Motor Development: Group Dynamics, Media Influence, and Assessment

2. Group Dynamics and Sex Differences

Motor skills improve with age, with children responding positively to friends and peers around age 7. Motor and gestural competition influences group position. Some societies emphasize male motor energy, while others highlight female aesthetic and rhythmic movement. Although attitudes are changing, progress is slow.

3. School, Media, and Motor Development

School materials should not allow motor development to occur randomly. Younger children should receive varied and diverse opportunities. Mass media, especially TV, greatly influence young people through vicarious learning. The ability to explore space and materials impacts motor skills. Materials with changeable characteristics encourage diverse actions. According to Kerkowitz, material selection should consider:

• Materials with shape but varying sizes.
• Materials children can manipulate and adapt to their motor and physical abilities.
• Materials with graduated size and increasing complexity.

The environment promotes physical and motor development, socialization, and manipulation.

ITEM 7. MOTOR DEVELOPMENT ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENTS

1. Preliminary questions.
2. Instruments for quantitative evaluation.

OBJECTIVES

1. Identify preliminary issues in using assessment instruments.
2. Analyze the properties (goals, age, etc.) of different assessment instruments.
3. Understand the role of assessment tools in motor development.

Various instruments have emerged to assess, analyze, and study motor status. Since 1930, numerous scales have been developed, including Gesell, Bayley, Shirley McCarthy, Denver, Brunet-Lezin, and Ozeretsky batteries adapted for Europe, the USA, and Canada.

Preliminary Questions. Terminology

1. Key Terms

• TEST: A specific task performed to explore a quality or aspect of psychomotor function.
• BATTERY: A set of tests designed to assess and measure all aspects of psychomotor skills.
• SCALE: A suite of tests with gradual difficulty to explore specific sectors.
• REVIEW OR BALANCE: A set of tests used to determine the psychomotor development of a subject.