Lecture 2a: Motor Skill Classification Flashcards
What is a Skill?
- skill as an ACTION or TASK (noun) - task perspective
A. a goal-directed task or action
(eg. serving is a skill essential
to playing tennis) - skill as an indicator of ABILITY (adjective) - performance perspective
A. “ability to bring about some
pre-determined end result
with maximum certainty and
minimum outlay of
energy/time” (eg. Serena
Williams is highly skilled at
serving)
4 Criteria of a Motor Skill
- goal-oriented (different to movements, goal not necessary)
- movement must be voluntary (not reflexive)
- body and/or limb movement are required to accomplish the goal (different to cognitive skills)
- result of practice. needs to be learned/relearned (for example crawling and walking) - can be harder to determine because some things come from growth maturation but practice is also very important
Would walking with crutches be considered a motor skill?
YES
* it is goal oriented, voluntary, involves body/limb movement and can be learned or relearned
Are These Motor Skills?
1. grasping your cup of coffee?
2. texting on your cell phone?
3. solving a word problem?
4. driving your car?
5. drawing back after touching a hot stove?
- yes
- yes
- no
- yes
- no
3 General Types of Motor Skill Classification Systems
- gross vs. fine
- discrete vs. serial vs. continuous
- open vs. closed
- have to consider them along a continuum
- discrete (one action) continuous (replicated rhythmic actions) serial (numerous discrete actions put together)
- unpredictable open situations compared to predictable, consistent closed situations
- Size of Primary Musculature Required (fine vs. gross)
fine motor skills
greater control of small muscles
- typically precise/manipulative skills (ex. typing, doing buttons on shirt)
gross motor skills
use of large musculature
- less emphasis on precision (ex. dribbling) (there is precision but it is not the most important thing in this case)
How would you classify the motor skill of bowling?
mainly gross motor skills as you are using large musculature but requires some precise skills as well
Critical question to ask help classify motor skills
- could the action be performed whilst the large musculature was constrained? (typically if the trunk is constrained)
- is there a clear beginning and end to the movement (or movement components)?
- does the performer initiate the action (self-paced) or respond to the environment - which has unpredictability?
- Nature of Movement Organization (discrete vs. serial vs. continuous)
discrete skill: brief, well-defined beginning and end
serial skill: discrete skills strung together, form more complex action and order of elements important for success (different skills put together like long jump or triple jump for example)
continuous skill: repetitive skill, arbitrary beginning and end and often rhythmic (same actions)
- diving can be considered serial because you going type, flip, turn, and such (not the same movement but different ones put together)
- Predictability/Stability of the Environment and whether the actor Controls the situation
closed vs. open
Closed Motor Skill
- stable, predictable environment
- object does not change during performance
- self-paced. performer control the situation
A. object is acted upon
B. context does not change
Open Motor Skill
- unpredictable, changing environment
- object or context is in motion during performance
- externally paced. performer responds to variations in env.
- self-paced skills (you are not waiting for someone else, you are in control) vs. externally paced skills (with soccer or hockey people are moving around you and the ball is consistently moving)
- on a continuum so it can be a combination of both because we do not always know if it is open or close
