Perceptual–Motor Development chapter 20 Perceptual–Motor Development Joseph P. Winnick and Barry W. Lavay

Chapter Outline Overview of the perceptual–motor process Understanding sensory systems

Perceptual–Motor Development All movement activities are PM experiences. A process to permit individuals to provide meaning to sensory information and formulate appropriate motor responses: receive transmit organize integrate attach

Perceptual–Motor Ability Deficits Occurs among many individuals with various disabilities and might include . . . poor spatial orientation poor body awareness immature body image clumsiness or awkwardness coordination deficits poor balance

What Does the Research Say? 1960s and early 1970s: PM programs were strongly advocated and believed to be a significant improvement in academic and intellectual abilities. Research conducted has not supported this notion (Gallahue & Ozmun, 2002; Kavale & Mattison, 1983). However, research indicates clearly that PM abilities might be attained through carefully sequenced programs (Cheatum & Hammond, 2000; Sherrill, 2004; Winnick, 1979). PM training is fundamental to many motor, academic, and functional (ADL) skills.

A Simplified Model of the Perceptual–Motor Process

Perceptual–Motor Defined Perception: The monitoring and interpretation of sensory data resulting from the interaction between sensory and CNS processes that occurs at the cognitive level (brain) and enables the individual to derive meaning from information Motor: The actual movement act Summary: Everything we do is perceptual– motor!

Hitting a Softball: Example of a PM Skill Input: the ball’s speed, direction, spin, and other flight characteristics. Integration: information is transmitted to the CNS, where it is perceived as a ball to be hit. Output: initiate the appropriate response— swing and hit the ball. Feedback: if the pitch was missed, adjustments to the swing are necessary in similar or future instances.

Sensorimotor Activity Occurs at a subcortical level and does not involve meaning, interpretation, or cortical-level functioning. Motor responses to sensory input. The sensory integration process results in perception and other types of sensory data syntheses. Reflexes and postural reactions.

Ecological Approach Perception is specific to each individual. The environment is perceived directly in terms of its utility or usefulness for the perceiver (Gibson, 1977, 1979). Individuals perceive the environment in terms of the actions they can exert on it—that is, the affordances provided by the environment. Example: children might perceive a chair to crawl under, whereas adults perceive it as an object to sit on (Burton, 1990; Davis and Burton, 1991).

Perceptual–Motor Deficits or Breakdowns Input: cannot adequately take in visual or auditory information from the environment, thus information does not appropriately reach the CNS (e.g., deafness, blindness) Integration: impairs the functioning of the CNS and the quality of information received and the ability to process sensory input (e.g., LD, ADHD, motor planning) Output: inappropriate functioning during previous steps as well as conditions influence the transmission of information and movement (e.g., CP, SPI) Feedback: inability to modify or correct behavior (e.g., faulty kinesthetic perception)

An Analysis of Prominent Perceptual–Motor Need and Deficit Areas Disability Prominent need and deficit areas Visual disability (visual impairments) Need to focus on the development of residual visual perceptual abilities and to help the child compensate for visual perceptual–motor deficits by enhancing auditory, vestibular, tactual, and kinesthetic perception. Give particular attention to input and feedback steps in the perceptual–motor process. Auditory (deaf and hard of hearing) Need to focus on the development of residual hearing and vestibular abilities (if affected) and help the child compensate by enhancing development associated with sensory systems that are intact. Give particular attention to input, integration, and feedback steps in the perceptual–motor process. (continued)

An Analysis of Prominent Perceptual–Motor Need and Deficit Areas (continued) Haptic disabilities (primarily children who are clumsy; children with orthopedic, neuromuscular, or neurological impairments) Need to focus on the development of vestibular, kinesthetic, and tactual perception and to integrate motor experiences with visual and auditory perception. There might be a particular need to focus on input, motor response, and feedback steps. Mental or affective disabilities (children with intellectual disabilities, emotional disturbance, and so on) Need to focus on needs is determined by assessment of perceptual motor abilities. Involvement throughout the perceptual–motor process might exist.

Facilitating PM Development Preschoolers and young children (2 to 7 years) Movement exploration Guided discovery Open-ended tasks with more than one response

Teaching PM Skills Purposeful movement that is motivating and performed in natural settings (e.g., kicking the ball into a goal in a soccer lead-up activity or game) 2. Affordances in the environment to make perceptual judgments and to assess the accuracy of their judgments (e.g., “Can I pass the ball to a teammate without it being intercepted by a defensive player?”; Burton, 1987)

Sensory Systems The different sensory systems work collectively and simultaneously to provide the individual with information: tactile proprioception (kinesthetic) visual auditory

Tactile Perception Ability to interpret sensations from the various layers of the skin surfaces of the body Externally related and responds to touch, feel, and manipulation Example: to distinguish wet and dry, hot and cold, soft and hard, rough and smooth Disorganized tactile system Tactile defensive: sensitive to normal touch that causes a negative or painful reaction Tactile deprived: have not received necessary amounts of stimulation and crave touch, seeking physical contact

Proprioception Sensory stimuli from skin, muscles, tendons, joints, and vestibular sense receptors that are within the categories of kinesthetic perception body awareness laterality and verticality balance

Kinesthetic Perception The awareness and memory of movement and position Internally related and develops from impulses that originate from the body’s proprioceptors The ability to know a movement, body position, or action before executing it Feel the correctness of a movement Basic to all movement and associated with visual–motor and auditory–motor abilities

Body Awareness Allows people to derive meaning from their body; includes . . . body schema: where the body ends and external space begins body image: feelings one has about one’s body body concept: knowledge one has about one’s body

Visual Perceptual–Motor Development Ability to see, fixate, and track includes: Visual figure-ground perception Spatial relations Visual constancy Visual–motor coordination

Visual Figure-Ground Perception Distinguish the main figure or target from its background. Differentiate and integrate parts of objects to form meaningful wholes. Shift attention and ignore irrelevant stimuli. Examples: picking out a specific letter of the alphabet from a field of extraneous items; tracking moving objects, such as a ball to be hit; observing lines, boundaries, diagrams, or footprints

Spatial Relationships Locate objects in space relative to oneself or self-space (egocentric localization) Example: direction, distance, and depth Locate objects relative to one another or general space (objective localization) Example: position on a court

Visual Perceptual–Motor Constancy Recognize objects despite variations in their presentation Recognize the sameness of an object that might vary in appearance, size, color, texture, brightness, or shape Example: a football spiraling in the air

Visual–Motor Coordination Ability to coordinate vision with body movements Combines visual with tactile and kinesthetic perception (not exclusively visual ability) Eye–limb coordination (eye–hand, eye–foot) Examples: Classroom—cutting, pasting, finger painting, drawing, and tracing Physical education—throwing, catching, kicking, striking

Auditory Perceptual–Motor Development Built on auditory acuity and perception; includes . . . auditory figure-ground perception sound localization and discrimination temporal auditory perception

Auditory Figure-Ground Perception Distinguish and attend to relevant auditory stimuli against a background of general auditory stimuli Ignore irrelevant stimuli (noisy gymnasium) and attend to relevant stimuli (teacher directions) Example: Determining a teacher signal in order to transition

Auditory Discrimination Recognize an auditory stimulus as the same under varying presentations Recognize and discriminate among variations of auditory stimuli presented in a temporal series, as well as auditory perceptual constancy Examples: distinguishing different frequencies, qualities, and amplitudes of sound; distinguishing pitch, loudness, and constancy of auditory stimuli

Sound Localization Ability to determine the source or direction of sounds in the environment Examples: finding the open player calling for the ball; in goal ball, blindfolded players attempting to stop a ball that is emitting a sound

Temporal Auditory Perception Ability to recognize and discriminate among variations of auditory stimuli presented in time Distinguishing rate, emphasis, tempo, and order of auditory stimuli Example: difficulties in rhythmic movement, dance, and singing games

Auditory–Motor Coordination Ability to coordinate auditory stimuli with body movements Examples: responding to a beat in music (e.g., ear–foot coordination) or to a particular cadence (e.g., football signals); performing a routine to a musical accompaniment

Typical Components and Activities Associated With Sensorimotor Development Typical activities Tactile integration Water activities; massage; stroking; partner activities; bare-footed activities; movement education activities; activities performed on various surfaces; handling objects of various textures; crawling through tunnels; tactually discriminating between familiar and unfamiliar objects Kinesthetic integration Naming body parts; moving body parts for a purpose; active movements that develop a knowledge of body parts, their position in space, and the ability to innervate them (time, space, force, flow of movement) (continued)

Typical Components and Activities Associated With Sensorimotor Development (continued) Vestibular integration Rocking and cradling in arms, cribs, or chairs; simple bouncing activities on spring-type or trampoline equipment; scooter and vestibular board activities; simple swinging activities using hammocks or other simple swing-type supplies; therapy ball activities; sitting and standing postures; nonlocomotor movements Visual integration Activities involving object manipulation, including ball handling in which speed, distance, size, color, and mass are modified; recognition and tracking of objects; looking; sorting; fundamental visual–motor activities; finding objects Auditory integration Activities involving sound recognition; auditory discrimination; sound localization; auditory-figure ground; fundamental motor activities; listening and responding to auditory stimuli; making sounds and talking; activities involving auditory memory