From the first sign of movement until death, we go through different stages or period of development. These are referred to as the mountain of motor development which consists of six period. These periods are preadapted, reflexive, fundamental motor pattern, context specific, skillful, and compensation. Each period heavily relies on another for the development of many motor skills and are characterized by different motor skills.
Movement starting with one period then onto the next would rely upon the adjustments in the three constraints, the person’s skills, and experiences. Individual constraints are the persons unique physical and mental characteristics, environmental constraints are related to world around us, and task is the goals, rules, and equipment that are used to perform a specific motor task. These three constraints can either facilitate or limit the rate in which motor skills are developed. As indicated by the developmental perspective, the adjustments in the motor skills were characterized as sequential, individual, and cumulative. Everybody would take after a similar sequence of the development, notwithstanding, age does not determine the sequence since the skills are developed based on the person’s experience encounters and learning.
Being conveyed from a confined, stifled, and warm environment in my mother’s womb to a cool, uproarious, and chaotic outer environment was a horrible prologue to the world. This leads me to the first period, the reflexive period, which helped me adapt to this transition. It began at the third gestational month when my first movement was detected and ended approximately two weeks after birth. The primary goals of these reflexes are to help me survive and introduce me to my new environment as well help develop a sensory motor communication between me and the new environment.
This period is described by developments that are reflexive in nature. This implies developments are elicited by a stimulus. As I laid on my back, which limited my movement against gravity, my mother would place a rattle on my hand to see how quickly I would close my hand in effort to determine the rate of my motor development. Because I was born chunky with short arms and legs, my reflexes weren’t as fast. Demonstrating how these constraints affected my development. What determined the end of the reflexive period was once my movement became voluntary.
A great part of the principal year of a baby’s life is described by the rise of species-typical motor behaviors such as rolling over, sitting, crawling, feeding, and walking. These behaviors are not predetermined but rather are preadapted. The preadapted periods usually begins when the newborn is two weeks old until they usually turn one year old. The primary goal of the preadapted period is to be able to achieve voluntary functions. Humans need two types of motor skills to survive (locomotion and feeding). One gets you to the food and the other ensures eating it. Sitting behind both behaviors is postural control or “act of maintaining, achieving or restoring a state of balance during any posture or activity” (ncbi.com).
Constraints can help speed up the emergence of postural control. As a baby, I followed the sequence of motor development to obtain an upright posture. I did not have enough strength to lift my head to look around my environment. Therefore, I would need help with lifting my head. One technique my mother said she used was to put her hand behind my trunk to support my body in which allowed me look around my environment. Also, I learned to walk later than other children because I didn’t have lower body strength and balance to keep myself up since I was raised in a poor environment that didn’t have sturdy floors. To aid with this problem my mother would have me stand on the bed while holding onto the headboard until I was able to develop strength and balance to stand on my own and eventually walk. The preadapted period ended when I could feed myself and independent upright locomotion was present. These two behaviors are normally achieved on average by the infant’s first birthday but because of the difficulties I have dealt with it took me a little longer to obtain.
Moving through the mountain of motor development, I have achieved independent walking and feeding —moving me into the next motor period. The fundamental motor pattern period is the development of later-emerging manipulative and locomotor skills. It is known as motor behaviors that are believed to be fundamental or essential to developing motor skills later. The fundamental motor pattern is the “building blocks” for these later emerging skills. It is also age related but not age-determined and ends with the application of fundamental patterns to specific contexts.
During my journey in the fundamental motor period, I had to learn about the coordination between the major body segments as well coordination with the changing of my environment. By the ending of this period, I would have achieved locomotor skills such as walking, running, and jumping. Over time, these movements can be compromised or delayed due to added on constraints. These constraints can either benefit or limit the individuals fine and gross motor skills. As mentioned in the preadapted period segment, I entered the fundamental motor period by the age of one and a half years old. This delayed caused me to be a little behind my cousins who are the same age as me.
Through the remaining of my one year, I continued to build strength to maintain balance while I walk. By my second year, my parent told me that I tried to make movement if I was to run. The delay in the preadapted period caused me to start running movement by two and a half years old. My mother told me that by the age of three I used to play with a stick and gallop and jump as if I was riding a horse. Knowing this information tells me that the delay in my development was minimal and I was making locomotion at similar rate as my cousin.
My parents told me stories about my behaviors from the age of five to seven years old. They mentioned that I never stood still and all I wanted to do was run, jump, and hop all over the place. I was in an environment with more activities which caused me to be more active and learn more. This lead to my conclusion that the change of my environment help improves my development and therefore making these constraints benefit me instead of limiting my motor skills.
As I started to grow older, around the age of seven to eleven, I reached the context-specific period. The context specific period refers to the time when fundamental motor patterns becomes skills that are ontogenetic or unique to the individual. The context specific period also represents a transition period between the fulfillment of the fundamental motor skills and the transition into the skillful period. Since it was impacted more by the environmental and task constraints, inspiration and parental help would be critical to enable kids to move effectively to the skillful period. Organism constraints also played important roles. During this period, I began to put on weight and grow taller.
When I turned seven years old, I moved to the United States. I went from an urban environment to the suburb. I was first exposed to roller skating when I went outside and watched my cousins glide around in these shoes looking thing with four wheels on them. Being curious I asked them what are these things called and she responded with roller skates. I wanted to try skating myself but was too scared and eventually gained courage and overcame the fear and tried it. As I picked my first pair of skate, I was a little scared because I had a hard time gaining my balance at early age and now I must do it while on wheels.
As time went by I gained confidence and like any other skills, I did not do as great at the beginning. During the first year of skating, I twisted my ankle a few times due to the lack of foot placement. Poor foot placement also led me to fall repetitive falling. became my expertise, but with each fall, I learned more about how certain movements affect the results of achieving the skill. This roller-skating experience caused injuries to my body because of the constant falling and crashing into objects around me. My surrounding environment I was in caused various constraints to me. Too many objects in the skating area and I was not able to balance myself due to the pain of my injuries.
Overtime, I recovered from my injuries. Immediately I started roller skate again once I was given the all clear and started to practice. Because I have been practicing every day, I became more quicker and had better control when moving around. I remember showing my parents how much better I have become and they responded with happiness for me and encouraged me to keep on roller skating. The environmental and task constraints are the rate enhancers that enable me to proceed onward to the following period.
After acquiring the skills needed in the context-specific period and getting my first experience with roller skating I move onto the skillful period. The skillful period usually begins by the age of eleven. During this period, my skill will be characterized as being unskilled, beginner, intermediate, competent, proficient, and expert. After becoming better and being encouraged by friends and family, I decided to further devote myself to roller skate. My older cousin became my coach and began teaching me some cool tricks. Hoping that I will become a professional skater in the future, he made me practice two hours per day to improve my skating skill. It was the organism constraints that influenced my determination and persistency, because I was motivated to achieve the goal. The environmental constraint also played an important role during the skillful period. For me, not only because my parents set high expectations toward me, but also we were in the lower socio-economic status where my family did not have the money for a roller skating classes.
For the duration of the life expectancy, our motor abilities would continue progressing. As we came to the point where organism constraints occurred to change, our motor skill performance would decrease. It demonstrated the change of our motor behavior, and our developments might not be as skillful. Because of the changes in organism constraints, an individual at this period was additionally helpless in gross motor skills since those abilities required bigger powers and aerobic efforts. Changes in organism constraint are because of the decreases in the body, for example, greatest oxygen take-up, stroke volume, or most extreme heart rate. There would be changes in our basic abilities, such as motion and balance. As of now, our balance and walking ability have declined and we turned out to be more prone to falls and injuries. Additionally, the decrease in bone mass, prompted the adjustments in quality attributes of the bones. Furthermore, our auditory and somatosensory systems would not work well.
Changes in the environmental constraints would likewise impact a person during this period. The way of life, societal desires or financial status would make contrasts on their recognitions and activities. At the compensation period, the declining of physical capacities had effect on the person’s psychological and emotional system. An individual at this period may lose the interests in doing their most loved sport, or change their interest or hobby. Other than getting a dynamic way of life, the higher financial status would assume a part to help a person at this period to be healthier and live longer due to their medical care.
In conclusion, motor development plays a key role in how I develop and improve my skills through my lifespan. These periods were useful and contributed to what my skills are today. First, observing how involuntary reflexes begin the development for later learned skills. Then, in the preadapted period I could voluntary conduct movement that help build the necessary skills needed through my lifespan. During the fundamental motor pattern, I develop the basics skills useful to achieve roller skating. In the context-specific period, I started to develop skills that were unique to me. While in the skillful period, I was able to master my motor skill. The compensation period occurs at any age and changes happen in the organism constraints and can be compensated during this period. Overall, any negative constraints that I have experience through my development, I turned them into positive ones that provided many benefit me as I continued to grow. I started my journey with delay in my early development but once my environment changed, I could catch up and develop at similar rate as others. Proving that motor development is age related but not age determined.
For the Future
While serving in the U.S. Army, I did not have the time to roller skate. This caused me to lose my ability to roller as good as I used to. During the summer of 2016 after exiting active duty, a few of my friends have invited me to go to the beach and roller skate with them. Hearing this invite made me a little nervous since I have not skate in such a long time. While putting on my skates, after five years of being inactive, I started to replay the motor skills that led me to learn how to skate. I was shocked to find out that I was still able to move in my skates. This taught me that even when you do not continue to practice your skills, you will still be able to remember how to do the skill.
As for my future, it is hard to determine where I will end up and how long I will continue to roller skate. Sometimes I roller skate to work out my muscles and improve my cardiovascular system. But as I continue get older, there’s a chance that my ability to roller skate will decrease. To prevent this from happening in the future, I plan to increase how often I roller skate during the week. But because of the environment I am in, this can be challenge since there is no area to skate. Maybe If I lived in states like California, where it is always warm, I would have a higher chance to continue to be more skillful in roller skating.
My future goal is to able to skate even as senior citizen. By being consistent and putting in hard work while preventing serious injuries, I could achieve this goal. I know I could always remember how to ace my motor skills since they have been a piece of me since I was baby. In any case, to achieve a specific level of expectation and objectives, I would still require my parental help and support, and more practice.