A motor skill is an action pertaining to body movement or posture and involves the movement of body muscles with an intent to accomplish a specific performance. It includes gross motor skills which are related to movements of large muscles such as arms and legs and fine motor skills which involves the movement of smaller muscles such as those of the wrist and hand. This article will cover comprehensively on the processes of assessing these skills and the movement features to focus on. It will also show the types of performers that would be observed as a result assessing these motor skills.
To begin with, art and craft for example; cutting various shapes and coloring of pictures is essential in the development of fine motor skills of children. This is attributed to occupational therapy that enable them master skills which could help them earn their daily living. Therefore, for proper assessment of these skills, the focus should be on the performance and form while ensuring am unbiased data collection techniques. The fundamental movement pattern process would help to assess a more qualitative than quantitative movement. For instance, training a baby for a w-sitting. There is a continuous movement in and out of this sitting position as a child develop, this in turn posse some risks to the development of their gross motors.
Athletes are better assessed from the movement of their legs and arms. This is attributed to practice as the main factor. However, several realms are considered here which includes physiological, cognitive, technical, emotional and psychological domains, (Stockel & Hughes, 2016). Physiological aspects focus on body processes that trigger both fine and gross motors. Technical entails sensorimotor coordination for refined and effective movement patterns while the cognitive focus on the ability to recognize situations and find appropriate strategies to tackle these situations.
Therefore, it is hypothesized that as the practice of these factors become more frequent and continuous, the motor skills become more elaborate in the development process. This is seen in people practicing arts and craft who finds it easier to apply their motor skills which are as a result of a reflex mechanism. Continuous involvement in painting and shaping activities help to develop fine motor skills of the hand. Athletes also have elaborated legs and trunk systems that facilitate their sporting activities.
In conclusion, motor skills entail the muscular movements which bring about the accomplishment of particular actions. It includes gross motor skills and fine motor skills which focus on the movements of large muscles and smaller muscles respectively. These skills are assessed depending on the type of field of study. During an assessment, the focus is made on the position and movement of the muscles to obtain a better outcome. All these processes are helpful in the daily routine although a significant number of individuals are still unaware.
Reference
Stöckel, T., Hughes, C. M., & L. (2016). The relation between measures of cognitive and motor
functioning in 5- to 6-year-old children. Psychological Research, 80(4), 543-554. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00426-015-0662-0
