Understanding Growth And Development

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Understanding Growth And Development
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Terminology

• Growth Increase on size of the body structure
  produced by cell enlargement or multiplication.

• Development adaptive change toward competence
• (Koegh Sugden 1985)
• A life long process
• A product of heredity, growth, maturation
  experience

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Terminology

• Maturation Qualitative Changes that enable one
  to progress to higher levels of functioning.

• Primarily innate (genetically determined)
• Resistant to external or environmental influences
• Fixed order of progression
• Rate of fixed order can/does vary due to
  experience

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Terminology

• Experience Conditions within the environment
  that may alter or modify various developmental
  characteristics through the learning process
• (Gabbard 1996)

• Adaptation interplay between individual and
  environment

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Figure 1.3
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Terminology

• Motor Development Progressive change in motor
  behavior throughout the life cycle brought about
  by interaction among the requirements of the
  task, the biology of the individual, and the
  conditions of the environment
• (Gallahue Ozmun 1998)

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Phases of Motor Behavior
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A. Reflexive/Spontaneous Movement Phase

• 3rd fetal month into first year post birth
• Reflexes (involuntary motor responses elicited by
  sound, touch, light, body position and controlled
  by subcortical brain centers

• Approximately 27 major reflexes have been
  identified
• Most disappear by age 6
• Sucking reflex, Moro reflex, Grasping reflex,
  tonic neck reflex
• Locomotor reflex crawling, stepping, swimming

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Spontaneous Movements

• Stereotypical rhythmic movements that appear in
  absence of any known stimuli (they just emerge).

• Thelen (1979) has identified 47 distinct
  spontaneous movements
• Leg kicking, arm swinging, finger flexion,
  rocking etc.
• Do not appear goal oriented
• Appearance is quite predictable and orderly
• Developmentally significant since they appear
  before during voluntary control of legs arms
• Probably demonstrate neurological maturation

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B. Rudimentary Behavior

• During first 6-10 months initial voluntary
  movements coexist with reflexes stereotypes

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Postal control

• Holds head up, head and chin up
• Rolls, side to side. Stomach to back

• Sits, with support alone, gets into sitting
  position, sits down
• Stands, holding on, pulls self to stand, alone

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Rudimentary locomotion

• Crawling, 6-8 months
• Creeping, 8-10 months

• Walking, with support 9-10 months
• Alone 12-14 months
• Stairs 2-4 yrs
• Perfected 4-5 yrs

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Manual Control

• Prehension, reaching for and grasping an object
• Manipulation, skilled use of hands

• Motor Asymmetric
• Lateral (hemispheric) dominance

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C. Fundamental Movement Development

• Fundamental movement skill a common motor
  activity such as walking, running, jumping,
  throwing, each with a specific movement pattern.

• Movement pattern the basic functional structure
  of a fundamental movement skill. Involves a
  series of movements organized in a certain
  time-space sequences.

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Fundamental Movement Development

• Hopping
• Galloping
• Sliding
• Skipping
• Throwing
• Striking
• Ball bouncing and dribbling

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Fundamental Movement Development Running
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Fundamental Movement Development Jumping
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Fundamental Movement Development Catching
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Fundamental Movement Development Kicking
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Climbing
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Fine Motor Manipulative Behavior

• Finger differentiation

• Construction and self-help skills, putting things
  together, tying shoes, buttoning cloths, holding
  cup/fork, feeding oneself etc.

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Continued Fine Motor Manipulative Behavior

• Drawing and writing

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Continued Fine Motor Manipulative Behavior

• Bimanual control

• Handedness
• Footedness

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D. Sports Skill Growth And Refinement

• During later childhood and adolescence children
  begin to utilize the fundamental skills acquired
  earlier combined with significant changes in
  physical growth, body structure and physiological
  development to produce greater quantitative
  (product) changes in motor performance. Sex
  differences are often studied.

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Continued Sports Skill Growth And Refinement

• Running Speed

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Continued Sports Skill Growth And Refinement

• Throwing Distance

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Continued Sports Skill Growth And Refinement

• Kicking velocity
• Kicking distance
• Catching
• Striking
• Balance

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E. Peak Performance and Regression

• Peak motor performance is generally reached
  during early adulthood. Females at ages 22-25,
  males 25-30. This is especially true in muscular
  strength, cardiorespiratory efficiency, and
  processing speed (RT and MT). While most
  structures and systems are fully mature at this
  time, long bones may continue to grow until age
  25, and vertebral column until age 30. Brain case
  may also increase in size well into adulthood

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Regression

• Differences in chronological and Physiological
  age have received greater attention as research
  has established the positive aspects of an active
  lifestyle on physiological age.

• Cardiorespiratory function
• Muscular strength

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Continued Regression

• Neural function (psychomotor slowing)

• Reduction in brain cells -?
• Greater synaptic delay
• 10-15 decrease in nerve conduction velocity
  (NTT)
• Approximately 37 loss in number of spinal cord
  axons

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Continued Regression

• Some evidence that greater loss occurs in lower
  extremities in RT MT due to less use.
• Task complexity also appears to be a factor

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Continued Regression

• Task complexity also appears to be a factor