Midterm 1 Flashcards
motor development
the change in movement behaviour over the lifespan, it is continuous, sequential and age-related
motor learning
relatively permanent gains in motor skill capacity associated with practice or experience
motor control
the neural, physical, and behavioural aspects of movement
physical growth
quantitative increases in size or body mass
physical maturation
qualitative advance in biological makeup; cell, organ, or system advancement in biochemical composition
aging
process occurring with the passage of time, leading to the loss of adaptability or full function and eventually death
Newell’s model of constraints
the interrelation between individual structural and functional constraints with environmental constraints and task constraints
if any of these these factors change, the resultant movement changes
constraints
- limits, contain or help shape the development of movement
- discourage or limit certain movements
- encourage or permit other movements
- “shape” movements, channel away from some movement while toward others
individual constraints
- unique physical, mental characteristics
- structural: related to the body’s structure (ie. height, muscle mass)
- functional: related to behavioural function (ie. attention, motivation, fear)
environmental constraints
- a constraint from outside of the body, the world around us
- external: properties of the environment
- physical: gravity and surfaces
- sociocultural: gender roles, cultural norms
task constraints
- specific task requirements or goals, external to the body and not related to the individual
- related specifically to tasks or skills: goal of task, rule guiding task performance, and equipment
examples of individual structural constraints
- height: not being tall enough to reach top of volleyball net
- weight: above average body weight and trying to be physical active
- muscle mass: not enough strength to shoot basketball with proper form
- disease presence: arthritis impacting shoulder ROM
- locomotor ability: hand-eye coordination, a child who is crawling hasn’t yet learned to walk
examples of individual behavioural constraints
- attention: unable to focus on the task at hand, attention to detail, ADHD
- motivation: no desire so decreased performance
- fear or anxiety: fear of failure in a clutch performance
- previous experience: had a skiing injury and scared to repeat injury, or hated a previous exercises class
examples of environmental constraints
- gravity: require gravity to play badminton, determines how high we can jump
- surfaces: smooth vs rough ice, wet vs dry field
- weather: wind reduces golf performance
- gender roles: 2024 will be the first year with men’s synchronized swimming
- cultural norms: women less likely to play sports in certain parts of the world
- crowd at a sports event: intimidating, could decrease focus/ability to perform
- pressure from family or parents: discuss with parents in the care after enhances pressure
examples of task constraints
- goal of a task: when learning to run we modify the task and don’t focus on arm swing until other aspects of running are proficient
- rules about performance: you must dribble basketball to move down the court, could get there much easier and more efficiently by just running with it
- equipment: a large basketball is a constraint that negatively effects learning to dribble in small children, but a scaled down ball is a constraint that positively impacts dribbling for small children
Child kicking a ball contraints
- individual structural: height, weight
- individual functional: short attention span, off task easily, motivation/enjoyment
- environmental: experience, clothes their parents put them in, outside can be distracting, surface (grass will provide a barrier)
- task: unsure of rules/goal, size of the ball
constraints on atypical development
- disabilities: differences in structural or functional individual constraints
- must consider all interacting constraints
- may result in delayed/different motor development
- in the extreme may arrest development and no further change is observed (ie cerebral palsy)
changing developmental trajectories
effects of early constraints on development
- an early constraint or influence can change the developmental trajectory for the remainder of development
- Seefeldt proposed a proficiency barrier
- if the barrier isn’t crossed by a certain age, subsequent development would be difficult, this impacts the developmental trajectory
arrested development
a failure to develop beyond a specific point
longitudinal research
a individual or group is observed over time, study can require lengthy observation
cross-sectional research
individuals or groups of different ages are observed, change is inferred not actually observed
sequential or mixed longitudinal
mini-longitudinal studies with overlapping ages
meta-analysis
statistical technique integrates the effects observed in many studies into one more generalizable estimate of an effect
systematic review
many studies on a topic are compared and contrasted
universality
individuals in a species show great similarity in development
variability
individual difference exist
motor skill
- a function which involves the precise movement of muscle with the intent to perform a specific act
- has four common characteristics
4 common characteristics of a motor skill
- there is a goal to achieve, the action has a purpose
- performed voluntarily, reflexes are not motor skills but trained reactions are
- body and/or limb movement
- need to be learned
motor skill classification systems
- gross vs fine motor skills
- discrete, serial and continuous
- open vs closed
gross motor skills
- involve large muscles and precision of movement is not that important
- smooth coordination of muscles is essential
fine motor skills
- require control of small muscles to achieve a goal
- usually involve a high degree of precision of movement and hand-eye coordination
discrete motor skills
clearly defined beginning and end point, ie track running
serial motor skills
a series of discrete motor skills performed in a specific order, ie gymnastics routine
continuous motor skills
- no obvious beginning and end point, ie walking, running, biking
- performer or external forces determine the beginning and endpoints of the skill, rather than the skill itself
closed motor skills
- performed in a stable and predictable environment
- a self-paced task, the object waits to be acted on by the performer
open motor skills
- performed in an ever-changing, unpredictable environment
- an externally-paced task, performer needs to react to the environment to be successful
ways to measure motor performance
two main ways to measure performance: outcome vs process
- performance outcome measures: measures the outcome or result of performing a motor skill, doesn’t tell you how the outcome was achieved
- performance process measures: measures how aspects of the motor control system are functioning during the performance of an action, eg. muscles used, joint angles, nervous system activity
outcome measures
- reaction time (RT)
- movement time (MT)
- performance errors
process measures
- kinematics
- kinetics
- electromyography
- coordination
reaction time measures
- simple RT: one signal, one response, eg. 1 means touch your nose
- choice RT: more than one signal, each with its own response, eg 1 means touch your nose, 2 means touch your ears, etc.
- discrimination RT: more than one signal, one response, eg only touch your nose when I say 1, 2 and 3 have no response
reaction time
the time interval between the presentation of a signal and the initiation of a movement
pre-motor time (PRMOT)
time between the signal and the first change in EMG (electromyography) activity in the muscle
receive and interpret signal -> develop an action plan -> convey information to muscles
motor time (MOT)
- time between first EMG activity and observable movement
- not directly observable (MOT=RT-PRMOT)
movement time (MT)
the time interval between the start of a movement and its completion
performance error measures
used to determine whether or not the goal of the movement was achieved
1. absolute error: estimate overall size of the error
2. constant error: provides information on overall direction of error
3. variable error: the standard deviation of performance
performance process measures
- kinematics: motion qualities without regard to force
a. displacement: how far we’ve moved
b. velocity: how fast were moving
c. acceleration: the rate at which we are increasing how fast we are moving - kinetics: various internal and external forces acting on the body, eg. joint muscles (internal) and/or gravity and friction forces (external)
- electromyography: electrical activity in the muscle
- coordination: spatial and temporal relationships of limb segments
detailed information processing model
6 steps
- input: external info, which enters the CNS
- sensory system: detects environmental information (by using senses)
- perceptual system: organizes and classifies environmental information (into meaningful units or identifying what the information is)
- memory: encodes and stores information for later retrieval, allows us to make informed decisions based on what we know
- processor: integrates perceptual and memory information and makes a decision, limited system
- response organization and effector mechanism: organizes the appropriate motor commands and sends them to the muscles
performance
- observable behaviour
- difficult to identify cause of observable behaviour
how is learning determined?
- must be inferred from behaviour
- the challenge is the we cannot observe it directly: therefore we need a lot of evidence to know its occurring
what might affect performance of an athletic task/motor skill other than learning?
- reflexes
- maturation (body)
- luck
- strong teammates
- motivation/incentives
How can we tell if learning has occurred?
- change over time > need to observe people over time
- more consistent performance > same movement patterns are performed consistently
- change is relatively permanent
stages of learning
- cognitive stage
- associative stage
- autonomous stage
cognitive stage
- a large number of errors
- gross errors > large, catastrophic
- highly variable performance> often a lot of new strategies attempted
- high cognitive involvement > information processing demands are high
associative stage
- fewer errors
- ability to detect own errors > can detect reason for the error
- basic fundamentals have been learned
- decreased variability
- even types of errors made are more consistent
- cognitive shift to higher order components
autonomous stage
- skill become automatic > little to no cognition involvement needed to produce the skill
- little error > errors made are decisional rather than technical
- there is also a well-established internal standards of performance that allows for the detection and correction of errors
learning through practice
can be:
- real > practicing yourself
- imagery/mental practice > practicing in “mind’s eye”
- observational/vicarious learning > seeing others perform the skill
what makes a natural athlete?
- initial hand-eye coordination
- ability to self-correct
- learn new skill quickly
- reaction time
- can transfer skills to various sports easily
transfer of learning
the influence of having previously practiced a skill on the learning of a new skill
generally increases as the similarity between the two tasks increases
positive transfer of learning
- when the experience with a previous skill facilitates the learning of a new skill
- most likely when:
i. the components of the skill are similar, the similar environment explanation
ii. there are similarities between the learning processes required, the individual explanation
negative transfer of learning
- when the experience with a previous skill interferes with the learning of a new skill
- most likely when:
i. there are changes in spatial location required
ii. there are changes in timing required
zero transfer of learning
when the experience with a previous skill has no effect on the learning of a new skill
instructional methods for promoting transfer
- provide contextual interference, ie practice different skills during a practice session
- vary the type of practice
- reduce the frequency of feedback
provide contextual interference
-promotes the development of cognitive strategies that are less dependent on skill or context
- a different plan of action is needed each time
vary the type of practice
- practice many variations of one skill in a variety of contexts
reduce the frequency of feedback
- forces the learner to engage in active problem-solving and rely more on his/her own internal feedback
- sometime in competition certain types of external feedback won’t be there
whole practice
- practicing a skill in a cohesive manner
- helps learner get a feel for flow and timing of the skill
- if parts of a skill are highly dependent on each other, should be practiced as a whole
part practice
- practicing a skill by breaking it down into individual units and attempting to ‘perfect” each one, before eventually combining them into the whole skill
- helps learner master each component of a whole skill before worrying about it as a cohesive task
- should not be done if parts of a skill become a safety concern
what should we consider before deciding which method of practice is best?
- task complexity: number of parts in the task and the information processing demands of it
- task organization: how the components of the task are interrelated
if a skill is high in complexity, but low in organization
emphasize practice of parts
if a skill is low in complexity but high is organization
emphasize the practice of whole
blocked practice
- task is practiced on many consecutive trials before the next task
- enables learners to correct specific problems and refine skills one at a time
- especially important for beginners, when correct habits need to be learned and established
- associated with more short-term benefits in performance
random practice
- the ordering of tasks is randomized during practice
- very effective once a skill has become more developed
- can overload a beginner because of the high task demands
- associated with greater learning of the task
what is practice variability?
- refers to the variety of movement and context characteristics the learner experiences while practicing a skill
- can lead to an increase in errors, but usually enhances learning
- its effectiveness varies based on the type of skill
how to practice variability for closed skills
- practice conditions should be similar to those that will prevail under competition conditions
- hold the regulatory conditions relatively constant (eg. size of basket, height of beam)
- vary the non-regulatory conditions (eg. crowd noise, fatigue, wait time)
practice variability with open skills
- each response is somewhat novel and requires movement patterns that can be used in a variety of situations
- vary the regulatory conditions (eg. pattern/routes or receivers)
- vary the non-regulatory conditions (eg. crowd noise, fatigue, wait time)
- will likely inhibit short-term performance but will enhance learning
augmented feedback
two types
- information about performance that comes from an outside source
- knowledge of results (KR): information about outcome
- knowledge of performance (KP): information about the production of the movement pattern
benefits of augmented feedback
- provides information for error identification and correction > directs attention to most important information
- acts as a form of reinforcement > strengthens correct responses
- serves to motivate the learner > provides information about progress
things to keep in mind with augmented feedback
- precision of feedback
- feedback can either be too precise or too general
- when might feedback be either too precise or too general? depends on stage of learning - content of feedback
- feedback can contain information about error and/or correct performance
- feedback can be qualitative or quantitative - forms of feedback
- verbal: prescriptive or descriptive
- kinematic and kinetic visual displays (eg. charts and graphs)
- video (watching back form)
- biofeedback (information about physiological functions)
verbal prescriptive feedback
identifies the error and tells the learner what to do to correct it
verbal descriptive feedback
describes the error made
minimizing feedback dependency
- faded feedback
- bandwidth feedback
- summary feedback
faded feedback
- as learner improves, slowly reduce amount of feedback
- the coach can tailor feedback to respect individual differences
bandwidth feedback
- only give feedback when outside range of correctness
- eventually, faded feedback occurs
- lack of feedback = positive reinforcement
- movement consistency develops because learner is not encouraged to change movement on each trial
summary feedback
- only give feedback after a set number of trials
- generates movement consistency
- avoids overloading the learner
- can eventually allow athlete to perform more and more trials before feedback
when is feedback needed the most in learning process?
- feedback is vital as learner transitions into associative stage
- in associative stage use faded, bandwidth or summary feedback
- once learner reaches autonomous stage feedback can be withdrawn
physical literacy
the motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge, and understanding to value and take responsibility for engagement in physical activities for life
- when children are taught basic movement patterns at a young age, their athletic competence is enhances, which leads to greater confidence and motivation to participate in physical activity and athletic tasks
basic movement patterns
- running (3 tasks)
- locomotor (5 tasks)
- object control - upper body (4 tasks)
object contol - lower body (3 tasks) - balance, stability and body control (4 tasks)
assessing physical literacy development scale
developing:
- initial: presence of numerous gaps during execution
- emerging: limited number of major gaps, but able to execute basic sequencing of the task
acquired:
- competent: basic level of execution with minor sequencing errors
- proficient: overall proficiency is depicted by the quality of the movement
ways to test running physical literacy
- running in a square: child runs around 4 pylons, 3m apart in a square
- run there and back: child runs a straight line between 2 pylons, 5m apart
- run, jump, then land on two feet: the child runs a straight line from one pylon to another, 5m apart, performs a long jump at the pylon and lands on two feet
ways to test locomotor physical literacy
- crossovers: child is asked to perform crossover steps or grapevine from one pylon to next, 5m apart
- skip: child is asked to skip from one pylon to next
- gallop: child is asked to gallop from one pylon to the next
- hop: child is asked to hop from one pylon to the next
- jump: child is asked to jump from one pylon to the next
ways to assess object control, upper body physical literacy
- overhand throw: asked to throw a tennis ball overhand at the wall from 2m away and make it bounce back over thee top of their head
- strike with stick: asked to strike a tennis ball off a baseball tee, using baseball bat
- one-hand catch: the child is asked to catch a tennis ball thrown by an assessor, using only one hand from 3m away
- hand dribbles stationary and moving forward: asked to dribble a basketball three time at one pylon and then dribble forward 4m to the next pylon
ways to assess object control, lower body physical literacy
- kick ball: asked to kick a soccer ball at a marker on the wall, placed 1m above the ground from 4m away
- foot dribble moving forward: asked to dribble soccer from one pylon to the next, placed 5m apart
ways to test balance, stability and body control physical literacy
- balance walk (heel-to-toe) forward: asked to walk “heel-to-toe” from one pylon to next placed 2m apart while keeping their balance
- balance walk (heel-to-toe) backward
- drop to the ground and get back up
- lift and lower: asked to lift a ball above their head and then lower it back down to the ground
