Sara M. Scharoun Benson

University of Windsor · Department of Kinesiology

Abstract Background Quality physical education (PE) contributes to the development of physical literacy among children, yet little is known about how teacher training relates to this development. We assessed the association between teacher training, and the likelihood that children met recommended achievement levels for components of physical liter...

Participation is a key aspect of quality of life and is essential for children’s well-being, yet children with disabilities are at risk for lower participation in social activities. For children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), social skills may present a significant obstacle for participation in activities of daily life; however, motor skill d...

Cross‐lateralisation and increased motor difficulties have been reported in children with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Nevertheless, the question of how crossed (i.e. mixed preference) or uncrossed (i.e. same side preference) lateralisation impacts motor performance in children with ADHD has yet to be examined. In this study, pr...

Objects can be grasped in different ways to ensure a movement plan is aligned with the intended action. The current study assessed grasp posture in joint action object manipulation in children (ages 6–11, n = 68), young adults ( n = 21), and older adults ( n = 23). Participants performed two actions (pickup and pass; pickup and pass for use) within...

Role‐differentiated bimanual manipulation (RDBM) is observed in many daily tasks. The preferred hand manipulates the object, whereas the nonpreferred hand stabilizes it. In this study, RDBM was assessed in 3‐ to 12‐year‐olds and young adults with a beading task. The number of trials where participants selected the preferred hand to grasp the thread...

Generally, participation levels of autistic children are lower than neurotypical children in social and physical activities. The range of activities that autistic children participate in is also less diverse. Building on previous qualitative work, the current research provides a quantitative perspective to explore the relationship between social sk...

Reaction time and movement times to the first target are typically longer for two-target sequential movements compared to one-target movements. While this one-target advantage has been shown to be dependent on the availability of advance information about the numbers of targets, there has been no systematic investigation of how foreperiod duration...

Physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour (SED) have been linked to the mental health of children and adolescents, yet the timing of behaviours may play a role in this relationship and clarifying this could inform interventions. We explored cross-sectional associations of PA and SED in varying time segments throughout the school day with the m...

Background Schools play an important role in promoting physical activity (PA) through school day schedules and policies. Purpose To investigate different intensities of children’s movement behavior during instructional time, recess, and in relation to the Ontario Daily Physical Activity (DPA) policy. Methods Movement behavior intensities were ass...

Fundamental motor/movement skills (FMS) describe the basic skills necessary to complete physical tasks, and are a key aspect of primary school physical education (PE) programs. Yet, specific teaching styles for FMS development have been relatively unexplored. Through a mixed-methods design, experiences and perceptions of different PE teachers (pres...

The current research compared hand selection in a preferential reaching paradigm with unimanual (i.e., pick-up cup) and bimanual (pick-up cup and pour from pitcher) tasks. In addition, relationships between self-report, questionnaire-based hand preference (unimanual and bimanual) and patterns of hand selection were assessed. Data offer support for...

Participation is key to childhood development and is essential for health and well-being; yet children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) participate less in social and physical activities compared to their typically developing peers and little is known about how social and motor challenges impact participation patterns. Purpose: The current resea...

For children, second-order planning in object manipulation, as demonstrated by the end-state comfort (ESC) effect, is constrained by numerous factors. As a step towards delineating the influence of object size, children (ages 6–10, n = 113) and adults (ages 18–25, n = 17) performed an overturned cup task with 8 cup sizes (4.7–8.4 cm diameter). Cont...

Handedness is a significant behavioral asymmetry; however, there is debate surrounding the age at which hand preference develops, and little research has been conducted on handedness in older adults. The current study examined performance on the long pegboard, to identify similarities and differences in young children (ages 4–7 years), older childr...

Various factors (e.g., hand preference, object properties) constrain reach-to-grasp in hemispace. With object use, end-state comfort (ESC) has been shown to supersede the preferential use of one hand at the midline. To assess how location, size, and orientation of objects (dowel, mallet, cup) influence preferred-hand use and ESC (N = 50; Mage = 20....

Introduction Few Canadian children meet physical activity guidelines. Active transportation to school may be a way to increase physical activity and walking school buses have shown promise; yet, few studies consider Northern settings. Methods Experiences of individuals and factors related to implementation of a walking school bus pilot in Northeas...

There is inconsistent evidence demonstrating a relationship between task complexity and hand preference. However, analyzing the point at which task complexity overrides the decision to demonstrate a biomechanically efficient movement can enable complexity to be quantified. Young children (ages 3–7), adolescents (ages 8–12), young adults (ages 18–25...

There has been recent interest in the developmental trajectory of the end-state comfort effect (ESCE) in young children. However, potential sex differences have yet to be examined in the overturned glass task. We examined the ESCE using this task in a large sample (N=232) of typically-developing elementary school children (111 girls, 121 boys) in g...

Introduction and Methods Hand selection was assessed in preadolescent children (ages 9–11) within a preferential reaching task to delineate the effects of object location, orientation, and task intention on the assessment procedure and compared to data previously acquired from young adults. Results The observed differences support the notion that...

The movement context (pantomime, pantomime with image/object as guide, and actual use) has been shown to influence end-state comfort—the propensity to prioritize a comfortable final hand position over an initially comfortable one—across the lifespan. The present study aimed to assess how the movement context (pantomime, using a dowel as the tool, a...

Tool use is typically explored via actor-tool interactions. However, the target-object (that which is being acted on) may influence perceived action possibilities and thereby guide action. Three different tool-target-object pairings were tested (Experiment 1). The hammering action demonstrated the greatest sensitivity and therefore subsequently use...

Young adults plan actions in advance to minimize the cost of movement. This is exemplified by the end-state comfort effect (ESC). A pattern of improvement in ESC in children is linked to the development of cognitive control processes, and decline in older adults' is attributed to cognitive decline. This study used a cross-sectional design to examin...

Actors change their movement strategies to complement a coactor's movements when performing cooperative tasks. To further investigate this topic, the authors designed a pegboard task whereby a participant-confederate pair worked together to move a peg from one side of the board to the other. The authors examined how the experience of working with a...

Hand preference is one of the most apparent functional asymmetry in humans. Under contralateral control, performance is more proficient with the preferred hand; however, the difference between the two hands is greater in right handers, considering left handers generally display less cerebral lateralization. One method of evaluating hand preference...

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders. Although not a diagnostic feature, motor impairments have been recently acknowledged as prevalent and significant, such that these children have difficulties planning, organizing and coordinating movements. This study aimed to further investigate anticipatory mot...

This study investigated whether 5- to 11-year-old children perceive affordances in the same way as adults ( M age = 22.93, SD = 2.16) when presented with a task and four tools (nail in a block of wood and a hammer, rock, wrench, and comb; bucket of sand and a shovel, wooden block, rake, and tweezers; and a screw in a block of wood and a screwdriver...

Motor deficits are commonly observed with age; however, it has been argued that older adults are more adept when acting in natural tasks and do not differ from young adults in these contexts. This study assessed end-state comfort and movement kinematics in a familiar task to examine this further. Left- and right-handed older adults picked up a glas...

As numerous movement options are available in reaching and grasping, of particular interest are what factors influence an individual’s choice of action. In the current study a preferential reaching task was used to assess the propensity for right handers to select their preferred hand and grasp a coffee mug by the handle in both independent and joi...

People typically move in an anticipatory manner, planning the intended action in advance to minimize the energy costs associated with producing the action (e.g., Rosenbaum et al., 2009). This is exemplified behaviorally in the end-state comfort effect, which is characterized by the selection of an uncomfortable initial posture to enable a comfortab...

Background: Parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), particularly mothers, experience a unique caregiving demand. Although benefits do exist, caregivers often report a burden due to children’s lack of social interaction and ability to self-care. Development of motor skills employed in these activities is often delayed in children w...

Although literature surrounding handedness and cerebellar asymmetry is limited, many researchers have suggested that a relationship exists (e.g., A. A. Beaton, 2003; L. Jäncke, K. Specht, S. Mirzazade, & M. Peters, 1999; I. C. McManus & K. M. Cornish, 1997; M. Peters, 1995; P. J. Snyder, R. M. Bilder, H. Wu, B. Bogerts, & J. A. Lieberman, 1995). Fo...

Despite a lack of agreement concerning the age at which adult-like patterns of handedness emerge, it is generally understood that hand preference presents early in life and development is variable. Young children (ages 3–5 years) are described as having weak hand preference; however, older children (ages 7–10 years) display stronger patterns. Here,...

This study examined the influence of motor symptom asymmetry in Parkinson’s disease (PD) on Grooved Pegboard (GP) performance in right-handed participants. The Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale was used to assess motor symptoms and separate participants with PD into two groups (right-arm affected, left-arm affected) for comparison with a gro...

Participants with equivalent symptoms on each side (n = 5, 4 male, 1 female) were excluded from analyses. Although inclusion of these participants was beyond the scope of the current investigation, analyses including them can be found in the supplementary material.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is one of the most common forms of developmental disabilities of childhood, rooted in atypical language and social development, in conjunction with repetitive and patterned behaviors. It is also suggested that gross and fine motor impairments are a core feature of ASD, are more prevalent in comparison to the general p...

End-state comfort (ESC) is the tendency to assume comfortable postures at the end of simple object manipulation rather than at the start; and therefore has been used to assess the behavioral effects of motor planning. Adult-like patterns have been observed at age 9. Observations can extend to joint-action, such that adults consider the beginning-st...

It is widely know that the pattern of human handedness is such that approximately 90% of the population is right handed with the remainder being left handed, at least in the adult population. What is less well understood is how handedness develops and at what age adult-like handedness patterns emerge. Quantified in terms of both preference and perf...

As an almost infinite number of options are available to complete any given task, of particular interest is how a person is constrained to perform a movement in a specific manner. This exemplifies the degrees-of-freedom problem (Bernstein, 1967). That said, the movement-selection system must also take into consideration a motor plan, which facilita...

The primary goal of the current study was to determine if left-handers show an advantage for each hand in its own region of space, as do right-handers. Additionally, the study aimed to determine whether a preferred-hand advantage for movement exists in a highly-practiced task. To examine these questions, 81 right-and 60 left-handers were administer...

Motor control deficits have been documented in children with high functioning autism and Asperger syndrome (HFA/AS), but the extent to which these disorders affect the children's footedness must be delineated. Twelve typically developing (TD) children and 12 children with HFA/AS, ages 6-9 years, were recruited. Motor control skills were assessed th...