Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Visual motor response test'

On t.p.: Degree of Masters of Science (Counselling Psychology)<br>Thesis (MSc)--Stellenbosch University, 2003.<br>ENGLISH ABSTRACT: During middle childhood, cognitive, social, emotional and self-concept development is of importance, and prepares the child for the adaptation and challenges awaiting the child in adolescence. Visualmotor integration is described by various sources as playing an important role in the development of a child. Visual-motor integration is the child's ability to integrate visual perceptual skills with fine motor coordination. In order to assess visual-motor integration functioning, the Developmental Test of Visual- Motor Integration (VMJ) (Beery, 1989) is often applied. Considering visual-motor integration functioning as an integral part of the drawing task (Harris, 1963), the Goodenough-Harris Drawing Test (GHD) may also convey important information ofa child's visual-motor integration functioning. The primary aim of the present study was to determine the status of visual-motor integration functioning of the selected group of middle childhood children within the South African context, in order to identify possible delays. Visual-motor integration functioning was determined by the children's performance on GHD and the VMI. Academic achievement results were also reviewed to determine the chosen sample's status in this regard. The obtained results were analyzed and summarized in order to obtain information leading to the fulfillment of the primary aim. The secondary aim of the present study flows parallel to the primary aim, and was motivated by the need to discover an effective, child-friendly measurement tool of visual-motor integration, applicable at a young age, as to gain accurate knowledge of a child's visual-motor integration functioning. The secondary aim consisted of exploring a) the correlations (if any) between the results of the Goodenough-Harris Drawing Test (GHD) and the biographical variables of gender, chronological age and socioeconomic status, b) the correlations (if any) between the results of the Beery Developmental test of Visual-Motor Integration (VMI) and the above-mentioned variables, c) the correlations (if any) between academic achievement and the above-mentioned variables and test results, and d) the correlations (if any) between the VMI and GHD results, in order to compare different tests of visual-motor integration. Three hundred and thirty nine participants attending grade one to four in a specific primary school, took part in this study. The study resulted in various conclusions regarding the status of visual-motor integration functioning, the most relevant being that the selected sample presents with functioning levels lower than that which is expected for children their age, in their achievement on both the VMI and the GHD, implying possible visual-motor integration functioning challenges. This finding implies the need to implement effective intervention programmes in order to address this seemingly evident delay. Conclusions regarding the vanous relationships between the test results and certain biographical variables include the following: It was found that the relationship between socioeconomic status and childhood development, as reflected by the correlation between socioeconomic status and the GHD, seems very important in the South African context. When considering gender differences, females achieved lower scores on both tests applied in the present study than males. Chronological age correlated significantly with scores on the VMI. It was further shown that visual-motor integration functioning could have a significant impact on academic achievement. The VMI and GHD results were compared, in order to compare different tests of visual-motor integration. High scores on the GHD related significantly to high scores on the VMI. Although the present study was unable to confirm the superiority of one test, various considerations were discussed leading to the identification of a child-friendly test of visual-motor integration. The present study highlights the importance of identifying and addressing developmental delays in general, and visualmotor integration functioning in specific, in order to ensure the development of middle childhood children to their complete potential in the South African context. It also underlines the need for effective, child-friendly assessment tools of visual-motor integration that will ensure the effective identification of developmental delays.<br>AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Gedurende middelkinderjare is kognitiewe-, emosionele- en selfbeeldontwikkeling van belang, omdat dit die kind voorberei vir die verwagte aanpassings en uitdagings tydens adolessensie. Visueelmotoriese integrasie speel 'n sentrale rol in kinderontwikkeling. Visueel-motoriese integrasie word beskryf as die kind se vermoë om visueel-perseptuele vaardighede te integreer met fyn-motoriese koërdinasie, Die VMI (Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration, Beery (1989)) word gereeld as meetinstrument gebruik vir visueel-motoriese integrasie. Omdat visueel-motoriese integrasie 'n sentrale deel van 'n kind se tekenvaardighede is, is die GHD (Goodenough-Harris Drawing Test) ook toepaslik om informasie rakende 'n kind se visueel-motoriese integrasie funksionering te bepaal. Die primêre doel van die huidige studie was om die status van visueel-motoriese integrasie funksionering van 'n gekose groep kinders in die middelkinderjare binne die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks, te bepaal. Hierdie doel is bereik deur die toepassing van die VMI en die GHD. Akademiese resultate is verder in ag geneem. Die analisering van die finale resultate en data het gelei tot belangrike afleidings rakende die status van die geselekteerde steekproef. Die sekondêre doel was gemotiveer deur die behoefte om 'n effektiewe, kindervriendelike meetinstrument van visueel-motoriese integrasie te identifiseer, wat toepaslik is op 'n jong ouderdom, en akkurate kennis rakende 'n kind se visueel-motoriese integrasie funksionering tot gevolg het. Om die sekondêre doel aan te spreek, is die volgende ondersoek: a) die korrelasies (indien enige) tussen die resultate van die GHD en sekere biografiese veranderlikes, naamlik geslag, chronologiese ouderdom en sosio-ekonomiese status; b) die korrelasies (indien enige) tussen die resultate van die VMI en die bogenoemde biografiese veranderlikes; c) die korrelasies (indien enige) tussen akademiese resultate en die bogenoemde veranderlikes en toets resultate; en d) die korrelasies (indien enige) tussen die GHD en die VMI resultate, ten einde verskillende toetse van visueel-motoriese integrasie te vergelyk. Die huidige studie dui op vele gevolgtrekkings rakende die status van visueel-motoriese integrasie funksionering in die geselekteerde steekproef; die mees relevante dat die steekproef funksioneer op 'n vlak wat laer is as dit wat verwag word vir kinders van hulouderdom. Hierdie gevolgtrekking is gebaseer op die resultate van beide die GHD en die VMI, en impliseer moontlike visueel-motoriese integrasie agterstande. Hierdie bevinding dui op 'n behoefte vir effektiewe intervensie programme wat hierdie oënskynlike agterstande sal aanspreek. Gevolgtrekkings rakende die vele verwantskappe tussen die toetsresultate en sekere biografiese veranderlikes, sluit die volgende in: kinderfunksionering, soos gereflekteer deur die resultate van die GHD, is beduidend verwant aan sosio-ekonomiese status. Hierdie verskynsel blyk belangrik te wees in die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks. Met in agneming van geslagsverskille, het vroulike deelnemers beduidend swakker resultate in beide die GHD en die VMI as manlike deelnemers getoon. Chronologiese ouderdom het beduidend met VMI resultate gekorreleer. Laastens het dit ook gevolg dat visueel-motoriese integrasie, soos reflekteer deur die resultate van beide die VMI en die GHD, 'n beduidende verwantskap tot akademiese funksionering toon. 'n Vergelyking tussen die resultate van die VMI en die GHD het gelei tot die gevolgtrekking dat hierdie twee toetse beduidend positief verwant is. Hoë tellings op die GHD het verband gehou met hoë tellings op die VMI. Alhoewel die resultate van die huidige studie nie die superioriteit van die gebruik van die een toets bo die van die ander kon bevestig nie, is verskeie oorwegings verder bespreek wat in ag geneem behoort te word tydens die seleksie van 'n kindervriendelike meetinstrument van visueelmotoriese integrasie. Die huidige studie is van waarde in die beklemtoning van die belangrikheid om ontwikkelingsagterstande in die algemeen, en spesifiek in visueel-motoriese integrasie funksionering, spoedig te identifiseer en aan te spreek. Die uitvoering hiervan mag 'n bydra lewer tot die ontwikkeling van kinders se potensiaal in die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks. Die studie beklemtoon verder die belangrikheid van effektiewe, kindervriendelike meetinstrumente van visueel-motoriese integrasie, wat die identifisering van hierdie ontwikkelingsagterstande sal verseker.

Selecting appropriate normative data for the purpose of evaluating psychometric test scores forms an integral part of the interpretative psychological assessment process. This highlights the well-known problem of utilising measures developed in the United Kingdom (UK), or the United States (US) and accepting their norms unreservedly for the practice on local populations, which questions the tests’ validity and reliability. The current study, which aimed to collect normative indicators on the Bender Gestalt Test (Second Edition), forms part of the continuing effort to develop norms for psychological tests in South Africa, and to focus on the valid and reliable use of measures within the context of South Africa’s multicultural and multilingual population groups. The participants of the research were Black isiXhosa-speaking Grade 3 and Grade 7 learners aged 8 to 9 years (N = 38 ), and 12 to 13 years (N = 23), obtaining their school education in the disadvantaged educational setting of the former Department of Education and Training (ex-DET) schools. The tests were scored according to the Bender Gestalt Test (Second Edition) manual, using the Global Scoring System. Thereafter, the raw scores were converted to Standard Scores, T-scores and Percentile Ranks using the US normative tables, according to chronological age categories. When the two groups were compared to the US norms, the results equated favourably for the present study sample. There were no significant findings in relation to the classroom size or any difference in performance between the schools who participated. The only significant difference revealed between male and female participants was with the Grade 7 sample group, where the males scored significantly lower than females on the Recall phase. These results support the prospect of the continuous revision of norms, and it is suggesting that the cognitive processes measured by this test are likely to derive from robust neurological substrates that are relatively stable across cultural groups.

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2001.<br>ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Visual-motor integration is an important neuro-psychological aspect of school readiness. Developmental deficits in this area can have a detrimental influence on a child's ability to master reading, writing and arithmetic skills at school entrance level. Visual-motor integration problems should therefore be detected as early as possible to be able to implement intervention strategies which will promote visual-motor development. The study is socially relevant as it corresponds with the South African school policy which changed to a more integrative, inclusive approach after 1994. The American standardised Beery Developmental Test for Visual-Motor Integration (VMI) is widely used as a screening technique for visual-motor abilities by psychologists, occupational therapists, educators and remedial teachers in South Africa. In order to determine the predictive validity of the American VMI for a group of South African subjects, the results of children on the VMI: 1989-norms and VMI: 1997-norms were compared to their results in the Copying Test of the Junior South African Individual Scales (JSAIS). Performance on these three tests were also compared with certain biographical variables as well as teacher ratings of specific academic skills. A representative sample of 238 pre-school children from the Stellenbosch region were selected. According to the obtained results, a significant relationship was found between the results of the VMI: 1989 and VMI: 1997. The results of both the VMI: 1989 and VMI: 1997 correlated significantly with the results of the Copying Test. Performance in the tests correlated with chronological age, socio-economic status, as well as teacher ratings of specific academic skills. The discrepancy between the test performance of the three ethnic groups, suggests that the rate of the perceptual motor development described by the VMI developmental norms may be culture-specific. Considering the overall results of this study, the interchangeability of the Copying Test and the VMI, especially the VMI: 1997, in clinical use is acceptable in the South African context. The Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration thus offers significant predictive validity, as well as a valid indication, of the visual-motor integration development in the sample ofpre-schoolers used.<br>AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Visueel-motoriese integrasie IS 'n essensiële neuro-sielkundige aspek van skoolgereedheid. Ontwikkelingsagterstande in hierdie area kan 'n kind se lees-, taal- en rekenkundige vermoëns nadelig beïnvloed. Probleme ten opsigte van visueel-motoriese integrasie behoort dus so vroeg as moontlik opgespoor te word sodat remediërende strategieë geïmplementeer kan word wat visueel-motoriese integrasie bevorder. Die navorsing is sosiaal relevant deurdat dit aansluit by die skoolbeleid wat sedert 1994 na 'n meer geïntegreerde, inklusiewe benadering met die akkomodasie van diversiteit, verander het. Sielkundiges, arbeidsterapeute, opvoedkundiges en remediërende onderwysers in Suid- Afrika benut die Amerikaans gestandaardiseerde Beery-Ontwikkelingstoets vir Visueel- Motoriese Integrasie (VMI) op gereelde grondslag vir die evaluering van visueelmotoriese vaardighede. Ten einde die voorspellingsgeldigheid te bepaal van die Amerikaanse VMI vir 'n groep Suid-Afrikaanse toetslinge, is hul prestasies op die VMI: 1989-norms, sowel as die VMI: 1997-norms, met hul prestasies in die Natekentoets van die Junior Suid-Afrikaanse Individuele Skale (JSAIS) vergelyk. Prestasie in die toetse is ook met sekere biografiese veranderlikes, sowel as onderwyser-beoordelings van spesifieke akademiese vaardighede, vergelyk. 'n Verteenwoordigende steekproef van 238 voorskoolse kinders vanuit die Stellenbosch-omgewing is gekies. Uit die resultate blyk daar 'n beduidende korrelasie tussen die VMI: 1989-resultate en die VMI: 1997-resultate te wees. Die resultate van beide die VMI: 1989 en VMI: 1997 het beduidend met dié van die Natekentoets gekorreleer. Prestasie in die toetse het met kronologiese ouderdom, sosio-ekonomiese status, asook onderwyser-beoordelings van spesifieke akademiese vaardighede, gekorreleer. Die VMI-prestasies van die drie etniese groepe het beduidend verskil en die gevolgtrekking kan gemaak word dat die VMI nie as 'n kultuurvrye toets beskou kan word nie. Die gevolgtrekking op grond van die resultate van die huidige studie blyk dat die VMI, en veral die VMI: 1997, beduidende voorspellingsgeldigheid by die voorskoolse ondersoekgroep gelewer het en a<br>ISISHW ANKATHELO: Ukumanya ngokuhamba okubonakalayo kuyinto ebalulekileyo yokulungela ukungena esikolweni. lintsilelo zenkqubela phambili kulo mba zinganefuthe elibonakalayo lobugcisa bokufunda emntwaneni, ukubhala nobuchule bezibalo kumgangatho wokungena esikolweni. lingxaki zokumanya ngokuhamba okubonakalayo kufuneka ziqatshelwe kuselithuba khon'ukuze kwenziwe amalinge okungenela aya kuthi onyuse inkqubela phambili yokuhamba okubonakalayo. I-Beery Development Test yokumanya ngokuhamba okubonakalayo (VMI) isetyenziswa ngokubanzi njengobugcisa bomkhusane wokuhamba okubonakalayo, ziinzululwazi zengqondo, iingcali zokunyanga, abefundisi-ntsapho, kwakunye neetitshala ezilungisayo eMzantsi Afrika, kodwa kusekho impikiswano yokuba olu vavanyo, lubekwe emgangathweni yiMelika, likhupha iziphumo ezizizo na kwilizwe leentlanga ezahlukeneyo njengoMzantsi Afrika. Ukuze kufunyanwe ukuba 1-VMI ikhupha iziphumo ezizizo na kumalungu aseMzantsi Afrika, iziphumo zabantwana kwi-VMI: 1989 nakwi- VMI: 1997 zathelekiswa neziphumo zabo kwi South African Copying Test. Kuye kwakhethwa isampulu yabantwana abangama-238 abalungele ukungena esikolweni kwingingqi yaseStellenbosch. Kuye kwafunyanwa unxulumano olubalulekileyo phakathi kweziphumo zeVMI: 1989 neze- VMI: 1997. Zozibini iziphumo ze-VMI: 1989 neze- VMI: 1997 ziye zanxulumana ngokubalulekileyo neziphumo ze-Copying Test. Indlela ekwenziwe ngayo iye yanxulumana nokulandelelana ngamaxesha obudala ngokunjalo novavanyo lukatitshala lobugcisa obuthile kwezemfundo. Umahluko wovavanyo phakathi kwendlela ekuqhutywe ngayo ziintlanga ezintathu, ucebisa ukuba isantya senkqubela phambili sendlela yokubona echazwe sisithethe senkqubela se-VMI sinokwayama kwimpucuko. Nakubeni kunjalo, xa sicinga ngeziphumo zonke zesi sifundo, 1-VMI inike uphawu lenkqubela phambili yokumanya ngokuhamba okubonakalayo kwisampulu yabantwana abasetyenzisiweyo abalungele ukungena esikolweni.

Physical Therapy<br>Ph.D.<br>Falls in older adults are linked with increased morbidity and mortality, and remain a major public health concern. Aging is associated with increased reliance on the visual system for postural control, termed “visual dependence”. Discordance between visual, vestibular and proprioceptive sensory information can lead to balance loss and falls. In addition to increased visual dependence (VD), older adults have more difficulty than younger adults in multi-tasking, performing simultaneous tasks (e.g. walk and talk), which may further increase fall risk. A common clinical test of physical function, the Timed Up and Go (TUG), requires the individual to stand from a seated position, walk forward, turn, walk back to the seat, turn and sit back down. Previous studies have explored the effect of multi-tasking during the TUG; however, the role of visual dependence and its interaction with multi-tasking on specific movement components of the TUG has not been deeply explored in the existing literature. The primary goal of this project was to understand the effects of aging and visual dependence on physical function as measured by the TUG. The three aims that guided this work are 1) to examine how aging affects performance metrics and movement components of the TUG (e.g. sit-to-stand, walking, turning, stand-to-sit) when simultaneously performing a motor task with or without with visual stimulation; 2) to examine how visual dependence affects performance metrics and movement components of the TUG when simultaneously performing a motor task with or without visual stimulation; and 3) to determine the effect of wearing a head mounted display (HMD) on performance metrics and movement components of the TUG in older and younger adults. Twelve younger adults (6 males) and sixteen older adults (8 males) participated in this work. They were further classified as sixteen visually independent adults (VI) (9 younger adults, 7 older adults, 9 males) and 12 visually dependent adults (VD) (3 young adults, 9 older adults, 5 males). Participants completed eight conditions: The dependent variables, measured using 6 inertial measurement unit sensors, included spatiotemporal variables of the TUG (total time, sub-component movement times, gait speed, step cadence during turning); three-dimensional peak trunk velocity (PTV) (i.e. around the mediolateral, vertical, and anteroposterior axes); acceleration range and jerk of sit-to-stand and stand-to-sit; and multitask cost. Multitask cost reflects the change in the motor behavior that occurs due to high attentional demanding conditions, with the lowest multitask cost reflecting poorer motor performance. The multitask cost was calculated as the percent change of each dependent variable in relation to the single task performance (i.e. TUG with no secondary task) in the third chapter. Our results demonstrated that the wear of HMD has an impact on TUG kinematics, regardless of adding a visual stimulus, more than holding a cup of water. Providing a visual stimulus decreased the PTV in walking and acceleration range in sit-to-stand. Particularly, presenting a visual stimulus in a pitch up rotation decreased the PTV in turning and increased the peak trunk velocity in stand-to-sit when compared to standard TUG. Older adults showed a decrease in the multitask cost (i.e. poorer performance) of turn and sit-to-stand time and the PTV in turning and a lower variability in trunk velocity in turning and sit-to-stand and the acceleration jerk in sit-to-stand and stand-to-sit compared to younger adults. Older adults who were visually dependent showed a lower mean and variability in the mediolateral and vertical acceleration range of sit-to-stand than older adults who were visually independent. Our results indicate that the wear of HMD has an impact on posture that should be taken into account in clinical research. Assessing the kinematics in turning and sitting-to-standing could be of a great interest for future studies that would include older adults with functional limitations (e.g. fallers versus non-fallers). Sit-to-stand motion, in particular, can differentiate older adults who are more sensitive to visual stimulation.<br>Temple University--Theses

Desenvolvemos um protocolo experimental para estudar a codificação do movimento horizontal pelo neurônio H1 de moscas varejeiras Chrysomya megacephala durante o voo. Tradicionalmente, o neurônio H1 é considerado puramente sensorial, e a maioria dos trabalhos tem utilizado o trem de potenciais de ação deste neurônio para explorar o código neural visual da mosca enquanto esta se encontra imobilizada (cabeça, asas, patas) e observa passivamente uma imagem que se move de maneira controlada. Nosso laboratório já dispunha de um aparato para registrar de maneira adequada a atividade do H1, enquanto a mosca imobilizada observava um padrão de barras verticais se movendo de acordo com uma sequência de velocidades previamente escolhidas pelo experimentador. Por meio de um novo suporte, especialmente desenvolvido neste trabalho, pudemos obter as medidas eletrofisiológicas quando apenas parte do corpo do inseto se encontra fixo. Além disso, conseguimos encontrar uma maneira de estimular a mosca para que esta apresentasse períodos de atividade, com batimentos de asa, similares ao voo. Utilizamos estes períodos de atividade de voo para registrar a atividade dos músculos que controlam a direção do voo. Também utilizamos microfones que captam pequenas diferenças de pressão do batimento das asas para inferir quando a mosca quer mudar a direção do voo e validamos estas medidas com o auxílio de um pequeno acelerômetro adaptado à haste de fixação da mosca. Mostramos que a taxa média de disparo do H1 é mais alta quando a mosca está voando do que quando está com as asas paradas. Além disso, a resposta ao estímulo visual é mais rápida e mais intensa quando a mosca está voando. Estes resultados são evidências de que a codificação da informação visual é diferente nos dois casos. Nossos experimentos com registro da atividade de controle motor do voo através de microfones permitiram encontrar padrões que podem ser usados para inferir a tentativa do inseto de mudar a direção do voo, em um intervalo de poucas batidas de asas e de maneira não invasiva. Esta informação poderá ser utilizada no futuro para produzir um equipamento em que a própria mosca controle o movimento da imagem em tempo real.<br>We developed a protocol do address the movement information coding in flying Chrysomya Megacephala by the horizontal sensitive H1neuron. H1 is traditionally considered a purely sensory neuron and his sequence of action potentials is used to explore the visual neural code while an immobilized fly passively watch a movie generated by the experimenter. We improved an apparatus to perform such experiments, that was already working in our laboratory, by developing a new holder for the fly and electrode that allowed to record from H1 while only part of the fly was fixed, keeping wings and legs free to move. Moreover we found a protocol to stimulate the fly to present long periods of wing beating activity, very similar to the insect flying. During these flying periods of activity, we also recorded from the steering muscles that control fly direction as well as from small microphones sensitive to subtle pressure variations of the beating wings when the fly try to change direction. These recordings were validated by using an accelerometer adapted to the fly fixation rod. According to our results, the firing rate of H1 increases during the flying periods. Moreover, the response to visual stimuli is faster and more intense during the flying than the response when the wings are not beating. These are evidences that the information coding is different in both cases. We could also find some patterns in the time series of the microphones recordings that allowed us to infer, in a small number of wing beatings, when the insect tries to turn and what is the turning direction. This information can be useful to perform new experiments in the future, were the fly controls in real-time the image movement.

El estudio tiene por objetivo contrastar la efectividad de calificadores sin entrenamiento específico en el test gestáltico visomotor de Bender, 2.a edición (Bender-II), usando un método para calificar el grado de exactitud de los dibujos reproducidos propio de este instrumento (sistema de calificación global). Algunos estudios previos han demostrado buenos niveles de confiabilidad intercalificador, pero no se verificó el efecto de la falta de entrenamiento específico. En el estudio participaron 75 niños divididos en dos grupos (34 y 41) de edad y cuatro calificadores (dos estudiantes y dos egresados, todos de psicología). Después de aplicar el test individualmente, los calificadores recibieron la instrucción de puntuar los dibujos usando únicamente el manual como guía, sin interactuar entre ellos. Se hicieron comparaciones intragrupo e intergrupos. Aunque los resultados indicaron algunas diferencias moderadas entre los grupos, principalmente se hallaron niveles altos de acuerdo y consistencia; y comparado con los estudios previos, las diferencias generalmente no fueron sustanciales. Se concluye que el puntaje visomotor del Bender-II puede alcanzar buenos niveles de confiabilidad.<br>Revisión por pares

Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, College of Engineering, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.<br>"May 2007." Title from PDF title page (viewed on Dec. 29, 2007). Thesis adviser: Hamid M. Lankarani. Includes bibliographic references (leaves 60-62).

The quality of the Bender-Gestalt performance of 22, normal, white South African male adolescents and 22, normal, Xhosa male adolescents, aged between 17 and 22 years, was investigated. The Pascal-Suttell scoring system was used. The mean score of the white adolescents was significantly below that of the Xhosa adolescents. It was found that while the mean score of the Xhosa adolescents was within one standard deviation of Pascal and Suttell's normative 'high school' mean, the mean score of the white adolescents was below that of the normative mean and not within one standard deviation of the mean. The results lend support to the findings that Bender performance is related to cultural background. It is suggested that the Pascal-Suttell tables may be in need of revision. The advisability of standardising tables, which are culture specific, for clinical use· in the Southern African context, is indicated.<br>KMBT_363<br>Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in

La malattia di Parkinson si associa a sintomi disautonomici, sia in fase avanzata che precoce. Pochi sono gli studi che hanno avuto come oggetto la disfunzione autonomica pupillare nella malattia di Parkinson e nei parkinsonismi. In questo lavoro, abbiamo voluto esaminare la sensibilità pupillare alla somministrazione di pilocarpina (agente parasimpatico-mimetico) in soggetti affetti da malattia di Parkinson e con atrofia multisistemica. Sono stati arruolati 20 pazienti con malattia di Parkinson, 18 pazienti con atrofia multisistemica e 16 soggetti controllo. Il diametro pupillare basale era significativamente maggiore nel gruppo dei soggetti con MP rispetto sia al gruppo controllo (p value 0,03, Mann-Whitney U Test) che al gruppo AMS (p value 0,05). Inoltre, la riposta miotica alla pilocarpina era significativamente maggiore in termini di ampiezza nel gruppo MP rispetto ai controlli (p value 0,01) e ai pazienti con MSA (p-value 0.001). Questi dati supportano l'ipotesi di una disfunzione pupillare (sul versante parasimpatico) nella malattia di Parkinson oltre a fornire un interessante spunto nella diagnosi differenziale dei parkinsonismi.

The Model A and Model C Title I evaluation options were compared by using both options to measure the effectiveness of handicap intervention in a Head Start program. Two hundred three children in Jackson County (Oregon) were pretested with the Developmental Indicators of Learning Test (DIAL), the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), the Visual-Motor Integration Scale (VMI), and the Carrow Elicited Language Inventory (CELI). The 43 children who scored below the predetermined cut-off level were placed in a six-month intervention program. One hundred forty-nine children remaining in the Head Start program in May were posttested with the same tests. Model A analysis of mean scores of the intervention group indicated significant score change on all three testing instruments. Model C analysis indicated no positive score change. It was posited that the Model A effect in this project was large because it combined a positive intervention effect with a positive general program effect. The Model C option showed no effect because the estimated nonintervention scores were very large due to the large positive score change in the nonintervention group.

A wide literature of predominantly behavioural experiments that use Stimulus Response Compatibility (SRC) have suggested that visual action information such as object affordance yields rapid and concurrent activation of visual and motor brain areas, but has rarely provided direct evidence for this proposition. This thesis examines some of the key claims from the affordance literature by applying electrophysiological measures to well established SRC procedures to determine the verities of the behavioural claims of rapid and automatic visuomotor activation evoked by viewing affording objects. The temporal sensitivity offered by the Lateralised Readiness Potential and by visual evoked potentials P1 and N1 made ideal candidates to assess the behavioural claims of rapid visuomotor activation by seen objects by examining the timecourse of neural activation elicited by viewing affording objects under various conditions. The experimental work in this thesis broadly confirms the claims of the behavioural literature however it also found a series of novel results that are not predicted by the behavioural literature due to limitations in reaction time measures. For example, while different classes of affordance have been shown to exert the same behavioural facilitation, electrophysiological measures reveal very different patterns of cortical activation for grip-type and lateralised affordances. These novel findings question the applicability of the label ‘visuomotor’ to grip-type affordance processing and suggest considerable revision to models of affordance. This thesis also offers a series of novel and surprising insights into the ability to dissociate afforded motor activity from behavioural output, into the relationship between affordance and early visual evoked potentials, and into affordance in the absence of the intention to act. Overall, this thesis provides detailed suggestions for considerable changes to current models of the neural activity underpinning object affordance.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Medicine, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science (Occupational Therapy).<br>Tho purpose ot this study was to investigate the appropriateness oi the Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration and the Developmental Test oi Visual Perception for the evaluation of perceptual problems in the urban Black child. b U) children were assessed on both < ests. 1 hoy w e r e grouped according to academic ability. Statist ieal comparisons were made between the two test results lor each of the three academic groups and between each group and the American sample population. Percentile rankings of the South African sample population's results were provided. The results of the above comparisons reflected a low correlation between handwriting and academic performance, and tho results of the two tests. There was no significant difference between the three academic group's results on the two tests. I here was a significant difference between the South African and the American sample populations on the two tests. The above factors and the fact that studies by other authors were not conclusive in regard to the tests relevance to academic performance led the candidate to the conclusion that the tests -ere Inappropriate I or the assessment of urban Black children.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1986.<br>Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 122-130).

Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) is an incurable inherited retinal degeneration affecting approximately 1 in 4,000 individuals globally. The aim of this dissertation was to identify drugs that can help patients suffering from the disease. To accomplish this goal, the zebrafish was utilized as a model for RP to perform <i>in vivo</i> drug screening. The zebrafish RP model expresses a human rhodopsin transgene which contains a premature stop codon at position 344 (<i>Tg</i>(<i>rho:Hsa.RH1_Q344X</i>)). This zebrafish model exhibits significant rod photoreceptor degeneration beginning at 7 days post fertilization (dpf). To assess the visual consequence of this rod degeneration the zebrafish behavior visual motor response (VMR) was assayed under scotopic conditions. The Q344X RP model larvae displayed a deficit in this VMR in response to a scotopic light offset. This deficit in behavior was utilized to perform a drug screen to identify compounds that could ameliorate the deficient Q344X VMR. The ENZO SCREEN-WELL® REDOX library was chosen to be screened since oxidative stress may increase RP progression in a non-specific manner. From this library, a β-blocker, carvedilol, was identified as a compound that improved the Q344X VMR behavior. This drug was also able to increase rod number in the Q344X retina. Carvedilol was shown to be capable of working directly on rods by demonstrating that the drug can signal through the adrenergic pathway in the rod-like human Y79 cell line. Since carvedilol is an FDA-approved drug, this screening paradigm was utilized to screen the Selleckchem FDA-approved library to identify more drugs that can potentially be repurposed to treat RP like carvedilol. Additionally, this scotopic VMR assay was used to demonstrate that it can identify behavioral deficits in the P23H RP model zebrafish<i> (Tg</i>(<i>rho:Hsa.RH1_P23H</i>)). This dissertation work provides a potential FDA-approved drug for RP treatment and sets the foundation for future drug screening to identify more drugs to treat different forms of RP.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 2004. Graduate Programme in Biology.<br>Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 292-305). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pNQ99265

Kinder Tools was developed as a Response to Intervention approach (RTI) to help students in kindergarten improve and develop their fine motor and visual motor perceptual skills within the first three months of entering kindergarten. Some students enter kindergarten ready to learn, while other students struggle with skill development and learning the curriculum. There are a variety factors that could impact a student’s ability to learn such as lack of exposure, disabilities, and culture/socioeconomic status. This program will provide specific strategies and activities that will help to improve the necessary skill development that is required to access the kindergarten curriculum. The occupational therapist will provide consultation services to assist teachers to implement modifications and strategies to help students who are struggling with tasks. Two out of four kindergarten classrooms will participate in the initial program, while the other two classes will serve as the control group. All students fine motor and visual motor perceptual skills will be assessed pre and post program completion. The hope is that students participating with use of the Tools will demonstrate significant improvement in fine motor and visual motor perceptual skills, resulting in decreased need (or no need) for direct occupational therapy (OT) services and increased ability to access the curriculum within the general education setting.

Ten experiments examined the interactions between vision and audition in stimulusdriven spatial attention orienting and inhibition of return (IOR). IOR is the demonstration that subjects are slower to respond to stimuli that are presented at a previously stimulated location. In each experiment, subjects made go/no-go responses to peripheral targets but not to central targets. On every trial, a target was preceded by a sensory event, called a "cue," either in the same modality (intramodal conditions) or in a different modality (crossmodal conditions). The cue did not predict the location of the target stimulus in any experiment. In some experiments, the cue and target modalities were fixed and different. Under these conditions, response times to a visual target were shorter when it appeared at the same location as an auditory cue than when it appeared on the opposite side of fixation, particularly at short (100 ms) cue-target stimulus onset asynchronies (Experiments 1A and IB). Similarly, response times to an auditory target were shorter when it appeared at the same location as a visual cue than when it appeared at a location on the opposite side of fixation (Experiments 2A and 2B). These crossmodal effects indicate that stimulus-driven spatial attention orienting might arise from a single supramodal brain mechanism. IOR was not observed in either crossmodal experiment indicating that it might arise from modality specific mechanisms. However, for many subjects, IOR did occur between auditory cues and visual targets (Experiments 3A and 3B) and between visual cues and auditory targets (Experiment 4A and 4B) when the target could appear in the same modality as the cue on half of the trials. Finally, the crossmodal effects of stimulus-driven spatial attention orienting on auditory and visual event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were examined in the final two experiments. Auditory cues modulated the ERPs to visual targets and visual cues modulated the ERPs to auditory targets, demonstrating that the mechanisms for spatial attention orienting cannot be completely modality specific. However, these crossmodal ERP effects were very different from each other indicating that the mechanisms for spatial attention orienting cannot be completely shared.

Every year around the world various types of automobile accidents occur, out of which side impact vehicular collisions are the most severe. Of these, side crashes into fixed narrow objects like trees, poles account for quarter percent of total deaths and serious injuries. Moreover these side impacts present a difficult problem for improving automotive crashworthiness because of the limited crushable zone between the vehicle occupant and the intruding door structure. To improve the automotive safety in side impacts a new pole test has been proposed under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 214 to make the existing regulation more comprehensive in addressing the critical head and neck injuries in addition to thoracic and pelvis injuries. In this thesis, a finite element model of the Ford Taurus and Moving Deformable Barrier (MDB) as developed by National Crash Analysis Center (NCAC) has been used for the impact analysis. The US DOT-SID side impact dummy taken from MADYMO dummy database has been used as the vehicle occupant and the rigid pole modeled in MSC. Patran software as the narrow object. Computer Simulations have been analyzed according to the new proposed pole test and (FMVSS) 214 regulation. The critical injury values, the occupant kinematics and the structural damage have been compared justifying the need for the new pole test for improving the occupant safety.<br>Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, College of Engineering, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Student Number: 0110826H - MSc research report - School of Occupational Therapy - Faculty of Health Sciences<br>A comparative study was undertaken to assess the reliability of the MVPT-3 when the instructions were translated into Afrikaans and the scores were then compared to the normative data obtained during the standardization process on a normal population of American children. The study was undertaken by testing 80 randomly selected, normally distributed, Afrikaans first language speaking eight year old children from the eastern suburbs of Pretoria, South Africa. The study confirmed that the MVPT-3 is reliable when the instructions are given in Afrikaans with a Chonbach’s alpha score of 0.79 compared to 0.83 obtained for the American population. The item analysis revealed some anomalies that suggest that the test may have a cultural bias as many items had a negative sign in the item analysis. Afrikaans girls and boys performed differently on the test, suggesting that the test may need to be adjusted for differing skills in the visual perception. There were a high number of non-contributing items that suggest that some items in the test may not be valid for South African Children.

Дзундза Н. С. Розробка програмного забезпечення для перевірки якості тестування на основі моделей IRT : кваліфікаційна робота магістра спеціальності 122 "Комп'ютерні науки" / наук. керівник Н. В. Матвіїшина. Запоріжжя : ЗНУ, 2020. 72 с.<br>UA : Робота викладена на 72 сторінках друкованого тексту, містить 40 рисунків, 1 додаток, 57 джерел. Об’єкт дослідження – програмне забезпечення для перевірки якості тестування. Мета роботи: дослідження та розробка програмного забезпечення для перевірки якості тестування на основі моделей IRT. Методи дослідження – аналітичний, синтез-метод, аналітико-синтетичний, практичний, порівняльний. У кваліфікаційній роботі розглянуто основні теоретичні засади якості тестування, підходи до оцінки якості тестів, основи теоретичних положень Item Response Theory, її моделі для дихотомічних завдань (однопараметрична моделі Г. Раша, двопараметрична і трипараметрична моделі А. Бірнбаума); програмне забезпечення, необхідне для процедури статистичної обробки результатів тестування знань. Обґрунтовано створення програмного забезпечення для дослідження якості тестування на основі IRT теорії. В якості мови програмування було обрано C#. Результатом роботи є створене програмне забезпечення, що дозволяє провести перевірку якості тестування на основі моделей IRT. Програмне забезпечення, що розроблено, може бути використано вчителями загальноосвітніх шкіл та викладачами закладів вищої освіти для збалансованого та якісного формування тестових завдань.<br>EN : The work is presented on 72 pages of printed text, 40 figures, 1 annexes, 57 references. The object of the study is software for checking the quality of testing. The aim of the study is research and development of software for testing the quality of testing based on IRT models. The methods of the research are analytical, synthesis, analytical-synthetic and practical, comparative. In the qualification paper the basic theoretical principles of test quality, approaches to test quality assessment, basics theoretical points of IRT theory and model for dichotomous problems (one-parameter G. Rasch model, two-parameter and three-parameter A. Birnbaum models); software required for the statistical processing of knowledge test results. The creation of software for testing the quality of testing based on IRT theory is justified. C # was chosen as the programming language. The result is software that allows checking the quality of testing based on IRT models. The developed software can be used by general education teachers and higher education teachers for balanced and high quality test items.

Title: The physical load on the body as a factor influencing perceptual cognitive functions. Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between the size of the physical load and the visual-motor response time and the accuracy of the decision-making by junior soccer players. Methods: The fourty two respondents (in an average age of 19 ± 1.2 years) participated in the study. It was the single factor quasiexperimental, multilevel and intragroup in which we tried to reveal the causal relationship between the visual-motor response time and the accuracy of the decision-making depending on the size of the previous physical load. We proposed a diagnostic instrument containing the video of the offensive game situations which would allow simultaneous evaluation of the visual-motor response time (using Dartfish software program) and the accuracy of the decision-making (through experts assessment). Results and discussion: The diagnostic instrument contains sixteen video clips of the offensive game situations according to the highest degree of conformity of the panelists. I used polychoric correlation matrix to express dependencies between each game situation within each group comprising four video clips of the offensive game situations. The results of the matrix (range -0.437 to 0.306)...