Module 1

KINESIOLOGY - an umbrella term for a multi-faceted scientific field with an intellectual focus on the study of human movement in all its various forms and applications.

MOTOR BEHAVIOUR - the science that examines the way in which we learn, control, and develop motor skill; an umbrella term for a scientific discipline in the field of Kinesiology.

MOTOR CONTROL - the study of the underlying processes involved in movement and how various movements are controlled by the central nervous system.

MOTOR DEVELOPMENT - the study of the changes in human motor behaviour as we proceed through the life span, the processes that underlie these changes, and the factors that affect them.

MOTOR LEARNING - the study of the processes involved in acquiring the capability to execute a motor skill, whereby there is a relatively permanent change in behaviour resulting from practice or experience.

DISCIPLINARY - refers to work in academia related to a specific field of study operating within boundaries (in silos); specialization.

FINE MOTOR SKILL DEVELOPMENT - refers to the change in functioning of a physical movement, wherein the movement requires control of the small musculature of the body to achieve the goal of the skill and typically involves eye-hand coordination and precision.

GROSS MOTOR SKILL DEVELOPMENT - refers to the change in functioning of a physical movement, wherein the movement is characterized as involving the large musculature of the body to achieve the goal of the skill where smooth coordination is of central importance.

INTERDISCIPLINARY - refers to an integrative mixture of scientific disciplines, wherein the work analyzes, synthesizes, and harmonizes links between disciplines into a coordinated and coherent whole when working in a relationship.

MOTOR SKILL - refers to voluntary physical movement of the body and/or limb in a highly specific response sequence to accomplish the goal of an action or task (this is different than skilled behaviour).

MULTIDISCIPLINARY refers to - a non-integrative mixture of scientific disciplines, wherein each discipline retains its methodologies and assumptions (stays within their respective boundaries) when working in a relationship; knowledge generated is additive.

ONE DIMENSIONAL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM is - a system whereby motor skills are classified according to one common characteristic, which can be divided into two dichotomous categories that represent extreme ends of a continuum.

REFLEX is - an involuntary, sub-cortically controlled movement that is a relatively stereotypical response to a specific sensory stimulus.

TRANSDISCIPLINARY refers to - an integrative mixture of scientific disciplines, practitioners, and non-scientific sources to go beyond traditional boundaries by developing a new kind of knowledge involving the cooperation amongst different parts of society.

COHORT is a term used to - describe a group of individuals with the same factor in common (e.g., age, risk, social class); commonly used in research design.

LIFESPAN refers to - a length of time a species can exist under optimal conditions. It is generally thought that the human lifespan is around 100 years; although the longest human lifespan recorded is 122 years, 5 months, and 14 days.

POPULATION PYRAMID is - a visual diagram that illustrates the age and sex structure of a country's population, which provides insight into the political stability, social stability, and economic development of the country; the shape evolves over time and is based on fertility, mortality, and international migration trends. 

SECULAR TREND - describes the consistent movement (or action) of a variable (an upward or downward tendency) over a relatively prolonged period of time (typically years) as it relates to a population (e.g., age of menarche, adult height).

SEVEN GENERATIONS PRINCIPLE is - an Indigenous way of knowing that says every decision made in this generation will affect seven generations into the future, just as the present generation has been affected by the seven generations before.

AGE PERIOD refers to - a period of time representing a chronological age range during which certain behaviours may be observed; can be arbitrary and/or shaped by societal or biological influences. These include:

AGE-RELATED CHANGE refers to - observable changes in human motor behaviour that occur throughout the lifespan, which are associated with (but not dependent on) a particular chronological age range.

ADOLESCENCE - a period of time within the human lifespan, which is historically associated with the teenage years from the onset of puberty to the age of majority; however, one’s physical and psychological development may begin prior to the teenage years and extend into the early twenties making a definition based on chronological age difficult.

ADULTHOOD is - a general term describing a period of time within the human lifespan, beginning after physical growth has ceased and the individual has reached biological maturity, ending at death. It is generally divided into three different stages: early adulthood, middle adulthood, and late adulthood.

CHILDHOOD is - a general term describing a period of time within the human lifespan, beginning at birth and ending at the onset of puberty. It is generally divided into three different stages: early childhood, middle childhood, and late childhood.

CHRONOLOGICAL AGE is - one’s age in months and/or years.

EARLY ADULTHOOD is - a stage within the adulthood period of the lifespan generally referring to the period of time from growth cessation and biological maturation (approximately 18-20 years) to the age of 40 (or more recently, 45 years).

EARLY CHILDHOOD is - a stage within the childhood period of the lifespan generally referring to the period of time from birth to six years of age (0 to 6 years).

ELEMENTARY-AGE is - a term used to describe a period of time within childhood encompassing middle and late childhood, which refers to the time period from the age of entrance into grade 1 (approximately 6 years) until the end of the childhood period (approximately grade 6-7, 11-12 years).

EMBRYONIC PERIOD is - a term used to describe a stage in prenatal human development beginning at fertilization and continuing until the eighth week of embryonic development (or the 10th week of gestation), wherein differentiation of organs and organ systems occurs.

FETAL PERIOD is - a term used to describe a stage in prenatal human development following the embryonic period at 8 weeks (or 10 weeks gestation) and continuing until birth, during which growth of preformed structures occurs.

GERMINAL PERIOD is - a term used to describe a stage in prenatal human development, which starts at conception and lasts the first two weeks of development until endometrial implantation.

INFANCY is - a stage within the early childhood period of the lifespan, which refers to the time period from birth to the onset of independent walking (approximately 12 months of age).

KINDERGARTEN-AGE is - a term used to describe a stage within the early childhood period of the lifespan, which refers to the time period from the age of entrance into kindergarten (approximately 5 years) until the age of entrance into the more formal school years (i.e., grade 1, approximately 6 years).

LATE ADULTHOOD is - a stage within adulthood, which is referred to as the period of time from approximately 60 years (or more recently, 65 years) of age to death.

MIDDLE ADULTHOOD is - a stage within adulthood occurring around the third quarter of the average lifespan, which is traditionally referred to as the period of time from approximately 40 years to 60 years of age (or more recently, 45 to 65 years of age).

MIDDLE CHILDHOOD is - a term used to describe a stage within the childhood period of the lifespan generally referring to the period of time from 6 years to 8 years age, often equating with grades 1 through 3 in formal schooling.

NEONATE refers to - a newborn child within the first 28 days of life.

NORMATIVE AGE-GRADED INFLUENCE refers to - the effects on development that occur at approximately the same chronological age in a group of people, which can be biologically-based or societal-based.

NORMATIVE HISTORY-GRADED INFLUENCE refers to - the effects on development that are experienced similarly by the majority of a cohort at a given time in the life course that are associated with historical events and circumstances involving biological or environmental determinants.

PREADOLESCENCE is - a term used to describe a stage within the human lifespan, which precedes adolescence and is usually designated as the time period between 9 and 12 years, ending at the onset of puberty.

PRENATAL is - a term used to describe a stage within the human lifespan, which spans the time during a human pregnancy from conception until birth.

PRESCHOOL-AGE is - a term used to describe a stage within the early childhood period of the lifespan, which refers to a time period starting from the age of preschool entrance (approximately 3 years) until the age of kindergarten entrance (approximately 5 years).

TODDLERHOOD is - a term used to describe a stage within the early childhood period of the lifespan, which refers to a period of time from the onset of independent walking to approximately 3 years of age (e.g., entrance to preschool).

TWEEN (also referred to as preadolescence and/or late childhood) - a North American neologism, used to describe a period of time between middle childhood and adolescence (9-12 years of age), which means ‘child nearing puberty’; short for tweenager.

AFFECTIVE DOMAIN is - a domain of human development that focuses on experiences of, expressions, and management of emotions and the capability to establish positive social relationships.

AGE APPROPRIATE refers to - a learning environment which centres on the predictive progressive and regressive sequences of growth and development which is representative of most individuals in the cohort.

CEPHALOCAUDAL PRINCIPLE refers to - developmental change that progresses from the top of the body (head), downward to the tail and feet; or conversely, regressive human development from the feet to head.

COGNITIVE DOMAIN is - a domain of human development that focuses on intellectual performance and the factors that influence developmental change in intellect.

COMPENSATION refers to - nullifying or adapting to the effects of some type of negative influence or developmental change in the human system.

CONTINUITY PERSPECTIVE is - a view that refers to development as an additive process that occurs gradually and continuously, without sudden changes; often discussed from the perspective of quantitative change.

DEVELOPMENT refers to - systematic continuities (remaining the same) and age-related changes (patterned, relatively permanent) in the human over the life course from conception to death.

DEVELOPMENTAL PERSPECTIVE is - a research focus, which serves to understand changes in movement across the lifespan in an attempt to explain how and why a particular movement emerges from a previous behaviour, as well as predict and explain the emergence of a future movement behaviour; the focus of study goes beyond just examining motor behaviour in the present.

DEVELOPMENTAL SYSTEMS APPROACH is - the idea that all domains of development (e.g., cognitive, effective, physical, and motor domain) constantly interact and are dependent on eahc other.

DEVELOPMENTAL SEQUENCE is - the collective description of distinct behaviours as they occur across time; a series of transformations.

DISCONTINUITY PERSPECTIVE is - a view that refers to development as a series of abrupt changes, which elevate the person to a new, more advanced level of functioning; often discussed from the perspective of qualitative change.

INDIVIDUAL APPROPRIATE refers to - a learning environment that is adaptable so that the unique capabilities and current state of each individual system is accommodated

MENARCHE is - a term that represents the first menstrual cycle in female humans, which is considered a central event of female puberty as it signifies the possibility of fertility.

MOTOR DOMAIN is - a domain of human development that focuses on the development of human movement and the factors that affect change in movement capabilities.

QUALITATIVE CHANGE is - an orderly change in the integration of physiological and psychological processes and/or form to produce a movement output, which is different in quality from what came before; descriptive and subjective in nature, as well as difficult to assess.

PHASE refers to - transitional characteristics of behaviour between developmental periods which demonstrates overlapping characteristics of development.

PHYSICAL DOMAIN is - a domain of human development that focuses on the physical or structural change of human development and the factors that affect change.

PROGRESSION refers to - changes in the human system that result in a gain in capability (often associated with the childhood and/or adolescent periods of the lifespan); going towards a more effective state.

PROXIMODISTAL PRINCIPLE refers to - developmental change that progresses from the centre of the body (torso), outwards to the digits; or conversely, regressive human development inwards from the digits to the centre of the body.

QUALITATIVE refers to - the characteristics or quality of a behaviour and how this behaviour is distinctly different (and relatively permanent) from the preceding behaviour (or stage of development); descriptive and subjective in nature, as well as difficult to assess.

QUANTITATIVE is - a term that means relating to, measuring, or measured by the quantity or amount of something; objective in nature.

QUANTITATIVE CHANGE is - a measurable change in quantity or amount; objective in nature.

REGRESSION refers to - changes in the human system that result in a loss of capability (often associated with the ageing process).

STAGE refers to - a particular time in life that is characterized by certain behaviours, which assumes hierarchical, qualitative change that is universal in order.