Outline 01 - Motor Skills and Classification Systems (updated) PDF

Preview

Summary

Download Outline 01 - Motor Skills and Classification Systems (updated) PDF

Description

Motor Skills I.

The acquisition of motor skills A. Influenced by individual characteristics of the learner and motor performance (practice). B. Motor performance: The observable attempt of an individual to produce a voluntary action. The level of a person’s performance is susceptible to fluctuations in temporary factors such as motivation, arousal, fatigue, and physical condition. C. Motor learning: Changes in internal processes that determine an individual’s capability for producing a motor task. The level of an individual’s motor learning improves with practice and is often inferred by observing relatively stable levels of the person’s motor performance.

II.

A motor skill (or action) is a learned sequence of movements that combine to produce a smooth, efficient action in order to master a particular task. The primary determinant of success is the quality of the movement that the performer produces. A. Performance proficiency 1. Maximum certainty of goal achievement 2. Minimum energy expenditure 3. Minimum movement time (sometimes) B. The capability of producing a performance result with maximum certainty and minimum energy or minimum time; develops as a result of practice. 1. Motor skills are learned 2. Movements characteristics are adapted in order to achieve goals 3. Outcomes of motor skills can be measured C. Motor skills are different from cognitive skills Cognitive skill: A skill for which the primary determinant of success is the quality of the performer’s decision regarding what to do. 1. Cognitive skills emphasize knowing “what to do”; Motor skills emphasize “how to do it” Characteristics 2. Goal-orientated and purposeful. This distinguishes motor skills from non-skilled movement. 3. Requires movement of the body, head, and/or limbs. This distinguishes them from cognitive skills. 4. Emphasis on voluntary as opposed to involuntary movement. This disqualifies reflexes from this definition. D. Performance of motor skills can be influenced by the specific characteristics of the task, the individual, and the performance environment. 1. Implicit learning: Improvements that occur in an individual’s capability for correct responding as a result of repeated performance attempts and without the person’s awareness of the components of the task that prompted the improvements.

E. Different from “Ability” 1. Abilities: Stable, enduring traits that, for the most part, are generally determined and that underlie an individual’s skilled performance. 2. If a person possesses high levels of abilities important to the performance of a particular task, that individual should be able to perform the task at a higher level than another person who possesses lower levels of the important abilities.

III.

Classification of motor skills A. One-dimensional classification: Description of skill on a one-dimensional continuum Exemplary categories for motor skill classification 1. Ratio of decision making to motor control (Motor - - - Cognitive/Perceptual) a) I would argue that this should not be one dimension but two separate dimensions 2. Stability/Predictability of the environmental context (Open - - - - Closed) 3. Size of primary musculature (Fine - - - - Gross) 4. Specificity of where actions begin & end (Continuous - - Serial - - Discrete) B. Gentile’s Two-Dimensional Classification System for Physical Therapy: 1. Created as an attempt to provide physical therapists with a tool for evaluating patients’ motor skills and for determining appropriate treatment. a) [excerpt from Magill Chap 1] This taxonomy is not limited to the physical therapy context. Everyone who is involved in teaching or training motor skills can benefit from the use of this taxonomy. It is an excellent means of becoming aware of the characteristics that make skills distinct from, as well as related to, other skills. It demonstrates that small changes in the characteristics of a motor skill can result in a considerable increase in the demands placed on the performer of the skill. 2. Description of skill based on environmental context or action function. Environmental Context: The specific characteristics of the environment in which the skill is being performed a) Regulatory Conditions – The degree to which the relevant environmental context features (i.e. supporting surfaces, objects, and people) are stationary or in motion. These features regulate how movements are performed within that context (Stationary - - - - - - In-Motion) b) Intertrial variability – Whether the regulatory conditions during performance are the same or different from one attempt to perform the skill to another (Variability Absent - - - - - Variability Present) Action function: Whether or not performing the skill requires moving the body from one location to another and wither an object must be manipulated. c) Body orientation: Is the body moving from place to place (Stationary - - - - - In-transport) d) Object manipulation: Is an object also involved? (No object - - - - Object)

C. 16 skill categories: Description of skill based on both environment demand and action function...