Psychomotor Skills Development: Definitions and Concepts

Psychomotor Skills: Key Definitions and Concepts

Psychomotor Discipline

Psychomotor discipline aims at the harmonious development of a person through techniques that use motor experiences, cognitive and affective, enabling the relationship with oneself and with the outside world, regardless of age. It is used in the fields of prevention, rehabilitation, and treatment.

Types of Psychomotor Approaches

• Directive or Addressed Psychomotor: Based on the application of a psychomotor test set from which the patient's difficulties and the intervention designed to overcome the deficit are identified.
• Experiential or Relational Psychomotor: A more open pedagogical vision that considers the child the manager of their own learning through spontaneous play.

Body Schema

Body Schema refers to the knowledge and awareness that one has of oneself as a body with boundaries in space, with a potential for movement, relationship, expression, with the capacity to perceive the different parts of the body and give them names, and the possibility of representing them graphically or mentally. In addition to motor function, tone has a cognitive function related to attention and an affective function linked to nonverbal communication, expression, and regulation of emotions.

Balance

Balance is the maintenance of a stable center of gravity in static or dynamic situations.

Body Pillar

Body Pillar is an imaginary plane that passes through our body from top to bottom, dividing it into two equal halves (right and left). It is represented by the middle line, which represents the spine.

Laterality

Laterality is a tendency to use one side of the body preferably over the other in motor actions (foot, hand) and perception (eye, ear).

Muscle Tone

Muscle Tone is the permanent state of slight contraction of the muscles that allows the maintenance of posture and balance shift in space, resisting or helping the force of gravity. It depends on the labyrinthine system, plantar system, and sight.

Posture

Posture refers to the possibility of adopting different positions and how the various segments of the body relate to perform an action or hold a position.

Structuring Time and Space

Structuring Time and Space implies locating, organizing, and directing the body in relation to the outside world, in relation to objects and situations in space and time.

Coordination

Coordination is the integration of different body parts in an orderly movement with the least possible energy expenditure. There are two types:

• General Dynamic Coordination: Refers to large groups of muscles (gross motor skills). Examples include jumping, running, walking, and other complex activities like dancing.
• Fine Motor Coordination: Joint activity with the limbs of perception, particularly with the arms and legs, implying a degree of precision in the execution of behavior (fine motor or eye-hand coordination). Examples include writing, facial gestures, activities of daily living, fine and complex skills, drawing, etc.