Understanding Sensory Perception and Body Schema Development

Posted on Jan 5, 2025 in Physical Education

Understanding Sensory Perception and Body Schema

1. Distinguishing Between Stimulus, Sensation, and Perception:

  • Stimulus – Physical, chemical, or mechanical agents that initiate a functional response in the body.
  • Sensations – Stimuli that are capable of being recruited through the sensory organs.
  • Perceptions – The experiences an individual has that are caused by sensations from stimuli. Each person constructs a unique perception of sensations through the senses.

2. Distinguishing Between Acuity, Memory, and Tracking:

  • Acuity – The ability to distinguish small details and differences.
  • Memory – The capacity to recall stimuli when they are no longer present.
  • Tracking – The capacity to follow stimuli through different displacements.

3. Definition of Body Schema:

  • The immediate and continuous knowledge we have of the state of our body, whether static or moving, in relation to the objects and space around us.
  • The representation that each person has of their own body serves as a reference in space.

4. Laws of Psychomotor Development:

  • Cephalocaudal Law: Myelination proceeds from the head to the feet. Control of the ocular-motor muscles is acquired before synchronized walking with arms and legs.
  • Proximodistal Law: The process progresses gradually from the center of the body to the extremities. For example, the ability to grasp begins with the shoulder and progresses to different types of grasping (learning to hold a bottle, etc.).

5. Stages of Body Schema Structuring:

  • First Stage: From Birth to 2 Years
    • The child begins to hold their head up and straighten their trunk.
    • They learn to maintain a seated position, first with support and then without.
    • Initial coordinations associated with global grasping are developed.
  • Second Stage: From 2 to 5 Years
    • Through action, grasping becomes more precise.
    • Locomotion becomes more coordinated.
    • The relationship with adults is always a factor in social evolution, allowing the child to separate from the external world and recognize themselves as an autonomous individual.
  • Third Stage: From 5 to 7 Years
    • Development of respiratory muscle control.
    • Knowledge of right and left.
    • Independence of the arms in relation to the body.
  • Fourth Stage: From 7 to 11-12 Years
    • The child becomes aware of the different body parts and develops motor control.
    • Independence of the arms and trunk in relation to the trunk.
    • Independence of the right in relation to the left.
    • Transposition of knowledge of others to knowledge of oneself.

6. Components of Body Schema:

  • Laterality: Preference for using one of the symmetrical body parts over the other.
  • Attitude: Natural psychophysiological postural response to the environment.
  • Tone: Minimum muscle tension to obtain an adequate posture and position.
  • Relaxation: Voluntary expression of muscle tone, accompanied by a sensation of rest.
  • Respiration: The act of taking air into the lungs and expelling it through the oral or nasal passages to maintain vital body functions.
  • Body Awareness and Control: Knowledge and mastery of each of the body parts and segments that integrate it.

7. Parts of the Brain:

  • Posterior Part:
    • Occipital Lobe
  • Anterior Part:
    • Frontal Lobe
    • Parietal Lobe
    • Temporal Lobe

10. Factors that Influence Laterality:

  • Neurophysiological Factors: Based on the existence of two cerebral hemispheres and the predominance of one over the other, this will determine the laterality of the individual.
  • Genetic Factors: This theory attempts to explain the hereditary transmission of lateral dominance, advocating that the laterality of parents conditions that of their children.
  • Social Factors: Family environment, social factors, furniture, everyday utensils, culture, etc., are considered from an educational point of view.

11. Process of Lateralization:

  • Location Phase (3 Years): The main objective is for the child to recognize the dominant segments and for other children to know about it. Sports activities should allow the child the maximum number of motor experiences.
  • Fixation Phase (4 to 5 Years): The main objective is for the child to establish the dominance of one segment over another. Sports activities should focus on:
    • Awareness of body symmetry.
    • Independence of body segments.
    • Maximum number of movements with the dominant side.
  • Development Phase (6-8 Years): The main objective is for the child to consolidate the established laterality. Sports activities should focus on:
    • Differentiating the right from the left.
    • Differentiating the right and left in space and in others.
    • Refining the movements of the dominant segments.
  • Maturation and Ambidexterity Phase (8-10 Years): The fundamental objective is to complete the maturation of everything achieved up to that moment. Sports activities should focus on:
    • Performing equal or different abilities with both sides of the body.
    • Refining the movements of the non-dominant segments.