Subject and Course Guides: KINE 3388 Theory and Application in Motor Development / Dr. Caçola: Think About It

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Think About It Questions

• Why is important to have a general understanding of human development in order to gain insight into lifelong motor behavior?

• What is another example of motor behavior in which both nature and nuture contribute, and how does each effect contribute?

• In addressing the limitation of correlation research, how many different explanations are there for the observation that children who watch more television have more body fat?

• Think of a few major role models in your life and describe how they have affected your development—in general and with regard to motor development.

• How have your environmental surroundings influenced the physical (including motor skill proficiency) person you are today?

• Why is there no single theory that can explain all aspects of human development? If you had to pick two to study motor behavior, which would they be?

Research

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Web of Knowledge
Abstracts and citations in ISI's Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index, and Arts & Humanities Citation Index. Along with an article's abstract, its cited references (bibliography) are listed for further searching.

Journals
Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport
Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance
Journal of Teaching in Physical Education
Sport, Education and Society
The Physical Educator
Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly
European Physical Education Review
American Journal of Health Education

Think About It Questions

• List some of the phenotype characteristics you have and from which parent you inherited them. Can you think of ways the environment affects phenotype over time?

• Can parents do anything to optimize brain development in babies? If yes, what?

• From this discussion, describe the role of biology/environment in early brain development. If you were designing a motor development program for 3- and 4-year-olds, what would it look like based on this information?

•What scientific measurement techniques provide us with information about development of the brain? Furthermore, what can they tell us?

• Name some reasons why there are large individual differences in brain function of the elderly.

Research

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Think About It Questions

• Consider some ways the phenomenon of puberty can influence participation in sports. Include possible, if any, differences between males and females.

• What is the relationship between specific body proportions and motor performance after pubertal change?

• Describe how the environment can affect physique.

• Using a velocity curve format, illustrate the major physical growth (weight and bodyweight) milestones across the life span. Then, briefly summarize each event.

• What are the implications of age-related declines in motor behavior for daily living activities?

• What might be some advantages of being a late-maturing person?

• Considering the secular trend, speculate on the difference between the 15-year-old of today and the 15-year-old of the year 2050. What type of research design would you use to study this?

Research

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Think About It Questions

• What factors contribute to making a great sprinter and long-distance runner (biology/environment)?

• Recently, there has been controversy regarding weight training by prepubescent children. What do you suppose is the issue? Furthermore, what would be safe for increasing strength?

• What are the implications of weak muscles in the elderly?

• Take a position that males are as flexible as females. What proof can you provide?

• Considering all of the changes (regression) that occur with advanced aging, what daily living activities are more likely to be profoundly affected?

Research

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Think About It Questions

• Consider how maternal factors affect postnatal motor development.

• Advances in science are telling us more and more about what affects prenatal development. Are you suspicious of any other (than the already described) agents that might affect prenatal development? Explain.

• What do you think is the greatest problem with children's health: lack of exercise or poor diet? What, specifically, is the solution for an overweight child?

• This discussion noted the effects of normal habitual physical activity on development. What is your reaction to Olympic-style programs (e.g., 3 - 5 hours daily of swimming and gymnastics) for children?

• What is your opinion of the activity levels recommended by NASPE and the CDC?

Research

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Think About It Questions

• Consider child's play. How is it related to embodiment?

• In what ways can you modify the visual cliff experiment to study other aspects of depth perception?

• What are the constraints to effective coincident timing in young children (e.g., 5-7-year-olds)?

• What motor skill activities require a high degree of kinesthetic ability?

• Is there any practical application of the information on movement awareness?

• Describe a few examples of sport activities that have a high degree of perceptual integration.

• Describe the impact of regression of perceptual abilities on daily living activities in the elderly. Consider the impact on playing a simple game of softball.

• In the Perception Action model, where and how does Gibson's ecological perspective fit?

• Identify some typical affordances in the environment that challenge the prewalking infant. What motor skills do they trigger?

• How would you present the position that movement-based activities are important to child development?

Research

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Think About It Questions

• Reflecting back on Chapter 6, how does the information presented here fit the general information-processing model (Figure 6.1 on page 171)?

• Name some sport activities that require considerable selection attention. Rank them in order by complexity and explain why you ranked them as you did.

• Do you perceive general memory and the ability to recall movements (motor memory) as different from each other?

• Why can we recall how to ride a bicycle (and do it) after years of not practicing but forget what we wore to class last week?

• As future teachers and coaches, is there any practical value to this information: we (as adults) are about twice as fast with processing and reaction as a 5-year-old is?

• As a physical education teacher for children, how would you use this information for teaching, for example, the manipulative skill of throwing?

• Summarize the issue of prewired versus self-organized motor development.

• Using the theories and discussion from Chapters 6 and 7, how would you tell the story of Perception Action?

• What explanation is there for how conjoined twins learned to swim?

• Do you suppose that the rate of psychomotor slowing in the elderly can be controlled? If so, how?

• In regard to driving a car, which of the factors listed in Table 7.1 could be a constraint in the elderly? How so?

Research

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Think About It Questions

• Of the types of reflexes, how would you rank their importance?

• How can we be sure stereotypes are not purposeful and goal-oriented?

• What are the implications of the exception to the cephalocaudal pattern reported by Galloway and Thelen (2004)?

• If all physical properties were equal in two infants, why is it likely that one will walk before the other does?

• What are the developmental constraints in learning to walk?

• Cite specific examples of affordances that could stimulate the development of early manual control.

• Which functional asymmetry, handedness or footedness, do you think is more affected by the environment and why?

Research

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Think About It Questions

• Describe what a comprehensive study of walking skills could involve.

• What is the role of biology/environment in the development of fundamental movement patterns during early childhood? Consider information from previous chapters to support biological change.

• How does Wild's stages (composite of throwing) and Table 9.3 (components for throwing) compare?

• Of the fundamental skills described in the movement patterns section, which ones are culturally gender-biased in children's play and youth sport activities?

• Identify what prenatal factors could affect manipulation.

• What are the constraints to handwriting in an elderly person?

• Recent theory suggests that even though we have a hand preference, environmental (attentional) stimuli tied to task demands can modify limb selection. What is an example?

Research

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Think About It Questions

• Gender differences are a good example of biological/environmental interaction. Explain this with regard to sports performance.

• From your experience, describe cultural gender bias in sports and physical activity.

• Does the information on biological gender differences have any practical (teaching and coaching) significance?

• What is your community's view of female participation in all types of sport?

• From your experience, what are the positives and negatives in youth sport?

• Reflect on your physical education experience in schools. Did it promote health-related activity?

Research

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Think About It Questions

• Speculate on a secular trend for peak physiological function and performance 50 years from now. Relate your projections to specific types of activities.

• How much do genetics influence the regression of motor behavior?

• How would you set up a study to test the influence of aerobic and weight-training exercises on psychomotor slowing?

• In what way has research (science) helped curb the rate of regression?

• What are the similarities between an infant and an older adult in walking?

• Summarize the constraints to efficient walking in the typical elderly person. What about driving a car at the age of 90?

• How would you use this information on physical activity and longevity to have an impact on society, that is, what strategies would you recommend?

Research

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Think About It Questions

• Describe how you could use Table 12.1 to assess lifelong motor development (developmental continuum).

• Explain how you could apply the purposes of assessment if you were a director of an early childhood learning center that has a motor development program.

• What do the tests for infants (birth to 2 years) have in common?

• Have you noticed any commonalities among the product-oriented tests? Describe some of them.

• In contrast to being physically elite as an older person, a minimal level of physical function is essential to daily living. Provide some specific examples of the latter.

Research

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Think About It Questions

• How could you use Bronfenbrenner's bio ecological systems framework and PPCT model to study environmental effects on motor behavior?

• Explain your view of gender-role behavior.

• Today, females participate more openly in what traditionally have been called “male oriented” sports such as boxing, body building, and wrestling. What are some of the issues and considerations?

• If you were presenting a speech on physical activity to senior adults, what would you say? Consider other chapter topics also.

Research

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PsycINFO (EBSCOhost)
Covers the professional and academic literature in psychology and related disciplines.

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