Vegter, T. (Tom) (2015) A leap of faith: Examining the perceived action capabilities of children with learning delays. thesis, Sport Sciences.
Full text available on request.Abstract
Background. When crossing a busy street, it is of crucial importance for a child to accurately perceive one’s capabilities for action to prevent getting hurt. Remarkably little is known about the perception accuracy of children with learning delays. Children with learning delays have an increased risk of having problems with motor skills and/or inhibitory control. Do children with learning delays accurately perceive their action capabilities? And is the estimation of action capabilities of children with learning delays related to their gross motor skill and/or inhibitory control? Method. To examine perceived action capabilities, children (n = 36) attending special education between the ages of 8 and 12 years old were instructed to judge their maximum leaping distance. After that, actual maximum leaping distance was measured. The absolute error between perceived and actual maximum leaping distance was calculated as a measure of perception accuracy. Gross motor skills were assessed with the BOT-2. Inhibitory control was measured with the Hearts & Flowers test. Results. Results showed evidence of a significant mismatch between perceived and actual maximum leaping distance. Only three children had an absolute error smaller than 30 cm, with the vast majority of children underestimating their leaping ability. A moderate correlation was found between perceived and actual maximum leaping distance (r = 0.491, p < 0.05). The absolute error between actual and perceived maximum leaping distance did not significantly correlate to either gross motor skill (r = 0.005, p > 0.05), inhibitory control (r = - 0.021, p > 0.05) or age (rs = -0.261, p > 0.05). Discussion and conclusion. Children with learning delays do not accurately perceive their action capabilities. The analysis showed no relationships between gross motor skills or inhibitory control and accuracy of perceived action capabilities. The negative implications for the mismatch between perceived and actual action capabilities are discussed.
| Item Type: | Thesis (UNSPECIFIED) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Smith, dr. J. |
| Faculty: | Medical Sciences |
| Date Deposited: | 15 Apr 2022 14:12 |
| Last Modified: | 15 Apr 2022 14:12 |
| URI: | https://umcg.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/3113 |
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