The Effect of Exposure to Water on the Psychosomatic Development

of Children Swimming in the Early Period of Development

by

Igor Smirnov

ISBN: 1-58112-284-5

DISSERTATION.COM

Boca Raton, Florida USA • 2005

The Effect of Exposure to Water on the Psychosomatic Development of Children Swimming in the Early Period of Development

Copyright © 1986 Igor Smirnov All rights reserved.

Dissertation.com

Boca Raton, Florida USA • 2005

ISBN: 1-58112-284-5

St. Petersburg STATE UNIVERSITY

Department of General Psychology

EFFECT OF EXPOSURE TO WATER ON THE PSYCHOSOMATIC DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN

SWIMMING IN THE EARLY PERIOD OF DEVELOPMENT

(Thesis)

Scientific Director: G. I. Akinshcikova, Ph.D. Consultant: I. B. Charkovskii

St. Petersburg – 1986 i

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction 1

Chapter 1. The psychosomatic development of children swimming in

infancy 3

Chapter 2. Aims and methods of the investigation 6

2.1. Aims of the investigation

2.2. Methods of investigation

A. Methods of investigation of attention

B. Methods of investigation of memory

C. Methods of investigation of thinking

Chapter 3. Analysis of the results 11

3.1. Analysis of data on somatic development of children

swimming in infancy

3.2. Manifestation of heterochronicity of the cognitive

functions of children swimming in infancy

3.3. Comparison of the time course of development of the

cognitive functions in swimming and non-swimming

children

Chapter 4 Analysis of correlation between the cognitive functions in

children swimming in infancy 20

Discussion 28

Conclusion 30

Bibliography 38

Appendix 1 40

Appendix 2 44

ii

INTRODUCTION

Many psychologists, physiologists, and teachers are paying particular

attention at the present time to the question of child development during

infancy. This interest is not accidental, because the first years of life

have been shown to be the period of most rapid human physical and

psychological development. "The secret of the transformation, taking place

during childhood, of a helpless, unconscious newborn infant into an

intelligent, rationally acting personality, has troubled the minds of many

generations of scholars... For instance, more than half a century ago N.I.

Krasnogorskii, N.I. Scelovanov and N.L. Figurin, colleagues of I.P. Pavlov

and V.N. Behterev, and other scientists laid the foundations of the

objective study of the mental and physiological development of infants, and

besides systematic observation, they used experimental methods of analysis

of conditioned reflexes and of the orienting reaction for this purpose"

(Velickovskii and Zaporozec, 1979).

The study of the general development of children in infancy assumes

special significance in connection with the reform of schools providing

general education and vocational schools, and also in connection with the

change to starting systematic study at the age of 6 years. One way of

solving this problem may be to look for methods stimulating a more dynamic

psycho physiological development of infants. The assumption is that during

the first months of life, when psychosomatic development proceeds more

rapidly •than in the adult, the study of the effect of environmental factors

on the formation of sensitive periods in infancy, considering the fact that

"... sensitive periods coincide absolutely with what we have called ...

optimal learning times" (Vygotskii, 1956), is particularly interesting.

As a result of comprehensive studies of the development of human

psycho physiological functions the heterochronicity and non-uniformity of

development of memory, attention and thinking were discovered and the

1

enormous importance of sensitive periods for the formation and development

of man's structured mental functions as an integral system lasting

throughout ontogeny became evident. Our psychologist D.H. Gizatulina, in an

investigation on children of preschool age, convincingly demonstrated the

presence of heterochronicity and non-uniformity of development of the mental

functions in children of that age group. Basic stages of development of

mental activity in infancy have been distinguished in psychology, and the

great importance of development of sensomotor functions on subsequent

formation of the higher mental functions of attention, memory and so on,

have been shown by the work of authorities such as Kolarova, Zurba and

Kistekovskaya. In the present work it is suggested that, considering that

the prerequisites for the development of swimming abilities exist in

children in infancy (swimming movements are present from the age of 11 days

to 6 months) water is evidently the optimal environmental factor to

facilitate the more active development of sensomotor functions. In this work

investigations of the psychosomatic development of children of preschool

age, who swam from the first days of life, were carried out and certain

facts were obtained to confirm the view that the psycho physiological

development of such children is accelerated.

2

CHAPTER 1

THE PSYCHOSOMATIC DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN SWIMMING IN INFANCY

The fact that the energy expenditure of the body in the suspended state in

water is much less than that of the body under conditions of natural

gravitation is of great importance for the more rapid development of

children swimming for long periods in infancy. As soon as the infant is

taken from the suspended state, he at once begins to respond appropriately

to the increased force of gravitation, a state of continuous tension of the

muscles and resistance against the forces of gravitation, deforming the

vessels and tissues, appears. This fact was discovered by the English

physiologist Sir Joseph Barcroft, and later, commencing in the mid-1960s, it

was used by the Moscow researcher I.B. Charkovskii in his work on the

development of rapid methods of teaching infants to swim and for women to

conduct childbirth in water. A child placed in water develops increased

motor activity because of the need to stay on the surface of the water, and

even a child who sleeps in water is forced to periodically turn the head on

to breathe in the same way as a professional swimmer, doing the "crawl"

(photograph No. 1 and 2). Since the child in a suspended state does not use

some of its energy overcoming the increased gravitational load, it begins to

possess a greater vital and energetic potential which can be utilized for a

prolonged stay under water (photograph No.3). The child still has reserves

which can be utilized by the body to develop swimming reflexes, and also the

more rapid development of some mental functions. This accelerated

development is impossible in a gravitation medium. Moreover, keeping a

newborn infant continuously in a gravitation medium is often the cause of

secondary hypoxia and asphyxia.

The suspended state enables the newborn infant to hold the breath

for a long period of time (photographs No. 4), for the oxygen demand of

all the tissues of the body is reduced due to the low energy expenditure

required

3

for movements in a liquid medium. In her book "Human somatic and psycho

physiological organization" G.I. Akinshcikova states that "... exposure of

the body to the external environment determines the trend of metabolism

preferentially along one of two pathways. The pentose pathway of metabolism

operates in the extra mitochondrial protoplasm... The pentose pathway plays

an essential role in cell repolarization and in the accumulation of

potential energy at the level of the whole organism." Later she states that

"the positive pentose pathway, phylogenetically older, permits automatic

functional rhythmicity... the cells which determine the functional activity

of a particular organ may possess a system of enzymes that is so organized

that its most important, predominant part is tuned for one metabolic pathway

more than another, and this will inevitably be manifested at the whole

organism level in the form of constitutional characteristics."

Thus, depending on the chosen metabolic pathway, the "functional

consequences will be opposite, for predominance of the Embden-Meyerhof-Krebs

pathway leads to the liberation of energy and heat, inducing excitation,

whereas predominance of the pentose pathway leads to cell polarization, to

inhibition, rest and accumulation of energy." It can accordingly be

postulated that most metabolic reactions in the swimming infant will follow

the pentose pathway, and this, in turn, must affect the development of the

child's psycho physiological functions. It is interesting to study the

development of those functions which are influenced by the water

environment. It can be tentatively suggested that mechanisms of sensomotor

activity ought to be formed much more actively due to the increased motor

activity of the child, on the one hand, and the reduced energy expenditure,

on the other hand, during a stay in a liquid medium by the same token, the

working of the visual system should also develop better because the child

needs to see and find its bearings in a denser medium, as well as other

sensory mechanisms, assisting with orientation in water, especially if the

newborn infant is fed in water. We know, for example,

4

that "...the taste analyzer is physiologically the oldest, and in water it

can be used as a means of orientation, because water dissolves various

substances. The adult possesses a taste analyzer, but does not use it

fully in the surrounding world, and this analyzer remains underdeveloped. A

child fed in water since birth could determine quite freely on which side of

the bath a certain food was located. If under water, it could orient itself

in darkness and could distinguish familiar people from strangers" (Studies

of Modern Rehabilitation Methods in the Training of High-Grade Athletes and

Methods of Assessing their Effectiveness; Moscow, 1975).

On the other hand, it might be supposed that the rate of development

of hearing would be slower in a swimming child, because the auditory system

is virtually not used at all while in water. A change in the rate of

development of sensomotor mechanisms thus ought evidently to be reflected in

the development of perception and of higher mental functions such as memory,

thinking and attention.

Furthermore, the reduction of the force of natural gravitation on a

child kept in water for long periods during infancy ought to lead to an

improvement in the rate of general physical development of the child. The

aim of this investigation was to test experimentally the truth of these

hypotheses concerning the more rapid development of most psycho

physiological functions in children swimming in infancy. The base for the

investigation was the No. 10 children's polyclinic of the Kalinin District

of St. Petersburg (former Leningrad).

5

CHAPTER 2

AIMS AND METHODS OF THE INVESTIGATION

2.1. Aims of the Investigation

The general aim was to discover the features distinguishing the

general physical development and formation of the cognitive functions during

the second year of life in children swimming since the first days after

birth.

1. The first task was to discover the features distinguishing

somatic development of swimming children. This task was undertaken by making

a comparative analysis of anthropometric data (weight and height) of

children of a control group and the corresponding data obtained in non-

swimming children aged from 1 to 2 years.

2. The second task was undertaken by studying the characteristics of

formation of cognitive functions in swimming children:

a) studying manifestations of heterochronicity in the development of

voluntary and involuntary forms of cognitive function (memory, attention,

thinking) in swimming children.

b) Comparative analysis of the development of cognitive functions,

based on mean values of expectation of the trend, in swimming and non-

swimming children.

c) Correlation analysis of interfunctional connections in swimming

children.

Performance of these tasks required the use of special techniques,

existing in psychology, for the study of cognitive functions in infancy.

2.2. Methods of Investigation

The following methods were used:

a) methods of directed observation;

b) methods developed and tested in child and comparative psychology

for the study of individual types of attention, memory and thinking.

6

The experimental part of the work, connected with the study of

development: of some cognitive functions in swimming children, was carried

out by methods taken from the work of the Doctor of Psychological Sciences

D.H. Gizatulina "Formation of conceptual functions in early ontogeny." The

data obtained were compared with corresponding parameters for non-swimming

children of the same age. The statistical significance of the results was

determined by Student's t test (see Appendix No. 2). Conversion of some

primary estimates into scale estimates, with reduction to the normal

distribution, is shown in Appendix No. 1 and corresponds to conversion of

the primary estimates in Gizatulina's work.

A. Methods of Investigation of Attention

Both methods of' studying voluntary attention, directed and organized

by the experimenter, and methods enabling involuntary attention to be

discovered with the participation of auditory and visual concentration, were

used. Since properties of attention such as concentration, volume,

distribution, and switching are components of the mature structure of

attention, it is impossible to detect them separately at such an early stage

of ontogeny, and accordingly the results obtained by this method can be used

to determine only certain elements of "direction and concentration" of the

child's mental activity.

Method of Studying the Stability of Voluntary Attention (VA)

This method is as follows: the child is shown a chart measuring 20 x

40 cm, containing four series of pictures, six pictures in each series. The

pictures are drawings of: a horse, a dog, a doll, a cat. There are

altogether 20 pictures, arranged in a chessboard pattern, and as far as

possible identical pictures are placed far apart. To record responses,

each picture is given a serial number. The experimenter asks the child to

point to objects of the same type in turn. In this experiment the child

carries out a visual

7

search, the goal of which is assigned by the experimenter. During the

experiment the following parameters were recorded: the time taken to search

for each object (in sec), the correctness of the objects found, and the

serial number of the object indicated. When primary results were converted

into points, the following parameters were aggregated: the total working

time (T), the total number of objects indicated (n), the mean time of search

for one object, and the total number of mistakes (M).

Involuntary attention was studied under natural experimental

conditions, i.e., a situation was created which induced a certain type of

behavior in the child. The stability of involuntary attention was studied

during auditory, visual and visual-motor stimulation.

Method of Studying Stability of Involuntary Attention

of Auditory Modality (IAA)

In this case the attention response was evoked by unexpected

reproduction of a monotonic sound (for example, a whistle or pipe). The

investigations of Bauer, Spelton and Bronstein show manifestation of the

simplest attention, in the form of an orienting reflex to a particular

stimulus, is observed in infants from the first days after birth. The

principal external indicator which can be used to judge the presence of

involuntary attention in the child is the duration of concentration directed

towards the stimulus presented (in this case a monotonic sound). In this

particular experiment the indicator of involuntary attention to hearing is

the time interval during which the child looked towards the source of sound

without being distracted.

Method of Studying the Stability of Involuntary Visual Attention (IAV)

Involuntary visual attention was studied in two versions. In the

first version the child was shown a single colored picture of a simple

familiar object (for example, a hare, a doll, and so on). The indicator of

involuntary

8

visual attention in this case also was the time (in sec) of examination of

the picture presented. The second version included a motor component as well

as "purely visual" concentration. The child was shown a book with brightly

colored pictures, and the reading process required the child also to turn

over the pages, which increased the total duration of concentration. To

determine visual concentration, the time taken to examine each separate page

was noted and these were later totaled.

B. Methods of Investigation of Memory

Two methods also taken from Gizatulina's book were used in this

investigation. By these methods it is possible to study certain forms of

involuntary memorizing and also short-time figurative and verbal memory of

auditory modality.

Method of Studying the Volume of Short-Term Auditory Verbal

Memory (SMAV)

During the experiment the child, sitting at a table, is given a

picture book to examine. The experimenter points to objects shown in the

picture, names them, and asks the child to repeat the name. To begin with,

words of one syllable are used, such as book, cat, snow, and so on, then

words of two or three syllables. If the child succeeds in repeating them,

he is asked to repeat expressions with four and five syllables. In this

test the syllables were chosen as units of measurement of the volume of

short term auditory verbal memory.

Method of Studying the Volume of Short-Term Figurative Memory (SMAF).

In this method the attempts to imitate the actions of adults, observed

in children in the second year of life, and noted also by psychologists such

as H. Wallon, Jean Piaget, and A.A. Ljublinskaya, is used. The experimenter,

8

in sight of the child, knocks one wooden brick against another lying on the

table, then asks the child to do the same thing. After the child has

performed this task, the experimenter knocks the bricks together again, but

twice this time, and so on, until the child is unable to perform the task

and begins to knock them haphazardly. The indicator of the volume of short-

term auditory figurative memory is the greatest number of knocks reproduced

by the child.

C. Methods of Investigation of Thinking

To investigate thinking function methods of "classification of objects

by shape and color" and "building" are used.

For classification of objects by shape (CS) uncolored wooden cylinders

and spheres are used. For classification of objects by color (CC) wooden

triangular bricks painted blue and red were used. In both cases the

experiment proceeded as follows: three boxes were placed in front of the

child. The central box contained a mixture of objects which had to be

sorted, while the boxes on each side were empty. In sight of the child the

experimenter carried out sorting: "Watch carefully, I shall put this ball

into this box and this cylinder into the other" - and showed the child how

to do the sorting. After two or three preliminary demonstrations, the

experimenter asks the child to do the sorting himself. He records the order,

number and correctness of sorting of the blocks. The indicator of

development of ability to classify the objects was the total number of

objects correctly chosen in a nonrandom sample. The primary estimates were

converted into points on a scale with reduction to the normal distribution.

Methods of Studying Features of Building Activity (VB)

In this experiment the child's ability to do imitative building was

studied. A number of several different geometric shapes from a child's

9

building set was arranged on the table in front of the child. The

experimenter then demonstrated how to build patterns of different complexity

(containing from two to five bricks) in turn and asked the child to build

the pattern shown.

Ability to imitate the building operation was defined in points in

accordance with the number of correctly arranged bricks.

10

CHAPTER 3

ANALYSIS OF THE RESULTS

3.1. Analysis of Data on Somatic Development of Children Swimming in

Infancy

When anthropometric data for swimming and non-swimming children were

compared the principal indicator used was the ratio of weight (in kg) to

height (cm). This integral parameter, which incorporates two basic

parameters, characterizes the rate of the child's general physical

development. In the course of development of the individual (up to the age

of 20-25 years) the value of this ratio rises: for example, in the child

aged 1 year the mean value of ,14.0==H

WK whereas in the adult aged 20-

25 years, K = 0.3-0.4 When the data obtained for swimming and non-swimming

children during the second year of life were compared, the following results

were obtained (5% level of significance).

Table 1.

Age (months) 12-14 15-17 18-20 21-23

K (non-swimmers) 0.140 0.140 0.141 0.145

K (swimmers) 0.140 0.141 0.150 0.160

The results show that the rate of general physical development of the

swimming children was significantly greater than the rate of development of

non-swimming children of the same age. This also agrees with observations

made by doctors at the No. 10 children's polyclinic, who have noted that

children swimming early are physically stronger and healthier than non-

swimming children of the same age. They are less susceptible to colds and to

other diseases. This comparative analysis was made on a sample of 30

children.

11

3.2. Manifestation of Heterochronicity of the Cognitive Functions of

Children Swimming in Infancy

TABLE 2. Mean values of Parameters of Cognitive Functions in Quarters of

the Second Year of Life in Swimming and Non-swimming Children

During analysis of the development of some cognitive functions in non-

swimming children, in her investigation Gizatulina calculated monthly

average values and also mean values for periods of 3 months. Because of the

smaller size of the sample of swimming children (30), in the present

investigation only mean values for 3-monthly periods were compared. The

results are given in Table 2 and are also expressed graphically in the

Appendix (graphs No. 1-9).

The data on development of functions given in the table and graphs

illustrate the non-uniformity and heterochronicity that are characteristic

of these cognitive functions; the curves on the graphs are nonlinear in

character, and the non-uniform development of the mental functions in the

12

Non-swimmers IAV1 IAV2 IAA VA SMAF SMAV CS CC VB

Swimmers sec sec sec points points points points points objects

12-14 26 127

12 16

16 9

24 30.4

9.1 9.3

9 11

8.3 10.5

9 10.5

0 0

15-17 38 180

15 24

17 13

26 34

9.5 9.3

9.1 13

8.8 15

9 14.5

0.9 1

18-20 51 150

15 23

20 16

32 43

10.5 15

10.1 12.7

10.4 14

9.9 12.5

1.2 1.3

21-23 79 165

19 25

23 16

36 45

11.5 13.3

12 14.5

12.1 13.5

11.5 14.5

2.2 2.2

Mean for year 51 155

15 22

19 13.5

29.5 38.3

10 11.7

10 13

9.9 13

10 13

1.1 1.1

swimming children is expressed more clearly than in non-swimmers. It will be

clear from Table 2 and the graphs that a steady increase in the mean values

is observed in non-swimming children (extreme appear only in the case of

monthly averaging), whereas for swimming children several parameters have

extreme even when mean values for 3-month periods are used. For example:

The increase in the value of most parameters during the period 15-17

months in swimming children suggests that during this period the child

develops particularly rapidly; at this time there are a number of

qualitative changes in the development of mental activity, namely, in most

children haphazard responses to the test instruction given by the

experimenter changes into a meaningful response. For example, when the

integral parameter VA (voluntary attention) was studied it was found that

90% of the swimming children changed from haphazard pointing to pictures or

ceasing to respond to the instruction, starting from 17 months, to visual

searching in accordance with the instruction, whereas the corresponding

qualitative jump occurred in only 40% of non-swimming children.

3.3. Comparison of the Time Course of Development of the Cognitive

Functions in Swimming and Non-swimming Children

It will be clear from graphs 1-5 and 9 that the time course of

development of the parameters for IAV1 (involuntary visual attention

including a

13

for IAV1 in the period 15-17 months

for IAV2 " " " 15-17 "

for SMAF " " " 18-20 "

for SMAV " " " 15-17 "

for CS " " " 15-17 "

for CC " " " 15-17 "

maximal values are observed.

motor component), IAV2 (involuntary visual attention without a motor

component), IAA (involuntary auditory attention), VA (voluntary attention),

SMAF (short-term auditory figurative memory), and VB (voluntary building)

coincide for swimming and non-swimming children, and differ only in the

level of values of the parameters.

It will be clear from graphs 6, 7 and 8 that the initial level of the

parameters for SMAV (short-term verbal auditory memory), CS (classification

of objects by shape), and CC (classification of objects by color) for non-

swimming children point to the absence of any response to the test

instruction. The first correct responses were observed only in the second

half of the second year of life. The initial time of development of the

parameters of these functions in swimming children is shifted to the

beginning of the first half of the second year of life, namely:

for SMAV a shift from 18 months to 12 months

for CS " " " 17 " 13 "

for CC " " " 19 " 13 "

This indicates the earlier appearance of these mental functions,

linked with memory and thinking, in swimming children. Further evidence of

the more rapid development of cognitive functions in these children is given

by the fact that for most parameters of the functions tested a significant

increase is observed in the levels of mean annual values of scale ratings by

20%-30% (Table 7), which corresponds to maximal values of the monthly

averages for non-swimming children at the end of the second year of life

(IAA, SMAF and VB are the exception). Values of VB (voluntary building) are

virtually identical in swimming and non-swimming children (graph 9).

Incidentally, IAA (involuntary auditory attention) develops more

slowly in swimming children than in non-swimming children of the same age;

the possible explanation of this is that the auditory analyzer in a water

environment loses some of its importance, although the weakening of auditory

attention

14

is not significant (graph 3, Table 7). SMAF (short-term figurative auditory

memory) is 18% higher in swimming children, but this increase also is not

significant (graph 5, Table 7).

If the increase in the values obtained for involuntary visual

attention (IAV1 and IAV2) is compared, it must be noted that the increase in

the parameter IAV1 is much more marked (graph 1, Tables 6 and 7). This

parameter of the child's visual attention while looking at a book

incorporates a motor component (turning over the pages of the book

independently), and its significant rise compared with IAV2 (graph 2), which

does not incorporate motor activity, suggests that swimming exerts a

powerful influence on development of the latter. When values were determined

for CS and CC, additional tests were used to determine the children's

attitude towards carrying out the instruction. On this basis the children

were divided into four groups (expressed as percentages).

Group 1) does not respond to the instruction

Group 2) child chooses objects of only one shape or color

Group 3) mistakes in classification of objects

Group 4) correct classification

TABLE 3. Classification by Shape (CS). Ability to Carry out Instruction

in CS Test

Group No. 1 2 3 4

Non-swimming children

62 9 15 14

Swimming children 14 21 36 29

15

TABLE 4. Classification by Color (CC). Ability to Carry Out Instruction in

CC Test

Group No. 1 2 3 4

Non-swimming children

83 5 8 4

Swimming children 29 14 43 14

These data show that swimming in infancy has a considerable influence

on development of the child's ability to understand an instruction given by

an adult and to respond adequately to it, a feature which characterizes

development of the thinking function. The total percentage of children not

understanding the instruction falls from 62% to 14% in the case of CS and

from 83% to 29% in the case of measurement of CC.

The percentage of children able to repeat the corresponding number of

syllables and knocks at the experimenter's request was calculated in the

same way for the parameters SMAV and SMAF.

TABLE 5. Short-Term Auditory Verbal Memory (SMAV). Ability to Carry out

Instruction in SMAV Test

Number of syllables in word

0 1 2 3-4 5-8

Non-swimming children %

76.7 1.7 12.5 6.7 2.5

Swimming children %

10 40 20 20 10

16

TABLE 6. Short-Term Auditory Figurative Memory (SMAF). Ability to Carry

out Instruction in SMAF Test

Number of syllables in word

0 1 2 3 4

Non-swimming children 58 22.5 15.8 1.7 1.7

Swimming children 40 20 30 10 0

The data in these tables show that in response to instructions on

classification by shape (CS) and color (CC) early swimming has a significant

effect on the development of short-term auditory verbal memory, and this is

naturally reflected in the development of speech as a whole. The number of

children not able to repeat a single word after the experimenter falls from

76.7% to 10%.

The development of short-term figurative auditory memory also is

improved in the swimming children, but not significantly. The numbers of

children unable to repeat a single knock in response to the experimenter's

instruction falls from 58% only to 40%.

A comparative table of the mean annual values of these parameters is

given below; scale ratings of average values of all parameters are used. It

is thus possible to compare parameters which differ in dimensionality with

one another and to carry out other arithmetical operations with them, for

they are all reduced to the same normal law with M0 = 10, δ0 = 3 (for the integral parameter VA, M0’ = 30, δ0’ = √5 δ0 = √5 x 3 = 6.8). The

significance of the results was determined by Student's t test (Appendix 2).

17

TABLE 7. Comparative Table of Mean Annual Values of Parameters in Scale

Ratings

Para- meter

M0 Non- swim

M swim

x100%oM

M∆ ∆M δ0

tsamp n=30

ttable P 100% level

of significance

IAV1 10 13.2 32% 1.1 3.46 3.39 0.2%

IAV2 10 11.9 19% 0.6 2.05 2.05 5%

IAA 10 8.4 -16% -0.5 1.40 2.05 -

VA 30 38 27% 1.2 3.10 3.04 0.5%

SMAF 10 11.7 17% 0.6 1.20 2.05 -

SMAV 10 13 30% 1 4.55 3.68 0.1%

CS 10 13 30% 1 4.84 3.68 0.1%

CC 10 13 30% 1 3.16 3.04 0.1%

VB 10 10 - - - - -

It will be clear from Table 7 that for the five parameters IAV1, VA,

SMAV, CS and CC, ∆M = 30% M0 = δ0 This shows that the average level of development of the swimming

children corresponds according to these parameters to the maximal level of

development of non-swimming children at the end of the second year of life,

and in some cases it may even be a little higher (since maximal monthly

averages of non-swimming children at the end of the second year of life have

∆M = 0.9 ÷ δ0 δ0). It must be noted that when the change is made from scale ratings to

values of averages in the original units, we obtain a much more marked

increase in the parameters:

18

TABLE 8. Comparative Table of Mean Annual Values of Parameters in Original

Units

Parameter M0 M M/M0

IAV1 51 sec 155 sec 3

IAV2 15 sec 22 sec 1.5

IAA 19 sec 13.5 sec 0.7

VA Number of correct objects Time

3 obj. 45 sec

9.6 obj. 140 sec

3.2 3

SMAF 0.5 knock 1 knock 2

SMAV 0.33 syllable 2 syllables 6

CS 1.33 obj. 14 obj. 10

CC 0.8 obj. 4 obj. 5

VB 1.1 obj. 1.1 obj. 1

19

CHAPTER 4

ANALYSIS OF CORRELATION BETWEEN THE COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS

IN CHILDREN SWIMMING IN INFANCY

Correlation between cognitive functions was determined from the

results of correlation analysis. Coefficients of correlation were

determined for experimental data for four age groups: 12-14 months, 18-20

months, 15-17 months, 21-23 months; mean values of the coefficients of

correlation were then calculated between parameters for the whole year.

The significance of the coefficients of correlation was determined by

comparison with coefficients obtained from tables for a 5% level of signi-

ficance.

In the first and third quarters ∏ = 7 r0.05 = 0•78

In the second and fourth quarters ∏ = 8 r0.05 = 0•72

On averaging for the year ∏ = 30 r0.05 = 0•36.

Coefficients of correlation calculated for the experimental data are

given in Tables 8-11.

20