Motor Skills and Their Foundational Role for Perceptual, Social, and Cognitive Development


Book Description

Motor skills are a vital part of healthy development and are featured prominently both in physical examinations and in parents’ baby diaries. It has been known for a long time that motor development is critical for children’s understanding of the physical and social world. Learning occurs through dynamic interactions and exchanges with the physical and the social world, and consequently movements of eyes and head, arms and legs, and the entire body are a critical during learning. At birth, we start with relatively poorly developed motor skills but soon gain eye and head control, learn to reach, grasp, sit, and eventually to crawl and walk on our own. The opportunities arising from each of these motor milestones are profound and open new and exciting possibilities for exploration and interactions, and learning. Consequently, several theoretical accounts of child development suggest that growth in cognitive, social, and perceptual domains are influences by infants’ own motor experiences. Recently, empirical studies have started to unravel the direct impact that motor skills may have other domains of development. This volume is part of this renewed interest and includes reviews of previous findings and recent empirical evidence for associations between the motor domain and other domains from leading researchers in the field of child development. We hope that these articles will stimulate further research on this interesting question.










Perceptual-motor Activities for Children


Book Description

A guide that outlines a 32-week programme of sequential station activities that will help pre-school and young school aged children in various stages of development, particularly those who are lagging behind in their perceptual-motor skills. It provides what you need to create a perceptual-motor learning laboratory for your students.




Understanding Motor Development: Infants, Children, Adolescents, Adults


Book Description

A best-selling text, Understanding Motor Development: Infants, Children, Adolescents, Adults provides students and professionals with both an explanatory and a descriptive basis for the processes and products of motor development. Covering the entire life span, this text focuses on the phases of motor development and provides a solid introduction to the biological, affective, cognitive, and behavioral aspects within each developmental stage. The student is presented with the most up-to-date research and theory, while the Triangulated Hourglass Model is used as a consistent conceptual framework that brings clarity to understanding infant, childhood, adolescent, and adult motor development.




Motor Learning and Development 2nd Edition


Book Description

Motor Learning and Development, Second Edition With Web Resource, provides a foundation for understanding how humans acquire and continue to hone their movement skills throughout the life span.




Motor Learning and Development


Book Description

Different from any other motor behavior text on the market, Motor Learning and Development, Third Edition With HKPropel Access, combines two subdisciplines of motor behavior in an accessible and easy-to-follow manner. By uniting these two disciplines under the same cover, the text prepares students to create, apply, and evaluate motor skill programs for people of all skill and development levels. Motor Learning and Development, Third Edition, outlines the fundamental concepts of both motor learning and motor development. It explores movement patterns across all ages throughout the human life span, including the influences of life transitions and individual and sociocultural constraints. The text provides a complete framework for students to consider the many variables for each individual and then create and implement developmentally appropriate movement programs. The third edition has been revised and updated with current research and examples, and it includes the following enhancements: Expanded coverage of fundamental movement skills and skill classification Four new chapters exploring the assessment of gross motor development, sociocultural constraints, developmental models for instruction, and program design Additional videos illustrating fundamental motor skills, motor milestones, and infant reflexes New supplemental activities at the end of each chapter prompting students to apply concepts from the text to their own life experience Motor Learning and Development, Third Edition, also has related online activities and video clips designed to encourage critical thinking and application of concepts. Lab activities, which can be assigned by instructors in HKPropel, require students to complete hands-on assignments and draw conclusions. Over 90 videos demonstrate people of various ages, including infants, completing motor tasks so students can observe and assess movements throughout the life span firsthand. Other learning aids within the book include chapter objectives, glossary terms, sidebars, and supplemental activities to emphasize the evolution from research to practice. Opening vignettes in each chapter demonstrate the breadth of professions that use research in motor behavior. Motor Learning and Development, Third Edition, offers a foundation for understanding how humans acquire and continue to develop their movement skills throughout the life span. Note: A code for accessing HKPropel is not included with this ebook but may be purchased separately.




Relations Between Motor, Social, and Cognitive Skills in Young Children with Developmental Disabilities


Book Description

The importance of children's motor abilities, in relation to other developmental areas, has been acknowledged in both theory and research. However, researchers have typically focused on gross motor abilities in relation to cognitive and social abilities, and associations between fine motor, cognitive, and social abilities have received little research attention. In addition, very few studies have looked at the potential interrelations between motor, social, and cognitive abilities in preschool-aged children with developmental disabilities. The current study examined three areas of development, motor (both fine and gross motor), social, and cognitive skills, in preschool-aged children with developmental disabilities, to see whether there were associations between the three areas. The data for the study come from the Miami School Readiness Project (MSRP), a large-scale, collaborative, school readiness project, taking place in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Participants were children receiving early childhood special education services (N = 3,191), who were assessed for overall development and socio-emotional protective factors in the Fall and Spring of their pre-kindergarten year, using the LAP-D and the DECA. Results indicated that there were definite associations between motor, cognitive, and social skills. Also, both fine motor and gross motor skills in the Fall of the pre-kindergarten year significantly predicted later cognitive and social skills, measured in the Spring of the pre-kindergarten year, after controlling for child gender, age, and disability type; however, associations were stronger for fine motor skills, as opposed to gross motor skills, for both cognitive and social skills. In addition, disability category moderated the associations between motor and social and cognitive skills; however, gender was not a moderator, suggesting that the underlying associations between the three areas are similar for both boys and girls. The findings from this study have important implications for early educational programs and interventions, as well as for policymakers.