Chapter 3 Motor Abilities

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

Ability
A general trait or capacity of a person Relatively enduring characteristic Serves as a determinant of a persons 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, contd

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 persons 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
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]
Two Research Examples
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 persons 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 Fleishmans 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
1 2 3 4 5 average 6 7 8 9 high 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 skills components
Tennis Serve
Grip Stance Ball toss Backswing Forward swing Ball contact Follow through
Abilities Multilimb coordination Control precision Speed of arm movement ate control Aiming Static strength Etc.

Chapter 3 Motor Abilities

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Chapter 3 Motor Abilities

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Chapter 3

The Terms Ability and Motor Ability

Abilities as Individual Difference Variables

Abilities as Individual Difference Variables, contd

Controversy About Relationship Among Motor Abilities

Specificity of Motor Abilities Hypothesis All motor abilities are

Research Evidence Supports Specificity Hypothesis

Initial research compared RT and MT

Generality of Specific Abilities

1. Balance as a Motor Ability

Two Research Examples

2. Timing as a Motor Ability

Identifying Motor Abilities

Identified 9 physical proficiency abilities

Perceptual Motor Abilities

Perceptual Motor Abilities (cont)

Physical Proficiency Abilities

Physical Proficiency Abilities (cont)

Additional Motor Abilities

Important Assumptions of Taxonomy of Motor Abilities

Relating Motor Abilities to Motor Skill Performance

The motor abilities underlying the performance of the skills components

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