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Chapter 1
The Classification of Motor Skills
Concept: Motor skills can be classified into general categories

The Study of Motor Skills: Motor Learning, Control, and Development

Motor skills require body, head,
and/or limb movement to achieve its goal Motor learning involves the study of:
Acquisition of new skills Performance enhancement of well-learned skills Reacquisition of skills following injury, disease, etc.

The study of motor skills:(cont.)

Motor control involves the study of:
How the neuromuscular system functions to enable coordinated movement
While learning a new skill While performing a well-learned skill

Motor development involves the study of:

Human development from infancy to old age
Issues related to either motor learning or motor control

University of Delaware Motor-Control Research

Christopher Knight

Development of upper limb proprioceptive accuracy in children and adolescents

Daniel J. Goble a, Colleen A. Lewis a,b, Edward A. Hurvitz b, Susan H. Brown

Terms Related to Motor Skills: Skills, Actions, and Movement

Skills - Tasks or activities that have specific goals to achieve (action goals) Motor skills vs. cognitive skills Actions Term often used as synonymous with the term motor skills Movements Behavioral characteristics of a specific limb or a combination of limbs

One-Dimension Classification Systems

Categorize skills according to one common characteristic Divided into two categories, each representing extreme ends of a continuum

One-Dimension Classification Systems, contd

Three motor skill classifications that use onedimension approaches [see Figure 1.2]:
1. Size of primary musculature required 2. Specificity of where actions begin or end 3. Stability of the environment context

1. Size of Primary Musculature Required

The benefit of a continuum approach to skill classification

Some motor skills involve both types to achieve the action goal and would be located between the two points

2. Specificity of Where Actions Begin or End

Two main categories:
Discrete motor skills - specified beginning and end points, usually require a simple movement
e.g. flipping a light switch

Continuous motor skills - arbitrary beginning and end points; usually involve repetitive movements
e.g. steering a car

Combination category: Serial motor skills

Involve a continuous series of discrete skills
e.g. shifting gears in a stick shift automobile

3. Stability of the Environmental Context

Two main concepts:
Closed motor skills involve a stationary supporting surface, object, and/or other people; performer determines when to begin the action
e.g. picking up a cup while seated at a table

Open motor skill involve supporting surface, object, and/or other people in motion; environment features determines when to begin the action
e.g. catching a thrown ball

A Two-Dimension Classification System

Gentiles Taxonomy of Motor Skills
(Table 1.1)

Taxonomy - A classification system organized according to relationships among the component characteristics of what is being classified

Gentiles Two-Dimensions Taxonomy, contd

Two-dimensions of the taxonomy:
1.Environmental context 2.Function of the action

1.Environmental context
Two characteristics Regulatory conditions
Characteristics of environment that control the movement characteristics of an action

Intertrial variability
Whether the regulatory conditions are the same or different from one performance attempt to another

Gentiles Two-Dimensions Taxonomy, contd

2. Function of the action Two characteristics Body orientation
Does the skill require the person to move from one location to another or to stay in the same location
body stability, - maintain same location body transport change location (actively or passively)

Object manipulation

Summary of the 2 Dimensions

4 characteristics can describe any motor skill:
2 Environmental context characteristics
1. Are the regulatory conditions stationary or in motion? 2. Do the regulatory conditions change from trial to trial?

2 Action function characteristics

1. Does the action goal require maintaining the body in the same location or transporting the body from one place to another? 2. Is an object manipulated?

The 16 Skill Categories

The interaction of the four environmental context characteristics and the four action function characteristics creates 16 skill categories Table 1.1 shows Gentiles original presentation of the taxonomy along with two examples of skill in each category

Characteristics of Gentiles Taxonomy

Each category puts different demands on the performer Skill complexity basis for taxonomy organization
From simplest [#1A] diagonally to most complex [#4D]

Complexity increases when a motor skill involves one or more of the following:
Open environment Trial-to-trial variability Object to manipulate Body transport

Practical Uses of Gentiles Taxonomy

Guide for evaluating motor performance capabilities, limitations, and deficiencies Systematic basis for selecting progressions of functionally appropriate activities to
increase performance capabilities overcome performance deficiencies

Chart persons progress developing a profile of competencies