Human Motor Development Pwpt 2

Cognitive and Motor Development

What are some relationships between motor skill learning and cognitive function

• the relationship between executive function (working memory, planning, organizing) and gross motor skill

• the relationship between gross/fine movement abilities and social emotional skill and academic performance

What is the relationship between motor development and motor learning

motor development IS motor learning

• when we learn a skill, we lay down neuronal pathways and motor developing

• we use neuronal pathways for many things and they overlap

• this helps us to learn how to sequence and organize which can be applied to a cognitive skill

• We lay the groundwork to then apply those skills to other skills

How do motor skills and cognition relate to the environment

as we develop motor skills, we gain access to the environment, which then allows us access to cognitive skills

who was Jean Piaget and what did he do

• clinical psychologist

• known for his pioneering work in children’s intellectual development

• genetic epistemology —> the origins of thinking

• he watched his own children’s development

How did Piaget believe cognitive development occurs

cognitive development occurs through a process he called adaptation

What is adaptation according to Piaget

adjusting to the demands of the environment through 2 complementary acts: Assimilation and Accommodation

What is Assimilation

a process by which children attempt to interpret new experiences based on their present interpretation of the world

• ex. Thinking every 4 legged create is a dog because you have a dog

suggests that an individual always experiences new events according to what is already known

What is Accommodation

the individual attempts to adjust existing thought structures to account for, or accommodate, new experiences

• occurs after someone corrects them/something changes their interpretation

implies that the environment always challenges the individual to modify actions relative to the specific situation

What are Piagets 4 stages of cognitive development

• sensorimotor

• preoperational

• concrete operational

• formal operational

all children follow the sequence in order

the rate and degree of completion may differ

What is the Sensorimotor stage of cognitive development

creates a foundation for all subsequent efforts to perform bodily movement (0-2)

What is the Preoperational Stage of cognitive development

builds on the skills learned earlier in life, language development

2-6/7

self directed mobility by any meals enables the child to explore and understand the environment more thoroughly

don’t have the ability to think logically or operationally

What are the 2 substages of the Preoperational Stage of cognitive development

• preconceptual: 2-4 years

• intuitive: 4-7 years