Effort-Based Decision-Making and Gross Motor Performance: Are They Linked?

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between effort-based decision making and gross motor performance. Effort-based decision making was measured using a modified version of the Effort Expenditure for Rewards Task (EEfRT), in which participants pressed a button on a keyboard to fill a bar on a screen for monetary reward. Participants received monetary rewards that were commensurate with the level of effort that they were willing to expend. Gross motor performance was measured with a walking task, in which participants matched their steps to the beat of an audio metronome; they walked to metronome beats that were slower and also faster than their normal walking pace. We hypothesized that increased effort during the effort-based decision making task would be paired with an increase in steps taken per minute during the gross motor task. However, the results of this study indicated a lack of a statistically significant relationship between the effort-based decision making task and the gross motor task. Planning rather than decision-making may have been the cognitive construct that governed our gross motor task. These findings can be beneficial when thinking about potential interventions for populations who experience deficits in motor performance and cognition as well as for understanding the relationship between both cognitive and motor performance in healthy adults.

Effort-based decision-making and gross motor performance: Are they linked?

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between effort-based decision making and gross motor performance. Effort-based decision making was measured using a modified version of the Effort Expenditure for Rewards Task in which participants pressed a button on a keyboard to fill a bar on a screen for a monetary reward. Gross motor performance was measured with a walking task in which participants matched their steps to the beat of an audio metronome. We hypothesized that increased effort during the effort-based decision making task would be paired with an increase in steps taken per minute during the gross motor task. However, the results of this study indicated no relationship between the effort-based decision making task and the gross motor task. Planning rather than decision-making may have been the cognitive construct that governed our gross motor task. These findings can be beneficial when thinking about potential interventions for populations who experience deficits in motor performance and cognition as well as for understanding the relationship between both cognitive and motor performance in healthy adults.

Personality traits and gross motor performance in children from Muzambinho/MG

The aim of this study is (1) to report the scores of four personality traits (Extraversion/Introversion, Neuroticism, Psychoticism and Sociability) and gross motor performance, (2) to describe the frequency of children in each level of gross motor development, (3) to establish relationships between personality trait scores and gross motor performance scores. 190 scholars (6-12 years old) voluntarily answered the Personality Trait Scale for Children (PTSC) and took part in the Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD-2, Ulrich, 2000), having performed six locomotor and six object control skills. The mains results were: (1) Low levels of Psychoticism, average levels of Neuroticism and high levels of Extraversion/Introversion and Sociability were identified. (2) Sample's motor quotient (composed of the subscales locomotion and objects control) was positioned below Percentile 50 and two-thirds of the children were located in the poor/very poor level of gross motor development. (3) Correlations were extremely low among personality traits and motor variables. Personality traits are not associated with gross motor performance in children from Muzambinho/MG. The low level of level of gross motor development should be considered in public policies and physical activity interventions for children with similar characteristics of our sample.