Cognitive and Motor Development

There is a strong relationship between human intellectual function and movement: Any intellectual change is also accompanied by a change in motor function

Four Domains Affective Cognitive Motor Physical Why organize into domains?

Interaction Cognitive Development Motor Development The mind (psych) and human movement (motor) are related

Psychomotor or Motor? Motor –Refers to any form of human movement behavior Reflex movement Psychomotor –Movements initiated by an electrical impulse from higher brain centers

How does our gradually changing motor ability affect our cognitive development? How does our evolving cognitive development affect our motor development?

Cognitive Development Jean Piaget –Swiss psychologist –Interested in the process of thinking –Established the clinical method of research Collected data during question-and-answer sessions "Piaget, Jean," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia encarta.msn.com © Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved

Cognitive Development Piaget’s Theory –Four major stages of cognitive development Sensorimotor Preoperational Concrete operational Formal operational Interaction of cognitive and motor development is found in Piaget’s Theory

Stages of Piaget’s Theory StageAge/Period of Occurrence SensorimotorBirth to 2 years Preoperational2 to 7 years Concrete operational 7 to 11 years Formal operational Early to mid-adolescence 11 to 12 years

Piaget’s Theory Adaptation –Cognitive development occurs thorugh this process –Adjusting to the demands of the envirnoment and intellectualizing those adjustments –Two facets of adaptation Assimilation Accommodation

Piaget’s Theory Assimilation –Process by which children attempt to interpret new experiences based upon their present interpretation of the world

Piaget’s Theory Assimilation –Child tries to grab a large ball with one hand –His experiences of the past tell him that he can use one hand to grab hold of an object because it worked with rattles and smaller objects –The child assimilates his past experiences

Piaget’s Theory Accommodation –Adjustments or modifications in the thinking process which will become a part of a child’s new cognitive repetoire –Using the same example, when the child is unable to grasp the ball, he may try to adjust or accommodate by using two hands or even adapting the one-handed grasp

Criticisms of Piaget’s Theory Theory lacks scientific control Piaget used his own children to study Subjects were not studied across the lifespan Piaget may have underestimated a child’s capabilities Theory does not discern between competency and performance Theory does not account for the influence of motivation and emotion Stages of developoment were too broad Developoment is described, but never explained

Criticisms of Piaget’s Theory Most criticized aspect of the theory is that formal operational thought can be achieved as early as 11 years of age –Did not account for adult development in his theory Now known that cognitive development continues throughout adulthood

Criticisms of Piaget’s Theory Lack of motivation Verbal ability Memory Lack of familiarity with task Peer pressure Social influences –Peers –Teachers –Siblings Child’s emotional state If a child performed poorly on a task, Piaget attributed this to a lack of intellectual competency However, there are a other reasons for not performing a task well:

Infancy ~ Sensorimotor Stage Intelligence develops as a result of movement actions and their consequences Movement is critical to thought processes Six substages

Infancy ~ Sensorimotor Stage SubstageAge of Occurrence 1.Exercise of reflexesBirth to 1 month 2. Primary circular reactions1 to 4 months 3. Secondary circular reactions4 to 8 months 4. Secondary schemata8 to 12 months 5. Tertiary circular reactions12 to 18 months 6. Invention of new means through mental combinations 18 to 24 months

Infancy ~ Sensorimotor Stage Exercise of Reflexes Substage –Birth through 1 month –Repetition of reflexes helps child to form the foundation for cognitive understanding Reflexive movements are innate and lead to new behaviors

Infancy ~ Sensorimotor Stage Primary Circular Reactions Substage –Onset of increased voluntary movement –End of month 1-month 4 Called circular and primary because movements always occur in close proximity to the infant –Conscious effort to repeat movements

Infancy ~ Sensorimotor Stage Secondary Circular Reactions Substage –4 month - 8 months –Continuation of primary circular reactions The infant’s interaction with the environment expands Child begins to integrate vision, hearing, grasping and movement behaviors Can imitate behaviors No permanence – remove object – object is gone

Infancy ~ Sensorimotor Stage Secondary schemata substage –8 months to 1 year –Past movement actions applied to new situations –New behaviors emerge New behaviors are facilitated by increasing movement capabilities such as crawling and creeping which allow exploration of the environment

Infancy ~ Sensorimotor Stage Secondary schemata substage –Repetition of experimentation and trial- and-error exploration continue –Child can predict some actions and situations –Roll ball to child – he crudely roles it back – he anticipates you rolling the ball to him again –The ability to predict (Piaget) is the onset of intellectual reasoning

Infancy ~ Sensorimotor Stage Tertiary circular reactions substage –1 year -1 1/2 years –Use of active experimentation to learn –Child realizes that discovery of an object and use of the object are separate entities –First level of visualizing an object beyond its immediate use

Infancy ~ Sensorimotor Stage Tertiary circular reactions substage –Child sees the ball and knows she can have fun, but also realizes she does not have to play with it right now – it will be there later –Can distinguish self from others –Seeks immediate family members for help Social and emotional development

Infancy ~ Sensorimotor Stage Invention of new means through mental combinations substage –1 1/2 years - 2 years –Child recognizes objects and others as independent from himslef –Child is beggining to understand properties of objects Size, shape, color, texture, weight, use, etc.

Infancy ~ Sensorimotor Stage Invention of new means through mental combinations substage –Semimental functioning “thinking with the body” is replaced with “thinking with the mind” –Child reflects

Summary: Infancy ~ Sensorimotor Stage Increasing awareness of the difference between the self and others Recognition that objects continue to exist even though they are no longer in view Production of the mental images that allow the contemplation of the past, present, and future

Childhood ~ Preoperational Stage (2-7 years) –Verbal communication begins to emerge –Language development is the most important aspect of Preoperational Stage –Linked to motor abilities –Children are unable to think logically

Preconceptual substage (2-4 years) –Ability to use symbols to represent someone or something in the child’s life –Pretend play common Role play –Egocentrism A serious deficiency in the Preconceptual substage  Play helps child to socialize and work with others Childhood ~ Preoperational Stage (2-7 years)

Preconceptual substage (2-4 years) –Flawed thinking Drooping flower is sad – unrealistic – flawed thinking –Transductive reasoning A form of flawed thinking Incorrect assumptions Missed breakfast, so it can’t be morning Childhood ~ Preoperational Stage (2-7 years)

Intuitive substage (4-7 years) –Reduced egocentrism –Improvement in the use of symbols –Child is incapable of “conservation” Ability to realize that certain properties of a substance remain unchanged when the appearance is rearranged Child cannot consider multiple aspects of a problem Childhood ~ Preoperational Stage (2-7 years)

Later Childhood ~ Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years) –Must gain ability to conserve first –Enhanced ability to decenter attention from one variable in a problem solving situation –Reversibility ~ Able to mentally modify, organize, or even reverse thought processes

–Children in the concrete operation stage can reverse the order of the ball as they go through the tube –Preoperational stage children will see no difference in ball order Reversibility Later Childhood ~ Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years)

Seriation –Ability to arrange a set of variables by a certain characteristic Child’s height can determine position in a game of basketball Piaget emphasized that learning can be enhanced through movement Later Childhood ~ Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years)

Later Childhood ~ Formal Operational Stage (11-12 years) Ability to consider ideas that are not based on observable objects or experiences Abstract ideas are possible

Interpropositional thought –Applicable to complex movement –A logical relationship exists between two propositions Enhanced level of cognitive ability –Allows child to relate one or more parts of a proposition or situation to another part to arrive at a solution to a problem Later Childhood ~ Formal Operational Stage (11-12 years)

Hypothetical-deductive reasoning –A problem-solving style that allows child to choose between possible solutions and then pick the best one –Aids in emotional development and emerging values Child ponders – “do I follow the crowd; do I want to be fit in” Later Childhood ~ Formal Operational Stage (11-12 years)

Adulthood ~ Postformal Operations –Answers become more relative and less absolute –Thrive on detecting inconsistencies in ideas and attempt to reconcile them –Advanced thinking exists in a minority of people who are also highly educated and live in a culture that encourages new ideas and freethinking –New questions are discovered

Adulthood ~ Theories ~ Intellectual Development A lifestyle that involves movement can play an important role in the effort to allay the decline of intellect Physical activity increases motor neuron size and decreases neural synapse density Reaction time and cognitive performance improve in those who exercise

Declarative knowledge –Factual information –What to do –Found in a novice performer Procedural knowledge –Production system –How to do something –Found in an expert performer Knowledge Development and Sport Performance

“development of sport-specific declarative knowledge is related to the development of cognitive decision-making skills or procedural knowledge, whereas development of shooting skill and dribbling skill are related to the motor execution components of control and execution” (French & Thomas, 1987)

In other words - children learn “what to do” in a given situation before they acquire the physical skills (how to do) to carry out their strategic plan successfully Knowledge Development and Sport Performance