cognitive and motor development

interactions among domains

all domains (affective, cognitive, motor, and physical ) affect all others

cognitive and motro development interact continually throughout the lifespan

jean piaget

clinical psychologist from switzerland

known for his pioneering work in children’s intellectual development

genetic epistemology - the origins of thinking

adaptation

adjusting to the demands of the environment through 2 complementary acts

• assimilation

• accommodation

assimilation

children attempt to interpret new experiences based on their present interpretation of the world

accommodation

children attempt to adjust existing thought structures to account for, or accommodate, new experiences

four stages of development

sensorimotor

preoperational

concrete operational

formal operations

• all children follow the sequence in order

• rate and degree of completion may differ

sensorimotor stage

• Creates a foundation for all subsequent efforts to perform bodily movement

• Substages:

  • Exercise of reflexes

  • Primary circular reactions

  • Secondary circular reactions

  • Secondary schemata

  • Tertiary circular reactions

  • Inventions of new means through mental combinations

preoperational stage

• builds on the skill learned earlier

• language development

• walking

• substages:

  • preconceptual

  • intuitive

concrete operational stage

children are now able to think concrete of logical thoughts

conservation

reversibility

seriation

formal operational stage

• Consideration of the abstract

• Interpropositional thought

• Hypothetical-deductive reasoning

• Newly emerging values and idealism

criticisms of piaget’s theory

• his clinical method lacked sufficient scientific control

• much of his work was conducted with his own children as subjects

• his exam of cognitive change did not have a lifespan orientation

• he may have underestimated childrens capabilities

• he did not discern well between competency and performance

• he placed too little emphasis on the influence of motivation and emotions

• his stages of development were too broad

• he described but did not clearly explain development

adulthood: general theories of intellectual development

Development is a lifelong process—Need to understand all age groups

Postformal operations

Intellectual decline

• Total

• Partial

implicit memory

unintentional, automatic, without awareness

does not change much in adulthood

explicit memory

deliberate, effortful

improves from infancy to adulthood, then declines

allaying cognitive decline

Exercise and physical activity are highly correlated with cognitive function.

“Physical exercise is a promising nonpharmaceutical intervention to prevent age-related cognitive declines.” (Bherer, Erickson, and Liu-Ambrose, 2013, p. 1)

knowledge development and sport performance

Improvements to the task-specific knowledge base may lead to better task-specific sport performance.

Categories of knowledge:

• Declarative

• Procedural