Developmental Characteristics of a Forward Roll

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Abstract
A category checklist of developmental characteristics for the forward roll, modeled after Roberton's “component” approach, was hypothesized for this study. The categories were used to examine the usefulness of a component approach for describing actions occurring during the forward roll. Age-relatedness of category sequences was also explored. Three components were defined: hand/arm, head/neck, hip/leg. Each component was divided into phases which described the temporal course of actions occurring throughout the forward roll, from initial hand placement to heel strike. Within each component phase were hierarchically arranged steps, ordered from primitive to advanced. The potential usefulness of the components as a developmental checklist was examined using three criteria: (1) the comprehensiveness of the category system for describing observed movement behaviors; (2) the observed ordering of each component sequence in relation to the hypothesized ordering; and (3) the sign of the slopes of the age-related functions generated from the data. Results were based on cinematographic analysis of 243 filmed trials of the forward roll performed by 5-, 7-, and 9-year-old children (N = 49). The results indicated that the hypothesized category system for the forward roll was an objective and comprehensive descriptor of the observed movement configurations in the children tested. Additionally, five of the seven component phases met the criteria suggested for the screening of potential developmental sequences: (1) proper sequence order and (2) correct sign of the slope of the developmental functions. That is, younger children were categorized at lower component steps more often than older children; older children were more likely to be categorized at higher levels of behavior. Further testing using longitudinal data would be appropriate for these five phases, to examine whether they are indeed valid developmental sequences. Steps within the remaining two component phases were apparently misordered, or ill-defined. Further cross-sectional study of the phases would be needed before longitudinal validation.

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