Psychomotor Structure: Tonic, Motor, and Affective Dimensions

Psychomotor Structure and Body Image

For an individual to develop voluntary and intentional conduct, the first condition is possessing a minimum degree of awareness of their own existence as a discrete object, separate from the rest of the universe where the structure is situated. The psychomotor state, organization, functional characteristics, and capabilities of each element will condition the quality of behaviors. The fundamental understanding an individual has of themselves and their willingness to act is often identified by most authors with the concept of "body schema." Not all authors use this exact definition; many use equivalent terms such as "postural schema," "body image," "body model," "self-image," "body space image," or "body precept."

Psychomotor Structure Dimensions

The psychomotor structure has three fundamental dimensions: the tonic-motor domain, the cognitive or affective psicofuncional domain, and sometimes the symbolic or social component. These aspects are considered to be of an exogenous nature.

Tonic-Motor Domain

Rademaeker defines tone as the tension by which the body maintains its proper positions and opposes passive changes in those positions. It is regulated by various neurological processes, ranging from the core to the cortex. The level of tonicity is necessary for the construction of human conduct. It corresponds to a tonic function establishing a connection between striated muscle, smooth muscle, and the hormonal system.

Affective-Emotional Domain

Affectivity is the set of higher and lower feelings, positive and negative, fleeting and permanent, that orient the whole person toward the outside world. The affective phenomena include:

• Emotions: In a narrow sense, this is an emotional reaction that arises suddenly in response to a stimulus, lasts a short time, and includes a number of psychotherapeutic effects.
• Humors: These are affective phenomena always related to the general state of mind (ánimo).
• Moods: Referring to a sense of affection with a bipolar character: liking or unwillingness. They are subject to frequent changes.
• Affects: Called this when the stimulus provokes a feeling or motive, rather than a perception or a thought.
• Feelings: These affective processes are less durable, but they do not shock our psychobiological state with the intensity with which emotions are felt.