Development and Motor Learning Flashcards
How contexts affect development
Cultural: customs, beliefs, behavior standards
Physical: nonhuman aspects of environment
Social: Availability/anticipation of behaviors by others
Personal: Child’s age, gender, eco status, education
Temporal: Stage of life, time of year, length of occ.
Virtual: Communication by means of computers, etc.
Gestation
Period of development of fetus in utero and at birth.
Prenatal: before birth (typically 40 weeks)
Perinatal: around birth
Postnatal: post-birth (infant is a neonate)
Infancy
Period of development from birth to 18 months.
• Significant physical/emotional growth
• Development of sensory/motor skills (delays can be crucial at this stage)
• Walking, talking, performing self-care tasks (eating from spoon, drinking from cup, undressing)
Early Childhood
Period of development from 18 mo. to 5 years.
• Become increasingly independent and develop sense of individuality.
• Fewer developmental milestones.
Middle Childhood
Period of development from 6 years to puberty.
• Spend 1/3 of time in educational settings.
• Influence shifts from parents to peers.
Adolescence
Period of development from puberty (~12) to 21 yrs.
• Physical and psychological development that accompanies onset of puberty.
• Hormonal changes and resulting challenges.
• Ends with onset of adulthood.
Principles of Normal Development:
- Development is sequential and predictable.
- Maturation and experience affect a child’s development.
- Changes occur in the biological, psychological, and social systems.
- Development progresses vertically (levels related to specific skills/occupations) and horizontally (in different performance skills/occupations).
3 Basic Rules of Motor Development
1) Cephalocaudal Progression (head to tail) - baby is able to control head/neck, then arms, then trunk, then legs.
2) Proximal to Distal Progression - Children develop control of structures close to body (shoulder) before farther away (hand.
3) Gross to Fine Motor - Children control large body movements before refined movements.
Motor Learning (define):
Learning and refinement of motor skills over time.
• Takes place in complex interaction betw child and environment.
• Refers to intrinsic process that accompanies child experiencing and participating in meaningful activities and long-lasting changes in motor performance.
• Based on principles of NEUROPLASTICITY (brain changes and makes new pathways, esp. in children)
Neuroplasticity:
The ways the brain changes by laying down new circuitry and making new neural connections.
• Occur when brain receives new info/stimuli
• In response, permanent changes happen in brain
• Learning requires feedback, feedforward, practice, modeling and transfer of learning.
Feedback vs. Feedforward
Feedback = Figuring out the activity. Comes AFTER performance of activity. Adjustments made based on performance/reflection.
Feedforward = Ability to plan for activity. Comes BEFORE the performance of activity. Adjustments made based on anticipation of movement required.
Principles of Motor Control:
Ability to regulate or direct the mechanisms essential to movement.
• Role of CNS, techniques to quantify movement, nature and quality of movement
• Addresses posture, mobility, and fine motor and gross motor skills; explores motor dev. throughout lifespan
• Supports DYNAMIC SYSTEMS approach.
Motor Control (define):
Ability to regulate or direct the mechanisms essential to movement.
Dynamic Systems Theory
Interplay betw neuromuscular system, environment, cognition, and the intended task.
• Change in one system affects the others.
• One task involves dynamic interaction of many systems (visual, proprio, tactile, etc.)
• To engage, one must have intent to move (guided by cognitive process)
• Change leads to neuroplasticity.
3 Pillars of Motor Control
Can be a ven diagram. Interventions for children are:
1) Meaningful (children engage more in meaningful tasks)
2) Closely Mimic Occupations of Childhood
3) Occur in Natural Context (setting similar to natural place where occ happens)
Feedback
Feedback = Results.
• Informs about progress in acquiring new skills.
• Before (feedforward) and after (feedback) performance.
• Intrinsic (within the child)
• Extrinsic (provided by external source)
• Verbal and nonverbal
• Consider type, timing, motor outcomes.
Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Feedback
Intrinsic: info the child received following a practice attempt (internal; nervous system processes).
Extrinsic: provided by others, or even by activity itself; helpful in identifying errors in movement. *Children respond to consistent ext. feedback with learning new skill, and it becomes internalized with practice.
Timing of Feedback
May be provided in various ways:
• Concurrent: during movement.
• Immediate: following movement.
• Terminal: right at completion of movement
• Delayed: after movement completed and time has transpired.
• Sporadic*: following some but not every trial; found to be more beneficial.
Modeling or Demonstration
Modeling = Just watching someone do it. Demonstration = Instruction provided while watching.
• Visual information on how to perform a task/skill.
• Most effective when presented in natural context.
• Demos best if provided:
- Before practicing and in early stages of learning;
- Slowly, without verbal feedback;
- After emphasizing critical cues;
- Throughout practice as frequently as is helpful.
Verbal Instruction
- Can be used to teach children motor skill
- Only as successful as instruction is detailed!
- Practice is preceded or accompanied by verbal instruction or cues (brief, 1-3 words)
- Once child completes key components, OT may provide addtl verbal instruction to refine movement
- Providing repetitive practice w/same verbal instruction reinforces learning.
Knowledge of Results vs. Knowledge of Performance
Knowledge of Results (KR): Info provided from external source about outcome or end result. Helps children retain newly learned motor skills.
Knowledge of Performance: Providing info about nature or characteristic of the movement. Helps children understand how they could adjust or change movements.
Types of Practice
Blocked Practice: Repeating similar movements with short rest breaks.
Distributed: Repetition of different skills spread over course of intervention with rest breaks.
Variable/Random: Practice of many different skills with periods of rest.
- ** Practicing PERFECT makes perfect!
- ** Repetition of motor tasks enhances brain development.
Transfer of Learning/Generalization
Applying past learning to new situations.
• Works best when client has opportunity for mastery of foundational skills first.
• Then, incorporate different/new skills.
Motor Memory
Registration of influence and internal feedback from the motor output back into the sensory system.
• After the motor/sensory link is when learning occurs.
• “Automatizing” the skill.
• Motor control best addressed by engaging child in meaningful activities closely mimicking occupations of childhood and occur in natural context. (ex: Char’s story of teaching her grandson to tie his shoe with “middle finger” which is a playground gag.)
Degrees of Freedom
Child may have difficulty controlling movements due to joints varying in amount of movement. Must learn to control shoulder, elbow, wrist before hand joints. Proximal to distal motor learning.
• To increase control, degrees of freedom can be limited by holding/stabilizing joint(s).
Coordination
Activation of specific muscles together.
• May be addressed by beginning with gross movements and progressing to more precise.
• Also address by encouraging postural stability during tasks.
Timing
Ability to time movements when needed.
• Can be promoted by including music, rhythmic songs, or counting.
