Perceptual-Motor Development and Motor

Skill Intervention

©Gallahue, D.L., Ozmun, J.C., Goodway, J.D. (2012). Understanding Motor Development. Boston: McGraw-Hill.

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.

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All Voluntary Movement Involves an Element of Perception; As Such, Childhood Motor Development Is

Closely Associated With Perceptual-motor Functioning

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Visual-motor adjustment- Movement as a “necessary” condition? (motion hypothesis) - Movement as a “sufficient” condition? (perception may have an impact on movement skill learning)

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Visual Acuity - Static (pick out detail in stationary

objects, Snellen chart: 20/20)- Dynamic (pick out detail in moving objects)- Developmental aspects (rapid improvement 5-7, plateau 7-8, mature 10-12)

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Figure-ground Perception- Figure (object of regard)- Ground (background)- Developmental aspects (slow improvement 3-4, rapid improvement 4-6, mature 8-12)

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Depth Perception - Monocular depth cues (size, texture, shading etc.)- Binocular depth cues (retinal disparity gives depth)- Developmental aspects (frequent errors 3-4, few errors 5-6, rapid improvement 7-11, mature 12)

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Visual-motor Coordination - Object tracking & interception (coincidence-anticipation)- Developmental aspects (rapid improvement 3-7, slow improvement, 7-9, mature 11-12)

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Modify equipment (size, weight, color, texture)

Modify rules (for perceptual clarity & consistency)

Modify expectations (for level of development)

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Sensory input (visual, auditory, tactile, kinesthetic sensory receptors)

Sensory integration (organizing incoming data with stored data)

Motor interpretation (making internal motor decisions based on both present & past data)

Movement activation (executing the movement)

Feedback (KR & KP)

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Body awareness (improves body schema, body image)

-Knowledge of the body parts-Knowledge of what they can do-Knowledge of how to make them

do it Spatial awareness (moving from

egocentric space to external space) -Subjective localization-Objective localization

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Directional Awareness (gives dimension to objects in space)

-laterality (internal)-directionality (external)

Temporal Awareness (an internal time structure)

-synchrony -rhythm-sequence

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Young children from disadvantaged environments demonstrate developmental delays (< 25th percentile compared to peers) in FMS

Although delayed, boys had better manipulative skills than girls

Both boys and girls had similar locomotor skills Delays in FMS are consistent across ethnic

groups and geographic locations and give rise to concern about future physical activity patterns, obesity & health

Young children who are disadvantaged are in need of early motor skill intervention

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Poverty – economically impoverished environment

Lack of safe places to play outside Limited role models Limited access to sport/motor skill

programs Limited feedback on performance of motor

skills Biological factors such as low birth weight,

premature birth, small for gestational age (SGA)

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Provide instruction to young children to help remediate their developmental delays.

Motor skill interventions have been taught by: Motor development experts Parents as teachers of their children with an expert

facilitator directing parents Physical education teachers

In all cases, providing a motor skill intervention resulted in significant improvements in FMS

In many studies, these programs brought children who were delayed into the range of typical (or even advanced) motor development

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Teacher centered approaches Direct instruction provided by teacher Teacher sets the tasks and controls a child’s

progress through the skill tasks Feedback and cue words provided during instruction

Child centered approaches Teacher as a facilitator Teacher sets the tasks, but the child determines the

tasks in which to participate and controls progress through the skill tasks

Feedback and cue words provided during instruction Uses “TARGET“ structures to create lesson plans

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Adding a motor skill program to a child’s regular preschool program resulted in significant pretest-to-posttest improvements in FMS (both locomotor & manipulative skills)

Children who only got their regular preschool program with play-based physical activities did not improve their FMS from pretest-to-posttest

Programs lasting 8-12 weeks and encompassing skill instruction for 90-120 mins of instruction resulted in the necessary instructional time to improve motor skills

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Assess children’s motor skill development Carefully plan motor activities based on the current

motor development of the children Select a wide variety of motivating tasks that will

challenge & meet the needs of all levels of children Provide maximum opportunities to practice (own

equipment, lots of practice trials, small groups) Provide accurate demonstration of skills Give individualized feedback & cue words to

promote desirable performance Install reward structures & other motivational

techniques such as creative, thematic lessons Allow child choice & encourage independence of

learning

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Motor skill interventions using direct instruction, mastery motivational climate and parents as teachers

brings about significant changes in the FMS of young children who are disadvantaged. Children receiving

the regular early childhood curriculum did not improve their

motor skills.