Motor Development Video Analysis

Physical development in children is an important area and is usually expected to happen automatically as they grow. The important areas are gross motor skills,

According to Beek, Peper, and Stegeman (1995), “the motor control theories provide an explanation on how the nervous system will solve the degrees of freedom problem and serve to direct movement command.” The following theories are the generalized motor program theory and the dynamical systems theory. The GMP theory “proposes that the movement plan is retrieved from memory within the central nervous system and neural instructions are sent down to the effectors via the efferent pathways.” The dynamical systems approach on the other hand, “does not propose a hierarchical control, but suggests that movements emerge through self-organization of the interaction of the body and environment.” It can be said that everybody’s “bodily movements occur in the context of the everyday functioning of people while realizing specific task goals.” As a general, yet acquired rule, “such movements involve the participation of multiple joints and limbs.” Moreover, when in action, these body parts are “coordinated and are brought into proper relation to one another as well as to the surrounding layout of surface.” The coordination of these body parts may “look relatively simple, as in picking up an object, or relatively complicated, as in juggling, performing an attacking forehand drive in table tennis or playing the drums.” To the psychomotor scientist or researcher, however, “all coordination is complex in that he or she is confronted with the challenge to explain

Three physical changes the infant undergoes includes (1) going from using basic reflexes to learning complex motor skills (e.g. how to crawl and walk); (textbook p. 142; Chapter 4), (2) developing fine motor skills (e.g. precisely reaching and grasping for a toy); (p. 185; Chapter 5), and (3) developing vision, specifically depth perception and pattern perception (e.g. developing the ability to recognize); (pp. 189-193, Chapter 5). These are examples of the dynamic systems theory of motor development as the infant progresses in a sequence.

There were many opportunities to observe Jackie’s physical and motor development. There are two types of motor development, fine and gross motor. Fine motor is described as “skills that require control of the small muscles of the body. Developing control of the hands and fingers enables the 3-year old to hold a crayon using her fingers rather than her fist, to build a tower of blocks, and to use scissors to cut paper ” (Levine and Munsch, 2016, p.255). Jackie demonstrated her fine motor skills while painting with a paintbrush, placing blocks into holes, and using her fingers to take a hat off. While painting using a paint brush Jackie used a fist grip. This means “When using a pencil or crayon, a young child will hold the item

Children develop gross motor skills at different age norms which are affected by their culture and can vary (Berger, 2014). In order to gain information, we need to educate and understand this development, we have to conduct research. We are looking for new information and theories. Although surveys are a great way to collect a large amount of data the information gained is only as sound as the subject. This is why we need other avenues for research, and we need parental support to make that happen.

Activities of daily living are the main focus of an Occupational Therapist. When people are doing their habits and routines do not think about the way they do something or why they are doing it in a certain way. An Occupational Therapist, however, will watch a person perform an activity and think on the steps he/she is taking and the reason behind the way they are performing it. For OTs, the way people perform a certain task or how they behave is extremely important because according to the theorists of behavior, motor control, and cognitive development each individual most perform and behave according to their stage in life. OT is all about client-centered care and if they would not know how a person is supposed to behave at a certain age how would they realize there is something wrong. In this paper, we are going to try to implement those theories in the behavior of a child.

Alexander, Enrique, and Alexis are the names of the children I observed. They have different gross motor skills and fine motor skills. However, their differences are in the sophistication of each ability. Alexander, who is 7 years old is very active. He was jumping and trying to count by jumping on the tile floors to see how many there were across the living room. He is developing typically to his age. What has influenced this level of physical development is the amount of myelin in the brain increases and raises the speed at which electrical impulses travel between neuron. Which, makes massages reach muscles more rapidly and control them better. Enrique, in the other hand, his physical development is more sophisticated than Alexander’s.

So many children this day in age, are sat in front of a television or a tablet and expected to keep quiet. Children are built to explore, move, and learn from their experiences, and this cannot happen when a child is inside, being distracted by technology. No matter how busy parents are, they should find at least thirty minutes a day to go outside and play with their children. If the weather does not permit outside play, then playing games inside is always a great alternative. Parents should be encouraging their children to develop the motor skills that they are going to need in order to succeed in school and later in life. Many parents encourage the development of their children’s gross motor skills by involving them in sports, dance, or gymnastics. These programs are great for not only teaching children how to be good at something they love, but they also encourage children to develop their motor skills. If parents find that they cannot afford programs such as these, they can focus on providing multiple opportunities for play. For example, one day they could go to the park or they could go over the neighbor’s house to play. Ultimately, the best thing that parents can do to encourage the development of their children’s motor skills is to allow them to play as much as possible and to allow them to try new activities, even if they are

The most typical gross motor skills utilized by this young boy were rolling, walking, and running. In the first few minutes of watching the child he exhibited boredom and began to roll around on the couch. He used his long legs and strong arms to propel his body in a circular motion from one of the couch to the other. When the child needed to use the restroom, he shifted his weight evenly from one leg to the other pushing hard on the ground to maximize distance between each step. The walk from the bathroom to the couch was at a calm and leisurely pace. The body was kept in vertical alignment as the boy took smaller steps to reach his destination.

As children’s bodies become more streamlined and less top-heavy, their center of gravity shifts downwards toward the trunk. As a result, balance improves greatly, paving the way for new motor skills involving large muscles of the body. (Berk, 1999) During the preschool years until approximately age seven, fundamental motor skills develop including the locomotor skills needed to run, jump, hop, and skip. Also the object control skills such as throwing, catching, and kicking are developing. By the age of six or seven, children begin to integrate two or more of these skills. Though all children will not develop these skills at the same age, they will follow the same sequence.

As children progress through the early stages of their lives they will continually reach milestones that are somewhat of a tracker as to where they stand in their development, but at the same time it’s important to remember that even though there are suggested milestones as to a maturing task for a specific age and month, each child may mature differently than the next. One part of this progress that children will continually develop through in the early stages of their lives is motor skill development, which is the use of their larger and smaller muscles to perform adult like tasks. More specifically this development can be categorized into fine and

There are many physical advantages to gross motor skill development that play a role both in childhood and throughout the rest of that individual’s lifetime. Motor skills that are developed in infancy are essential steps to continue to build motor skills throughout childhood (Burns et al., 2017). In order to have the best physical potential to be able to carry out daily activities, gross motor skills are where this all begins. To have optimal function, an individual must learn how to control their movements with poise and rhythm.

In the beginning months of children’s lives, they are “introduced” to their little bodies and minds, and start by moving their heads, and then work these movements down and out. When one skill is mastered, they move on to the next area of the body until it is mastered. This process continues so children can control and use their bodies to become strong and active little people. Their brains really connect, control, and communicate with their bodies. Just like children’s first steps; they move one step at a time—slow but

This is because they are born with the same set of muscles and bones that they learn how to use – the “nature” part of motor development. However, it is important to notice that the rate of learning these motor skills differ due to the “nurture” side of development. For example, an infant that practices walking with its parent may start walking on its own earlier than another infant that received no help. Also, an infant that receives much visual and auditory stimulation, such as playing with toys, develops its motor skills faster than an infant that received none.

However, it is important to remember that according to Melina in Charlesworth’s book, “motor development is influenced by a number of factors: genetics, status at birth, size, build and composition, nutrition, rearing and birth order, social class, ethnicity, and culture” (Charlesworth, 2000.p.151). Therefore, these factors help to explain the story of life, and why every child learns how to do things at their own pace, rather than at the same time as every other child their age.