Motor Development Intro

Definition of Motor Control
- Refers to the study of the neural, physical, and behavioral aspects of human movement.
Definition of Motor Learning
- Refers to the study of the processes involved in the acquisition of a motor skill and the factors that enhance or inhibit an individual’s capability to perform a motor skill.
Definition of Motor Development
- Refers to the study of the products and underlying processes of motor behavior changes across the life span.
Umbrella Term
- Motor behavior encompasses the fields of motor development, motor learning, and motor control.

Physical Educators
- Focus on identifying which practices work best and whether selected tasks are developmentally appropriate for specific children or groups of children.
Exercise Professionals
- Concerned with understanding what it looks like when bodies are moving well and how to approach fitness programs for different levels of dysfunctional movement patterns as well as different stages of development.
Therapists
- Investigate what factors affect movement abilities and how early life individual changes can assist in the rehabilitation of individuals like stroke patients.
Bioengineer Designers
- Involved in areas such as economical space utilization, control panel placement, sport gear manufacturing, and the development of smart prosthetics.
Healthcare Professionals
- Interested in understanding how early skill development and exercise habits influence health status throughout life.

Definition
- The nervous system’s control of the muscles during skilled and controlled movement.
Age Effects on Motor Control
- Understanding how the nervous system and movement abilities change with age enhances knowledge of motor control.
Goals
- To comprehend how certain levels of movement control are achieved, which in turn informs how motor control develops.

Degrees of Freedom Problem
- Investigates how the system can constrain the number of degrees of freedom to produce coordinated movement patterns.
Serial Order Problem
- Examines the sequencing and timing of movement behaviors.
Perceptual–Motor Integration Problem
- Addresses how perception and action are incorporated.
Underlying Processes of Movement
- Each of the issues above corresponds to specific underlying processes essential for understanding motor behavior.

Refers to the number of independent ways a joint or anatomical structure can articulate.
The index finger's MCP joint can demonstrate movements such as:
- Flexion/Extension
- Abduction/Adduction
- Circumduction
The human body possesses over 240 DOF, evidencing the multitude of ways it can move.
In three-dimensional space, a maximum of 6 degrees of freedom can be composed of:
- Three translation motions along the x, y, and z axes.
- Three rotation motions around the same axes.

Coordination
- Involves constraining the number of degrees of freedom to simplify the complexity of a movement task, producing a movement pattern to achieve a task goal.
Control
- Refers to manipulating movements in a manner that meets task demands.

Investigates sequencing and the order of movement behaviors.
Stresses the importance of timing and order in nearly every movement produced.
Action Slips
- Errors made by swapping specifics of a task due to inattentiveness in focusing on the action specifics.
Coarticulation
- Describes simultaneous motions that occur during sequential tasks.
Preplanning Movements
- Constructing a more efficient movement approach through preparation.

Examines the relationship between movement and perception:
- How does movement affect perception?
- How does perception affect movement?
Graphic representation:
- MOVEMENT ----> PERCEPTION
- PERCEPTION ----> MOVEMENT

Defined as experiences and practice occurring over a period, marking it as a life-long process.

Acquisition of Skilled Actions
- The process entails gaining the capability to produce skilled actions.
Result of Practice
- Changes in capability arise directly from practice rather than maturation or physiological change.
Cannot Be Observed Directly
- The internal process of learning is not something observable; we can only see behaviors.
Relatively Permanent Changes
- Learning results in lasting changes in skilled behavior capability.

Learning
- A relatively permanent change in the ability to execute a motor skill stemming from practice or experience.
Performance
- Refers simply to the execution of the skill at a given time.

Defined as a collection of events or occurrences that collectively result in a specific output, state, or change.
Example:
- Drills in sport.
Emphasizes linking exercises to create a flow of improved skills.

Examines movement abilities and the developmental changes across movements.
Investigates the underlying factors contributing to these changes.
Specifically, motor development is a subdiscipline of motor behavior, focused on age-related changes throughout the life span and the processes and factors affecting these changes.

Terminology:
- Motor Competence
- Defined as the measurable aspect of a movement.
A child’s development necessitates proficiency in:
- Locomotor skills
- Ball skills
- Balance competence
Assessment can be based on:
- Product: The outcome of performance.
- Process: The mechanisms of change that underlie performance.

Age Classification	Transition Marker
Newborn	Birth to 6 weeks
Infant	6 weeks to age at walking
Toddler	Age at walking to 2 years
Preschooler	Age 3 to age at starting school
Young Child	Age at starting school to 7 years
Child	Age 8 to 10
Preadolescent	Age 11 to onset of puberty
Adolescent	Onset of puberty to 20 years
Young Adult	Age 21 to 40
Middle-aged Adult	Age 41 to 60
Young-Old Adult	Age 61 to 74
Old Adult	Age 75 to 99
Centenarian	Age 100+

Growth
- Defined as the process of an organism increasing in size or magnitude.
- Involves purely biological changes such as height, weight, and the development of tissues.
Maturation
- Represents progress towards physical maturity; involves the optimal integration of body systems and reproductive capabilities.
- Developmentally continues long past achieving physical maturity.
Aging
- Can represent the general process of growing older or specifically denote changes that lead to diminishing functional adaptability.

Phylogeny
- Refers to the evolutionary development of a species, which can span thousands of years.
Ontogeny
- Describes development occurring over an individual’s life span, which is the book's primary focus.
Local Biology
- Encompasses immediate physiological changes, such as respiration.
Task Demands
- Imposed on very short time scales, sometimes mere minutes or seconds.

Motor behavior encompasses three primary subfields: motor learning, motor development, and motor control.
Within motor control, three main research areas are:
1. Degrees of freedom problem.
2. Serial order problem.
3. Perceptual–motor integration problem.
Learning yields permanent change, while performance is transient.
Motor development highlights age-related changes occurring throughout the life span.