TY - JOUR A1 - Gerth, Sabrina A1 - Dolk, Thomas A1 - Klassert, Annegret A1 - Fliesser, Michael A1 - Fischer, Martin H. A1 - Nottbusch, Guido A1 - Festman, Julia T1 - Adapting to the surface: A comparison of handwriting measures when writing on a tablet computer and on paper JF - Human movement science : a journal devoted to pure and applied research on human movement N2 - Our study addresses the following research questions: Are there differences between handwriting movements on paper and on a tablet computer? Can experienced writers, such as most adults, adapt their graphomotor execution during writing to a rather unfamiliar surface for instance a tablet computer? We examined the handwriting performance of adults in three tasks with different complexity: (a) graphomotor abilities, (b) visuomotor abilities and (c) handwriting. Each participant performed each task twice, once on paper and once on a tablet computer with a pen. We tested 25 participants by measuring their writing duration, in air time, number of pen lifts, writing velocity and number of inversions in velocity. The data were analyzed using linear mixed-effects modeling with repeated measures. Our results reveal differences between writing on paper and on a tablet computer which were partly task-dependent. Our findings also show that participants were able to adapt their graphomotor execution to the smoother surface of the tablet computer during the tasks. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. KW - Handwriting KW - Movement kinematics KW - Tablet computer KW - Handwriting movements adaptation KW - Graphomotor execution Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.humov.2016.04.006 SN - 0167-9457 SN - 1872-7646 VL - 48 SP - 62 EP - 73 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gerth, Sabrina A1 - Klassert, Annegret A1 - Dolk, Thomas A1 - Fliesser, Michael A1 - Fischer, Martin H. A1 - Nottbusch, Guido A1 - Festman, Julia T1 - Is Handwriting Performance Affected by the Writing Surface? BT - Comparing Preschoolers', Second Graders', and Adults' Writing Performance on a Tablet vs. Paper JF - Frontiers in psychology N2 - Due to their multifunctionality, tablets offer tremendous advantages for research on handwriting dynamics or for interactive use of learning apps in schools. Further, the widespread use of tablet computers has had a great impact on handwriting in the current generation. But, is it advisable to teach how to write and to assess handwriting in pre- and primary schoolchildren on tablets rather than on paper? Since handwriting is not automatized before the age of 10 years, children's handwriting movements require graphomotor and visual feedback as well as permanent control of movement execution during handwriting. Modifications in writing conditions, for instance the smoother writing surface of a tablet, might influence handwriting performance in general and in particular those of non-automatized beginning writers. In order to investigate how handwriting performance is affected by a difference in friction of the writing surface, we recruited three groups with varying levels of handwriting automaticity: 25 preschoolers, 27 second graders, and 25 adults. We administered three tasks measuring graphomotor abilities, visuomotor abilities, and handwriting performance (only second graders and adults). We evaluated two aspects of handwriting performance: the handwriting quality with a visual score and the handwriting dynamics using online handwriting measures [e.g., writing duration, writing velocity, strokes and number of inversions in velocity (NIV)]. In particular, NIVs which describe the number of velocity peaks during handwriting are directly related to the level of handwriting automaticity. In general, we found differences between writing on paper compared to the tablet. These differences were partly task-dependent. The comparison between tablet and paper revealed a faster writing velocity for all groups and all tasks on the tablet which indicates that all participants—even the experienced writers—were influenced by the lower friction of the tablet surface. Our results for the group-comparison show advancing levels in handwriting automaticity from preschoolers to second graders to adults, which confirms that our method depicts handwriting performance in groups with varying degrees of handwriting automaticity. We conclude that the smoother tablet surface requires additional control of handwriting movements and therefore might present an additional challenge for learners of handwriting. KW - handwriting KW - movement kinematics KW - writing acquisition KW - children KW - graphomotor control KW - tablet Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01308 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 7 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gerth, Sabrina A1 - Klassert, Annegret A1 - Dolk, Thomas A1 - Fliesser, Michael A1 - Fischer, Martin H. A1 - Nottbusch, Guido A1 - Festman, Julia T1 - Is Handwriting Performance Affected by the Writing Surface? Comparing Tablet vs. Paper JF - Frontiers in psychology KW - handwriting KW - movement kinematics KW - writing acquisition KW - children KW - graphomotor control KW - tablet Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01308 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 7 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wippert, Pia-Maria A1 - Fliesser, Michael T1 - National doping prevention guidelines : Intent, efficacy and lessons learned BT - A 4-year evaluation JF - Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy N2 - Background Doping presents a potential health risk for young athletes. Prevention programs are intended to prevent doping by educating athletes about banned substances. However, such programs have their limitations in practice. This led Germany to introduce the National Doping Prevention Plan (NDPP), in hopes of ameliorating the situation among young elite athletes. Two studies examined 1) the degree to which the NDPP led to improved prevention efforts in elite sport schools, and 2) the extent to which newly developed prevention activities of the national anti-doping agency (NADA) based on the NDPP have improved knowledge among young athletes within elite sports schools. Methods The first objective was investigated in a longitudinal study (Study I: t0 = baseline, t1 = follow-up 4 years after NDPP introduction) with N = 22 teachers engaged in doping prevention in elite sports schools. The second objective was evaluated in a cross-sectional comparison study (Study II) in N = 213 elite sports school students (54.5 % male, 45.5 % female, age M = 16.7 ± 1.3 years (all students had received the improved NDDP measure in school; one student group had received additionally NADA anti-doping activities and a control group did not). Descriptive statistics were calculated, followed by McNemar tests, Wilcoxon tests and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). Results Results indicate that 4 years after the introduction of the NDPP there have been limited structural changes with regard to the frequency, type, and scope of doping prevention in elite sport schools. On the other hand, in study II, elite sport school students who received further NADA anti-doping activities performed better on an anti-doping knowledge test than students who did not take part (F(1, 207) = 33.99, p <0.001), although this difference was small. Conclusion The integration of doping-prevention in elite sport schools as part of the NDPP was only partially successful. The results of the evaluation indicate that the introduction of the NDPP has contributed more to a change in the content of doping prevention activities than to a structural transformation in anti-doping education in elite sport schools. Moreover, while students who did receive additional education in the form of the NDPP“booster sessions” had significantly more knowledge about doping than students who did not receive such education, this difference was only small and may not translate to actual behavior. KW - Doping KW - Anti-doping program KW - Anti-doping guideline KW - Elite sports schools Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13011-016-0079-9 SN - 1747-597X VL - 11 PB - BioMed Central CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wippert, Pia-Maria A1 - Fliesser, Michael T1 - National doping prevention guidelines: Intent, efficacy and lessons learned - A 4-year evaluation JF - Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy N2 - Background: Doping presents a potential health risk for young athletes. Prevention programs are intended to prevent doping by educating athletes about banned substances. However, such programs have their limitations in practice. This led Germany to introduce the National Doping Prevention Plan (NDPP), in hopes of ameliorating the situation among young elite athletes. Two studies examined 1) the degree to which the NDPP led to improved prevention efforts in elite sport schools, and 2) the extent to which newly developed prevention activities of the national anti-doping agency (NADA) based on the NDPP have improved knowledge among young athletes within elite sports schools. Methods: The first objective was investigated in a longitudinal study (Study I: t0 = baseline, t1 = follow-up 4 years after NDPP introduction) with N = 22 teachers engaged in doping prevention in elite sports schools. The second objective was evaluated in a cross-sectional comparison study (Study II) in N = 213 elite sports school students (54. 5 % male, 45.5 % female, age M = 16.7 +/- 1.3 years (all students had received the improved NDDP measure in school; one student group had received additionally NADA anti-doping activities and a control group did not). Descriptive statistics were calculated, followed by McNemar tests, Wilcoxon tests and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). Results: Results indicate that 4 years after the introduction of the NDPP there have been limited structural changes with regard to the frequency, type, and scope of doping prevention in elite sport schools. On the other hand, in study II, elite sport school students who received further NADA anti-doping activities performed better on an anti-doping knowledge test than students who did not take part (F(1, 207) = 33.99, p < 0.001), although this difference was small. Conclusion: The integration of doping-prevention in elite sport schools as part of the NDPP was only partially successful. The results of the evaluation indicate that the introduction of the NDPP has contributed more to a change in the content of doping prevention activities than to a structural transformation in anti-doping education in elite sport schools. Moreover, while students who did receive additional education in the form of the NDPP "booster sessions" had significantly more knowledge about doping than students who did not receive such education, this difference was only small and may not translate to actual behavior. KW - Doping KW - Anti-doping program KW - Anti-doping guideline KW - Elite sports schools Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13011-016-0079-9 SN - 1747-597X VL - 11 PB - BioMed Central CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zemp, Roland A1 - Fliesser, Michael A1 - Wippert, Pia-Maria A1 - Taylor, William R. A1 - Lorenzetti, Silvio T1 - Occupational sitting behaviour and its relationship with back pain - A pilot study JF - Applied ergonomics : human factors in technology and society N2 - Nowadays, working in an office environment is ubiquitous. At the same time, progressively more people suffer from occupational musculoskeletal disorders. Therefore, the aim of this pilot study was to analyse the influence of back pain on sitting behaviour in the office environment. A textile pressure mat (64-sensor-matrix) placed on the seat pan was used to identify the adopted sitting positions of 20 office workers by means of random forest classification. Additionally, two standardised questionnaires (Korff, BPI) were used to assess short and long-term back pain in order to divide the subjects into two groups (with and without back pain). Independent t-test indicated that subjects who registered back pain within the last 24 h showed a clear trend towards a more static sitting behaviour. Therefore, the developed sensor system has successfully been introduced to characterise and compare sitting behaviour of subjects with and without back pain. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licensesiby-nc-nd/4.0/). KW - Office chair KW - Pressure distribution KW - Musculoskeletal disorders Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2016.03.007 SN - 0003-6870 SN - 1872-9126 VL - 56 SP - 84 EP - 91 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER -