Motor Learning and Development in Children
Motor Learning and Development
Basic Concepts
Learning and Motor Development
Learning is generally defined as a change in behavior. Motor learning, specifically, is a stable change or modification of motor behavior through practice. We learn through practice. It is crucial to provide children with positive and constructive learning experiences.
Practice, in this context, includes all the methods used to learn a behavior or motor skill. In motor learning, behavior is controlled by the administration, organization, and control of information.
Practice encompasses all techniques used to manage information to produce learning. Two constant questions arise:
- The initial information “This is what you have to do” (Feedforward).
- The final information or knowledge of results (Feedback).
The learner is involved in information processing (memory care). Understanding how learning occurs involves understanding models of information processing.
Therefore, motor learning (human movement) also involves understanding how to perform actions correctly. Motor development, an area of knowledge linked to motor learning, refers to the structural and functional changes of the motor system over time. It depends on both maturation and learning.
Physical, Perceptual-Motor, and Motor Skills
Learning motor skills develops physical, perceptual-motor, and motor capabilities.
- Physical abilities include endurance, strength, speed, and flexibility. These are the foundations of physical condition. Physical abilities are developed, not learned.
- Perceptual-motor skills include perception and spatial orientation, and perception of time and space-time organization. These skills coordinate the body’s sensory systems with movements. A child’s perceptual-motor development evolves from self-perception to perception of the environment.
Perception and Spatial Orientation
A child first understands themselves as an individual, then becomes aware of the surrounding environment. This awareness starts with understanding their own position (“away”) and then understanding direction relative to themselves (orientation).
Guidelines for Developing Spatial Orientation in Children
- 3-6 years: Beginning to understand right and left, relative to themselves and space. Recognizing spatial directions through movement. Organizing objects relative to themselves. Developing notions of spatial dimension.
- 6-10 years: Understanding left and right relative to themselves, others, and objects. Orienting in space through varied movements with changes in direction and purpose. Understanding spatial relationships (together, separated, locations). Occupying space in different ways (rows, squares). Appreciating objects and paths.
- 10-12 years: Orienting relative to others (mirroring). Orienting to cardinal points. Orienting in different positions (eyes closed, lying down). Orienting in space (traveling in groups with guidance from others). Traveling and manipulating objects (throwing in a zig-zag). Creating graphical representations of displacement.
Time Perception
Perceiving time starts with understanding duration, relative to oneself, oneself relative to objects, and relationships between objects. Two aspects of time perception are the perception of order and duration, highlighting the importance of rhythm.
Guidelines for Developing Time Perception in Children
- 3-6 years: Education of sound. Relationships over time and space, more slowly.
- 6-10 years: Rhythmic structures. Notions of cadence, duration, and speed. Space-time relationships.
- 10-12 years: Continuing to work with rhythm and cadence. Space-time relationships with others. Findings of speeds. Self-speed-trajectory ratios.
Space-Time Organization
Space-time organization involves greater complexity (the space to cover within a given time). The interrelationship between space and time perception requires a higher level of complexity and a certain level of intellectual analysis and mental representation from the child.
Motor Skills
Two key motor skills are coordination and balance. They form the basis for all movements and are present in all motor skills.
- Coordination: Performing a movement efficiently and automatically (precisely, controlled, and harmoniously). Three types of coordination are locomotor (overall dynamic), visual-motor, and segmental.
- Balance: Controlling one’s body in a stable and controlled manner. Two types of balance are static and dynamic.
Balance is linked to the central nervous system and evolves with age. Its maturation requires integrating information from auditory, visual, and kinesthetic (proprioceptive) systems.
Basic Concepts in Motor Learning
Motor Action
A motor action is the basic functional unit of sensory, cognitive, and motor processes. Its structure is expressed through the sensory chain (a movement):
Perception → Analysis → Decision → Execution
Elements of Motor Action:
- Cognitive structure
- Sensory organ perception
- Short-term memory analysis
- Response selection decision
- Motor structure
- Physical factors in execution
- Other performance factors
Task Planning
A task is what the student is asked to perform during the teaching-learning process. It is the activity performed to learn or improve a motor action.
According to Famose (1983): “Activity that the student should perform and through which we intend to learn or improve a motor skill.”
Motor Behavior
Motor behavior encompasses all regulatory processes underlying a motor action. It is the result of a complex chain of activities or information processing, involving the central nervous system and cognitive processes.
Mechanisms Involved in the Sensorimotor Chain
Perception → Decision → Execution
These mechanisms act sequentially. In any movement, these three mechanisms are involved to varying degrees, in the order presented.
External Feedback: Knowledge of results
Environmental Information → Perception → Decision → Movement → Outcome/Performance
Internal Feedback: Knowledge of performance
Implementation scheme of a motor task as per Marteniuk (1976).
Perception Mechanism
- Encodes multiple sensory stimuli.
- Relates this information to existing knowledge stored in memory.
- Extracts useful meaning in a given space and time.
- Differs according to each individual.
- Key elements: Selective Attention and Perceptual Advance
Decision Mechanism
- Crucial in cognitively meaningful tasks.
- Enables quick and efficient selection of the correct motor response.
- Connects perception with execution.
- Varies according to each individual.
- Key element: Logical Reasoning