Chapter 12: Psychosocial and Social–Affective Development
Psychosocial Constraints
Social–Affective Constraints
Self-Regulation
Summary
Chapter 13: Psychosocial and Cognitive Factors in Adulthood
Psychosocial Factors
Cognitive Function
Summary
Part IV: Designing Developmentally Appropriate Programs
Chapter 14: Physical, Affective, and Instructional Factors
Gold Standards Versus Variability
Physical Factors
Affective Factors
Instructional Factors
Summary
Chapter 15: Prepractice Considerations
Goal Setting
Demonstrations
Verbal Instruction
Directing Attention and Providing Guidance
Summary
Chapter 16: Practice
Amount of Practice
Variable Practice
Contextual Interference Effect
Practice Specificity
Part and Whole Practice
Mental Practice and Imagery
Distribution of Practice
Summary
Chapter 17: Feedback
quite challenging, and many elements must be taken into consideration. Motor Learning and Development, Second Edition, guides you in an accessible and interesting manner into the fields of motor development and motor learning. The book includes a variety of methods to facilitate learning and keep you engaged with the material.
Motor Learning and Development, Second Edition, is an undergraduate text written for students and professionals pursuing careers in physical education, athletic training, early childhood education, gerontology, kinesiology, special education, adapted physical education, primary and secondary education, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and related fields The text presents a strong theoretical foundation in an engaging and accessible way. You will learn how to develop, implement, and critically assess motor skill programs for learners at all developmental levels
Although the fields of motor learning and motor development have been addressed in a variety of undergraduate texts, none have merged these two fields into one textbook. Motor Learning and Development, Second Edition, fills this void The content is based on the latest research in the fields of motor development and motor learning. This text also provides a framework for developing movement programs that facilitate skill acquisition for all types of learners from those with significant disabilities to elite athletes. This book also prepares you for meeting national standards and Praxis exams.
Organization
Part I, Theory and Foundational Concepts, provides a basic outline of the fundamental concepts in motor learning and motor development. Chapter 1 introduces the subfields of motor behavior, motor control, motor learning, and motor development, as well as important concepts and terminology Chapter 2 emphasizes movement control, including reaction time, attention, arousal, sensory contributions, and memory. The major tenets and theoretical perspectives from the fields of motor behavior are explained in chapter 3. Chapter 4 discusses motor skill progression as well as three models of motor learning stages. Instructors who have a thorough understanding of the strengths and shortcomings of each model will have more and better-developed tools to engender positive behavioral, cognitive, and physical changes in performers. It is at this point (chapter 5) that we discuss important methodological considerations, including how to measure and assess motor learning and organize the learning experience to facilitate positive transfer and long-term retention.
Part II, Life Span Physical Activity and Movement, provides a solid background on movement patterns across the life span, from infancy to older adulthood Chapter 6 examines infant motor development, including prenatal growth and development, spontaneous and reflexive movements in early infancy, and the development of motor milestones. Chapter 7 picks up where chapter 6 ends by examining fundamental motor skills developed during childhood, including locomotor and manipulative skills. The development of fundamental movement skills is essential to healthy development in childhood. Children who are given a strong movement foundation will have the skill sets and the confidence to be physically active with their families, with peers, and on their own. Chapter 8 explores physical activity and movement in young, middle, and older adulthood. The discussion focuses first on physical activity in adulthood and peak athletic performance, and then explores the changing movement patterns observed in older adults
Part III, Functional and Structural Constraints, examines the changing individual constraints throughout the life span. Chapter 9 discusses some of the structural factors that constrain the acquisition and development of movements throughout childhood and adolescence. Chapter 10 discusses the physiological changes that affect physical function and movement, including age-related changes in the skeletal, muscular, cardiovascular, nervous, endocrine, and sensory systems. Movement educators who work with older adults must understand the effects of aging on the physiological systems and the impact these changes have on movement. Chapters 9 and 10 address how structural constraints may interact with functional factors (the focus of chapters 11 through 13), tasks, and environments Chapters 11 through 13 examine the potential affective, cognitive, behavioral, and psychomotor differences that affect the learning of movement skills over the life span. Chapter 13 discusses a variety of psychological, sociological, and cognitive variables in adulthood. It is important to distinguish psychological and sociocultural factors
in adulthood from those that are present in childhood and adolescence, because they change considerably.
Part IV, Designing Developmentally Appropriate Programs, gets you ready to prepare, design, and implement developmentally appropriate movement programs Chapter 14 examines the physical, affective, and instructional dimensions that affect motor learning, and prepares you to structure the environment appropriately with these factors in mind Chapter 15 discusses prepractice considerations, including how to set goals and introduce motor skills through the use of demonstrations, verbalizations, attention directing, and physical guidance The discussion continues in chapter 16, which addresses the design and structure of effective practice sessions. Topics include variable practice, practice specificity, part and whole practice, and practice distribution Just like practice, feedback should be designed around the person and the task. Chapter 17 discusses the functions and types of feedback as well as effective feedback scheduling. The book closes with a new chapter, Devising a Plan, which brings all of the book’s concepts together to help you design developmentally appropriate programs. The chapter includes examples of developmentally appropriate programs as well as case studies
Letter to Instructors
Although there are many excellent books that examine motor development from a life span perspective and books that explore the field of motor learning, there is not, to our knowledge, a book that combines the two. You will find that Motor Learning and Development, Second Edition, achieves the goal of combining the two fields in an accessible and interesting way, and explains how motor development and motor learning inform each other and intersect.
Those with a thorough understanding of the multiple factors that set in motion the development of motor skills from infancy to older adulthood are in a good position to teach movement skills efficiently and to individualize their instruction. This individualization is a point of emphasis throughout the text, given the complexity of teaching learners of various backgrounds, interests, abilities, and ages. Furthermore, learners’ abilities and interests are hardly static; rather, they are very dynamic. Thus, to work with learners at all life stages, we must be continually aware of the ongoing interactions between ever-changing abilities, an ever-changing environment, and the tasks at hand The intersection of these three factors determines how to proceed
And so, this textbook based on the latest research in the fields of motor learning and motor development provides both the theoretical foundation and applied information for developing movement programs for all types of learners from those with identifiable disabilities to those at both ends of the ability spectrum.
Motor Learning and Development, Second Edition, is divided into four parts. Part I, Theory and Foundational Concepts, lays the groundwork by outlining the fundamental concepts of motor control, motor learning, and motor development. Part II, Life Span Physical Activity and Movement, provides a solid background in physical activity and movement patterns from infancy through older adulthood, examining not only what skills are developed but also how they are developed. Part III, Functional and Structural Constraints, delineates the constraints that may, in combination, hinder or promote optimal development. The fourth and final part, Designing Developmentally Appropriate Programs, gives detailed information that prepares students to organize, develop, implement, and evaluate movement programs for a variety of learners. Although the material that precedes part IV has a direct bearing on the development of appropriate programs, the students need not have read every chapter of the text to benefit from part IV.
Although this textbook is written from a life span perspective and details how skill is acquired over the course of one ’ s life, a particular course may emphasize a certain time frame. If, as an example, motor learning and motor development in school-age children and adolescents is the focus of the course, you may decide to bypass chapters 8, 10, and 13. The
Each chapter in Motor Learning and Development, Second Edition, has the following features that engage students in their reading and help them to understand the concepts.
Chapter objectives: Each chapter begins with approximately six learning objectives related to the most important concepts. These objectives guide the students’ reading and allow you to spend less class time lecturing and more time on interactive, student-focused learning activities and skill development. If you believe that the best approach to teaching the material is to use the lecture as your primary methodology, the chapter objectives provide a road map for both you and the students
Research Notes: Research experiments pertinent to the chapter material are presented throughout the text Beyond their importance to the fields of motor learning and motor development, these research notes allow you to engage the students in debates and discussions about topics such as research design, the appropriateness of the question (i.e., why is this a good question to ask or is it?), what the next question might be, and how to design the next question. Students can work on these questions and others during or outside of class, either individually or in small groups Much of the research presented can lead to robust debate.
What Do You Think ?: This feature gives students the opportunity to think about the course content both critically and creatively. Examples include thinking back to how the students acquired a challenging skill, considering how to teach a diverse group of learners, and explaining how plasticity is demonstrated when a stroke patient regains the ability to hit a slice backhand. The key point is to stimulate critical thinking. Students can use this feature individually, in pairs, as a group, or in a class discussion either inside or outside of the classroom.
Try This: This feature engages students in a practical application that clarifies a given concept Students actively engage in a physical activity to attain a more thorough understanding of the concept at hand. This feature stimulates critical thinking and can be incorporated into the course either in or outside of the classroom
Supplemental Activities: At the end of each chapter, two activities are provided that can be completed as either classroom laboratory activities or at-home activities. These activities give students a chance to deepen their understanding of the topics presented in the chapter.
Key terms: Key terms are the most important concepts in the chapter and appear in bold text. They are defined at the end of each chapter.
Five ancillaries facilitate the teaching of this material:
Instructor guide: This ancillary includes sample answers to the What Do You Think? sections and, as appropriate, the Try This activities. It also includes troubleshooting tips for each chapter and its labs
Test package: This ancillary includes 170 multiple-choice, true-or-false, and shortanswer questions and their answers These test questions can be used for building quizzes or as a supplement to your own exam questions.
Laboratories: Labs for chapters 1–17 are available to students through the web resource The labs engage students in practical applications of important concepts from the chapters; they require more time and preparation than the Try This activities Most labs require students to complete an activity, record their data, and for some, calculate and compare their data to class data. Instructor's tips for the labs are available in the instructor's guide.
Presentation package: PowerPoint presentations are available for each chapter and include objectives, important figures and tables, key concepts, and summary points. Video clips: Video clips are available in the web resource for chapter 6, Infant Motor Development; chapter 7, Fundamental Skills in Childhood; and chapter 17, Feedback. The Study Questions links in the web resource contain questions focused on these videos, but you can use these videos to demonstrate these reflexes, motor milestones, and motor skills as you see fit.
The ancillaries are available at www.HumanKinetics.com/MotorLearningAndDevelopment.
We hope we have laid some groundwork for using Motor Learning and Development, Second Edition, in your course, allowing you to teach and, more important, engage students in these essential subjects. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the text so that you can manage your time to ensure that you cover the appropriate material for your course. Clearly, you will need to determine the amount of time required for covering each chapter and concept. Keeping track of material that required more time or less time to cover than you anticipated will help you make informed changes to future courses
How much time you take to cover material from the text is, of course, an individual decision that has much to do with your pedagogical philosophy and course content goals.
We wish you the best as you use the first textbook to combine the fields of motor learning and motor development.
Acknowledgments
Motor Learning and Development, Second Edition, is a comprehensive book, combining two fields of study into one textbook. We have presented the material that we felt was most relevant and current, while also unifying these two fields. There are many topics covered throughout this book, so for some areas we have called on the expertise of others. Therefore, we are grateful to colleagues who have provided input In particular, we would like to extend our deep appreciation to Dr. Melanie Perreault for her contributions to chapter 2, Understanding Movement Control, and to Dr Stephen Gonzalez for his invaluable advice on psychosocial assessments and related references. We are also deeply grateful to our colleagues and students who read drafts of the content and provided editorial suggestions throughout the process
In addition, we would like to acknowledge those who made possible the photos used in chapter 7 and the cover: the children, who demonstrated the fundamental motor skills during the photo shoot; the parents, who facilitated their children’s involvement; and Jim Dusen, whose photography was exceptional.
Chapter Objectives
After reading this chapter, you should be able to do the following:
Define the fields of motor learning, motor control, and motor development.
Explain the importance of motor skill classification.
Classify motor skills using single-dimensional and multidimensional classifications.
Distinguish between motor skills and abilities
Understand Fleishman’s taxonomy.
Understand the evolution of motor development.
Explain why the fields of motor behavior are important for teaching and assessing motor skills in sport, physical activity, and health professions.
Defining Terms in Motor Behavior
A full understanding of the fields of motor behavior is necessary before designing, implementing, or assessing a motor skill program. Motor behavior is an umbrella term for the fields of motor control, motor learning, and motor development. Motor control researchers investigate the neural, physical, and behavioral aspects of human movement An understanding of all three fields motor learning, motor development, and motor control optimizes skill acquisition. Motor learning is the study of the processes involved in the acquisition of a motor skill and the factors that enhance or inhibit the ability to perform a motor skill. Researchers in the field of motor development examine the products and underlying processes of motor behavior changes across the life span (See table 1 1 for a summary of each field.)
A practitioner with a strong background in motor behavior has a solid foundation in how humans develop across the life span; can explain why particular behaviors have manifested; and can design programs that assess, diagnose, or teach motor skills for the purposes of instruction or rehabilitation. In this book, the term practitioner refers to any type of movement educator, including physical education teachers, clinicians, trainers, instructors, and coaches Let’s take a closer look at the fields of motor behavior
