Chapter 3 Motor Ability Concept: A variety of abilities underlie motor skill learning and performance success

The Terms Ability and Motor Ability A general trait or capacity of a person Relatively enduring characteristic Serves as a determinant of a person’s achievement potential for the performance of specific skills Motor Ability An ability that is specifically related to the performance of a motor skill Each person has a variety of motor abilities

Abilities as Individual Difference Variables Motor abilities establish achievement potentials for specific motor skills Each motor skill requires specific motor abilities to successfully perform it If 2 people have the same Amount of practice Level and amount of instruction Motivation to perform the skill Then - Motor abilities will influence the level of performance success each person can/will achieve

Abilities as Individual Difference Variables, cont’d Two hypotheses: General Motor Ability Hypothesis: many different motor abilities that exist are highly related within a person and can be grouped as a singular, global motor ability (Brace, 1927; McCloy, 1934) Specificity of Motor Ability Hypothesis: many motor abilities are relatively independent in an individual (Henry, 1961)

Controversy About Relationship Among Motor Abilities General Motor Ability Hypothesis All motor abilities are highly related to each other A person can be described as having an overall amount of general motor ability Specificity of Motor Abilities Hypothesis All motor abilities are relatively independent Each person varies in the amount of each ability A person’s motor ability can be described only by a profile of amounts of each of several specific motor abilities

Research Evidence Supports Specificity Hypothesis Research technique to test the question of which hypothesis valid: Correlate any two motor abilities Each hypothesis predicts different correlation result – What are these different results? Initial research compared RT and MT Henry and colleagues (1960s) showed low correlations See example in “A Closer Look” p. 40

Generality of Specific Abilities Recent research has investigated whether variations of a motor ability commonly seen as “specific” actually represents one ability. Two Examples 1. Balance as a motor ability 2. Timing as a motor ability

1. Balance as a Motor Ability Static vs. Dynamic Balance Static – Maintaining equilibrium while stationary Dynamic – Maintaining equilibrium while in motion Two Research Examples Rose et al. (2002) – Children with CP showed balance problems while walking but not while standing Drowatzky & Zuccato (1967) – Correlations among various tests of static and dynamic balance typically ranged from .03 to .26 [See Table 3.1] Conclusion - Research evidence indicates static and dynamic balance are distinct, independent abilities

2. Timing as a Motor Ability External vs. Internal Timing External - Movement timing based on external source (externally-paced timing) Internal - Timing of movement based on person’s internal representation of time (self-paced timing) Conclusion: Research evidence indicates distinct timing abilities are skill specific rather than related to a general timing ability See experiments by Zelaznik and colleagues – described in textbook

Identifying Motor Abilities One example of an attempt to identify motor abilities Fleishman’s Taxonomy of Motor Abilities Described 11 perceptual-motor abilities See Table 3.2 for complete list and definitions Identified 9 physical proficiency abilities

Perceptual Motor Abilities Multilimb coordination – ability to coordinate movements of a number of limbs simultaneously Control precision – ability to make rapid and precise movement adjustments of control devices involving single are-hand or leg movements; adjestments are made to visual stimuli Response orientation – ability to make a rapid selection of controls to be moved or the direction to move them in Reaction time – ability to respond rapidly to a signal when it appears Speed of arm movement – ability to rapidly make a gross, descrete arm movement where accuracy is minimized

Perceptual Motor Abilities (cont) Rate control – ability to time continuous anticipatory movement adjustments in response to speed and/or direction changes of a continuously moving target or object Manual dexterity – ability to make skillful arm-hand movements to manipulate fairly large objects under speeded conditions Finger dexterity – abiity to make skillful, controlled manipulations of tiny objects involving primarily the fingers Arm-hand steadiness – ability to make precise arm-hand positioning movements where strength and speed are minimized; includes maintaining arm-hand steadiness during arm movement or in a static arm position Wrist, finger speed – ability to make rapid and repetitive movements with the hand and fingers, and/or rotary wrist movements when accuracy is not critical Aiming – ability to rapidly and accurately move the hand to a small target

Physical Proficiency Abilities Static strength – maximum force that a person can exert against external objects Dynamic strength – muscular endurance used in exerting force repeatedly Explosive strength – ability to mobilize energy effectively for burst of muscular effort Trunk strength – strength of the trunk muscles Extent flexibility – ability to flex or stretch the trunk and back muscles

Physical Proficiency Abilities (cont) Dynamic flexibility – ability to make repeated, rapid trunk-flexing movements Gross body coordination – ability to coordinate the action of several parts of the body while body is in motion Gross body equilibrium – ability to maintain balance without visual cues Stamina – capacity to sustain maximum effort requiring cardiovascular effort

Additional Motor Abilities Static balance – ability to maintain postural stability on a stable surface or when not engaging in locomotor acitviites Dynamic balance – ability to maintain postural stability on a moving surface or when engaging in locomotor activities Visual acuity – ability to see clearly and precisely Visual tracking ability to visually follow a moving object Eye-hand or eye-foot coordination – ability to perform skills requiring vision and the precise use of the hands or feet

Important Assumptions of Taxonomy of Motor Abilities All individuals possess these motor abilities Iit is possible to measure them It is possible to quantified the level of each ability in a person low average high 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Relating Motor Abilities to Motor Skill Performance Task Analysis The motor skill The components of the skill The motor abilities underlying the performance of the skill’s components

Tennis Serve Abilities Multilimb coordination Control precision Grip Stance Ball Backswing Forward Ball Follow toss swing contact through Abilities Multilimb coordination Control precision Speed of arm movement ate control Aiming Static strength Etc.