University, Fullerton | CSUF · Department of Kinesiology

Purpose: To develop and validate criterion-referenced fitness standards for older adults that predict the level of capacity needed for maintaining physical independence into later life. The proposed standards were developed for use with a previously validated test battery for older adults-the Senior Fitness Test (Rikli, R. E., & Jones, C. J. (2001...

In our increasingly complex society, research and research training in master's institutions is just as critical as in doctoral programs, but with a different emphasis and purpose. In PhD institutions, research programs are generally considered to be for the purpose of advancing knowledge in the discipline and helping to prepare the next generation...

Motivated by her belief in the contributions of physical activity to the "good life" for all people, Amy Morris Homans was influential in the development of physical education as a viable and respected academic field of study in higher education. Over the past 100 years, however, as the field faced pressures to become more scientific, it has become...

Motivated by her belief in the contributions of physical activity to the "good life" for all people, Amy Morris Homans was influential in the development of physical education as a viable and respected academic field of study in higher education. Over the past 100 years, however, as the field faced pressures to become more scientific, it has become...

Demographic projections indicate that the over 65 population will double between 2000 and 2030, from 35 million to 70 million. Unfortunately, statistics also show that although people are living longer, they are living with an increased prevalence of chronic disease, a trend that could have devastating effects on health care costs and quality of li...

This study asked high school athletes what kinds of desirable traits or styles they would like to see in coaches when they provided correct feedback. High school athletes (M age=14.5 yr., SD=2.1), 43 girls and 70 boys, in both individual and team sports were recruited from 2 junior high and 2 senior high schools. A questionnaire measuring preferenc...

Objectives.- To discuss the application of physical performance assessments for older adults in community settings, to describe Fullerton's functional fitness test for older adults and its performance standards, and to discuss guidelines for administering the test battery in a group setting. Materials and Methods. - Seven thousand, one hundred and...

Measuring lower body strength is critical in evaluating the functional performance of older adults. The purpose of this study was to assess the test-retest reliability and the criterion-related and construct validity of a 30-s chair stand as a measure of lower body strength in adults over the age of 60 years. Seventy-six community-dwelling older ad...

Preventing or delaying the onset of physical frailty is an increasingly important goal because more individuals are living well into their 8th and 9th decades. We describe the development and validation of a functional fitness test battery that can assess the physiologic parameters that support physical mobility in older adults. The procedures invo...

This article describes a nationwide study conducted to develop normative performance data for community-residing older adults. The physical parameters assessed are strength, aerobic endurance, flexibility, and agility/balance. Body mass index was also assessed as an estimate of body composition. The sample comprised 7,183 participants from 267 site...

The purpose of this study was to examine the test-retest reliability and the criterion validity of a newly developed chair sit-and-reach (CSR) test as a measure of hamstring flexibility in older adults CSR performance was also compared to sit-and-reach (SR) and back-saver sit-and-reach (BSR) measures of hamstring flexibility. To estimate reliabilit...

The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability and validity of a 6-min walk test as a measure of physical endurance in older adults. Seventy-seven subjects, ages 60-87, performed three separate 6-min walk tests and a treadmill test and completed questionnaire items assessing physical activity level and functional status. The 6-min walk had...

With the projected growth in the older adult population, preventing or delaying physical disability in later years has become a national goal. Evidence suggests that physiological decline, especially that associated with physical inactivity, is modifiable through proper assessment and activity intervention. However, a major limitation in reducing l...

This article is a follow-up to a recent article by Marcel Bouffard (1997), "Using Old Research Ideas to Study Contemporary Problems in Adapted Physical Activity." In his article, Bouffard suggests that because of the extreme heterogeneity often found in adapted populations, adapted physical activity research would be better served utilizing an "ind...

Despite dramatic increases in the older adult population, curriculum development in the area of physical activity and aging has been minimal or nonexistent in most physical education departments in higher education. As a consequence, many practitioners leading programs for older adults have had to rely primarily on self-study and on-the-job trainin...

It has been well documented that high-intensity strength training using weight machines and other laboratory controlled equipment and procedures improves strength in older adults. However, few studies have investigated the effects of low-cost, less intense strength conditioning programs suitable for use in a community setting. The purpose of this s...

The following are abstracts of poster presentations accepted for the StairMaster Conference on Aging and Physical Activity, October 21–23, 1993, in Virginia Beach, Virginia. In planning the conference, the goal for both the invited presentations and poster sessions was to include a balance of scientific research, professional application, and progr...

University professors (N = 56), divided into two age groups (< 50 years and > 50 years) and two physical activity level groups (high and low), were tested on three tasks requiring increasingly complex cognitive processing--simple reaction time (SRT), choice reaction time (CRT), and on a digit symbol substitution test (DSST). A significant main effe...

The purpose of this study was to determine test-retest reliability for the 1-mile, 3/4-mile, and 1/2-mile distance run/alk tests for children in Grades K-4. Fifty-one intact physical education classes were randomly assigned to one of the three distance run conditions. A total of 1,229 (621 boys, 608 girls) completed the test-retests in the fall (Oc...

Deterioration of balance is associated with an increased incidence of falls and mobility problems in the elderly. The purpose of this study was to determine if dynamic balance can be improved through an exercise intervention program. Subjects consisted of 48 (33 exercise; 15 control) older independently ambulatory women between the ages of 57 and 9...

This study evaluated the effects of a three-year exercise program on motor performance and cognitive processing speed of previously sedentary older women, ages 57-85. Variables tested were simple and choice reaction time (CRT), balance, sit and reach flexibility, shoulder flexibility, and grip strength. Subjects participated three times a week in e...

The first section of this manual provides information on the history of softball and the development of testing for proficiency in the game. The tests in the manual cover batting, fielding ground balls, overhand throwing, and baserunning. Test norms are listed for males and females at each grade level. A review is included of proper techniques and...

The purpose of this study was to test the effects of a 10-month exercise program on bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral content/bone width (BMC/BW) of postmenopausal women. Thirty-one women (ages 57-83) completed either a general aerobics exercise program (n = 10), a general aerobics plus upper body weight training exercise program (n = 10)...

In Study 1, simple and choice reaction time, balance, sit and reach flexibility, shoulder flexibility, and grip strength of older active women were compared with older inactive women, and active and inactive younger women. Except for grip strength, scores of older active women on all measures were significantly better than for older inactive women,...

Two factors identified in previous research as influencing motor learning are mode of information feedback and conditions of practice. The present study, with 48 right-handed college students, explored certain aspects of those factors in order to gain insight into processes underlying the observational learning of motor skills. The design was a Pra...

The purpose of this study was to test for possible interaction effects between method of subject selection (volunteer vs random) and a selected treatment variable—verbal encouragement. The presence of such an interaction would suggest that generalizations regarding verbal encouragement could be made only to specific subject populations. Volunteer (...

-This study was designed to assess the effects of videotape feedback, under various temporal conditions, on the improvement in performance of a closed skill-the tennis serve. The subjects (48 advanced beginner and 48 intermediate tennis players) were randomly assigned to four treatment groups: (1) Gntrol-no video feedback, (2) Early-subjects receiv...

The purpose of this study was to compare motor performance scores of volunteer and randomly selected subjects on five different tasks—vertical jump, shuttle run, grip strength, 50-yard dash, and sit-ups. The subjects were 40 male and 40 female high school students and 48 male and 48 female college students. Half of the subjects were students who vo...

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of the expectancy set of the experimenter, the main effects of the sex of the experimenter, and the interaction effects of the sex of the experimenter and the sex of the subject upon performance of a grip strength task and a hand steadiness task. The subjects were 48 undergraduate males and 48...