Weight perception during action observation: the role of motor skills and abilities

The aim of this work is to investigate the role that motor skills and abilities have in perceiving the weight of an object handled and moved by another person. This topic provides an understanding of the interaction between actions and perceptions by assessing how motor repertoire, either shaped during years of sport practice, or altered during aging and fatigability, modulates the way individuals perceived the movement performed by others. The first chapter (Chapter 1) presents a summary of the scientific literature about this topic, and, in particular, of the mechanisms underlying it, primarily motor resonance. Next, the state of the art on the perception of the weight of an object during the execution and observation of a movement is presented. The first study (Chapter 2) investigates the role of motor expertise and the acquisition of specific skills in assessing the weight of an object moved during a sport-specific gesture. In the second study (Chapter 3), the role of ageing and the decline of motor ability in the ability to perceive the weight of an object during the observation of an everyday life movement was investigated. In the third study (Chapter 4), the focus was on how the nature of the movement, i.e. concentric or eccentric movement, affected the ability to discriminate the weight of an object during action observation. The fourth study (Chapter 5) focused on how the state of the observer could affect this ability, specifically how fatigue affects the ability to discriminate and evaluate the weight of an object during the observation of an everyday movement

Factors Influencing Walking and Exercise Adherence in Healthy Older Adults Using Monitoring and Interfacing Technology: Preliminary Evidence

Background: Monitoring and interfacing technologies may increase physical activity (PA) program adherence in older adults, but they should account for aspects influencing older adults’ PA behavior. This study aimed at gathering preliminary wrist-based PA adherence data in free-living and relate these to the influencing factors. Methods: Ten healthy older adults (4 females, aged 70–78 years) provided health, fatigue, activity levels, attitude towards pacing, and self-efficacy information and performed a 6 min-walk test to assess their fitness. After a baseline week they followed a two-week walking and exercise intervention. Participants saw their progress via a purposely designed mobile application. Results: Walking and exercise adherence did not increase during the intervention (p = 0.38, p = 0.65). Self-efficacy decreased (p = 0.024). The baseline physical component of the Short Form Health Survey was the most predictive variable of walking adherence. Baseline perceived risk of over-activity and resting heart rate (HRrest) were the most predictive variables of exercise adherence. When the latter two were used to cluster participants according to their exercise adherence, the fitness gap between exercise-adherent and non-adherent increased after the intervention (p = 0.004). Conclusions: Risk of over-activity and HRrest profiled short-term exercise adherence in older adults. If confirmed in a larger and longer study, these could personalize interventions aimed at increasing adherence

The role of technology on adherence to physical activity programs in patients with chronic diseases experiencing fatigue: a systematic review

Background The beneficial role of physical activity (PA) to manage the health condition of patients with chronic diseases is well known. However, adherence to PA guidelines in this group is still low. Monitoring and user-interface technology could represent a significant tool to increase exercise adherence to those particular groups who experience difficulties in adhering to regular and substantial physical activity, and could be supportive in increasing the success of PA programs and interventions. This systematic review aimed at evaluating the effect of physical activity monitoring technology in improving adherence to a PA program in patients with chronic diseases experiencing fatigue. Methods This systematic review was conducted according to PRISMA guidelines. The literature search was performed in Embase, Medline, Biosis, Scopus, and SPORTDiscus. We filtered the literature according to the question: “Does monitoring technology affect adherence to physical activity and exercise programs in patients with chronic diseases perceiving fatigue?”. Results The search resulted in 1790 hits; finally, eight studies were included, with a total number of 205 patients. Study quality was moderate except for one study of high quality. Only three disease types emerged, COPD, HF, and cancer. PA programs were rather short (from 8 to 13 weeks) except for one 3-year-long study. Five studies employed pedometers and two an activity monitor. Three studies based their adherence on steps, the remaining studies focused on active minutes. Adherence was explicitly reported in two studies, and otherwise derived. Four studies showed high adherence levels (85% week-10, 89% week-8, 81% week-13, 105% week-13, 83% average week-1–12) and three low levels (56% week-12, 41% year-2, 14 year-3). Conclusion The small number of studies identified did not allow to establish whether the use of monitoring technology could improve adherence to PA programs in patients with chronic diseases experiencing fatigue, but the current evidence seems to suggest that this is a field warranting further study, particularly into how monitoring technology can help to engage patients to adhere to PA programs

How useful are volunteers for visual biodiversity surveys? An evaluation of skill level and group size during a conservation expedition

The ability of volunteers to undertake different tasks and accurately collect data is critical for the success of many conservation projects. In this study, a simulated herpetofauna visual encounter survey was used to compare the detection and distance estimation accuracy of volunteers and more experienced observers. Experience had a positive effect on individual detection accuracy. However, lower detection performance of less experienced volunteers was not found in the group data, with larger groups being more successful overall, suggesting that working in groups facilitates detection accuracy of those with less experience. This study supports the idea that by optimizing survey protocols according to the available resources (time and volunteer numbers), the sampling efficiency of monitoring programs can be improved and that non-expert volunteers can provide valuable contributions to visual encounter-based biodiversity surveys. Recommendations are made for the improvement of survey methodology involving non-expert volunteers

Sensorimotor expertise influences perceptual weight judgments during observation of a sport-specific gesture

This study aimed to investigate the role of sensorimotor expertise in evaluating relative weight of a lifted object during the observation of a sport-specific gesture, namely the deadlift. Fifty-six participants, assigned to three groups according to their experience in weight lifting, powerlifters, CrossFit & REG; practitioners and naive participants (controls), performed a perceptual weight judgments task. Participants observed videos showing a powerlifter executing a deadlift at the 80%, 90% and 100% of 1 repetition maximum (1RM) and answered a question about the weight of the lifted object. Participants' response accuracy and variability were evaluated. Findings showed that powerlifters were more accurate than controls. No differences appeared between powerlifter and CrossFit & REG; practitioners, and between CrossFit & REG; practitioners and controls. Response variability was similar in the three groups. These findings suggest that a fine sensorimotor expertise specific for the observed gesture is crucial to detect the weight of the object displayed in the observed movement, since it might allow detecting small changes in the observed movement kinematics, which we speculate are at the basis of the object weight recognition

Aging deteriorates the ability to discriminate the weight of an object during an action observation task

The ability to predict the weight of objects is important for skilled and dexterous manipulation during activities of daily living. The observation of other people moving objects might represent an important source of information on object features and help to plan the correct motor interaction with it. In aging, an impaired ability to evaluate the object weight might have negative drawbacks in term of the safety of the person. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of aging in the ability to discriminate the object weight during action observation. Twenty older adults (Old) and twenty young subjects (Young) performed a two-interval forced-choice task consisting in the observation of a couple of videos showing an actor moving a box of different weights. The observer had to evaluate which video showed the heavier box. Handgrip strength was acquired from all subjects. Sensitivity analysis was performed and psychometric curves were built on participants' responses. The results showed a diminished sensitivity in the object weight discrimination in Old than in Young group. The analysis of the psychometric curves revealed that this impairment pertained both the light and heavy boxes and the minimum difference to discriminate different weights was greater in Old than in Young. At last, the sensitivity and the discrimination ability significantly correlated with individuals' handgrip strength. These findings allow us to deeply characterize the impairments older adults have in discriminating the weight of an object moved by another individual

L'educazione fisica in Italia: scenari, sfide, prospettive

Questo documento di consenso riporta la riflessione di un ampio gruppo di ricercatori italiani su contenuti, riferimenti culturali, prospettive e sfide dell’Educazione fisica contemporanea. Si tratta del primo lavoro di questo tipo svolto in forma collettiva in Italia. Lo scopo è contribuire ad una più chiara ed aggiornata definizione della disciplina, oggi posta di fronte a pressanti richieste della collettività. C’è un’esigenza di chiarezza cui si è cercato di contribuire, innanzitutto, elaborando un articolato glossario di termini e concetti. Tante sono le “scienze” e le “pratiche” che hanno influenzato l’Educazione fisica lasciando in eredità un linguaggio ampio, ma spesso confuso e non sempre coerente. Si è ritenuto che rendere esplicita questa complessità e proporre delle scelte possa servire a capirci meglio nella comunità di chi opera nell’Educazione fisica e a farci meglio comprendere ed apprezzare da studenti e società. I riferimenti culturali della disciplina sono stati individuati con un attento confronto, sia attingendo alla specifica tradizione italiana, sia interpretando le attuali sollecitazioni della ricerca e dell’elaborazione culturale internazionale. Le indicazioni metodologiche e didattiche per la progettazione e la conduzione delle lezioni di Educazione fisica cercano di riepilogare l’eterogeneità dei contributi della ricerca scientifica internazionale, con ricadute necessarie e fondamentali anche nella formazione iniziale ed in itinere dei docenti. Il contributo, frutto di un anno di lavoro di trenta ricercatori di sedici università, è a disposizione di insegnanti, dirigenti scolastici, ricercatori, responsabili di corsi universitari di scienze motorie, decisori politici e responsabili amministrativi. Le riflessioni, le critiche ed i suggerimenti che i lettori vorranno farci pervenire aiuteranno la crescita di tutta la comunità dell’Educazione fisic