Main description:

Advanced Analysis of Motor Development explores how research is conducted in testing major issues and questions in motor development. It also looks at the evolution of research in the field, its current status, and possible future directions. This text is one of the few to examine motor development models and theories analytically while providing a context for advanced students in motor development so they can understand current and classic research in the field.

Traditionally, graduate study in motor development has been approached through a compilation of readings from various sources. This text meets the need for in-depth study in a more cohesive manner by presenting parallels and highlighting relationships among research studies that independent readings might not provide. In addition, Advanced Analysis of Motor Development builds a foundation in the theories and approaches in the field and demonstrates how they drive contemporary research in motor development.

A valuable text for graduate students beginning their own research projects or making the transition from student to researcher, this text focuses on examining and interpreting research in the field. Respected researchers Haywood, Roberton, and Getchell explain the history and evolution of the field and articulate key research issues. As they examine each of the main models and theories that have influenced the field, they share how motor development research can be applied to the fields of physical education, special education, physical therapy, and rehabilitation sciences.

With its emphasis on critical inquiry, Advanced Analysis of Motor Development will help students examine important topics and questions in the field in a more sophisticated manner. They will learn to analyze research methods and results as they deepen their understanding of developmental phenomena. For each category of movement skills covered (posture and balance, foot locomotion, ballistic skills, and manipulative skills), the authors first offer a survey of the pertinent research and then present an in-depth discussion of the landmark studies. In analyzing these studies, students will come to appreciate the detail of research and begin to explore possibilities for their own future research. Throughout the text, special elements help students focus on analysis. Tips for Novice Researchers sidebars highlight issues and questions raised by research and offer suggestions for further exploration and study. Comparative tables detail the differences in the purpose, methods, and results of key studies to help students understand not only what the studies found but also the relevance of those findings.

With Advanced Analysis of Motor Development, readers will discover how research focusing on the major issues and central questions in motor development is produced and begin to conceptualize their own research. Readers will encounter the most important models and theories; dissect some of the seminal and recent articles that test these models and theories; and examine issues such as nature and nurture, discontinuity and continuity, and progression and regression. Advanced Analysis of Motor Development will guide students to a deeper understanding of research in life span motor development and enable them to examine how the complexities of motor development can be addressed in their respective professions.

Contents:

Part I. What Is Motor Development? Theoretical Perspectives

Chapter 1. Descriptive Perspectives

Definition of Motor Development Study

History of Motor Development in the United States

Concept of Development

Three Early Pioneers of Motor Development

Stage Versus Age

Physical Educators and Kinesiologists in the Field

Legacies From the Descriptive Perspectives

Specific Contributions of the Descriptive Perspectives

Role of Description Within Motor Development Research

Chapter 2. Perspectives on Perception and Action

Indirect Perspective

Direct Perspective

A Resolution?

Summary

Chapter 3. Systems Perspective

Model of Constraints

Dynamic Systems

Applying the Dynamic Systems Model to a Motor Development Problem

Summary

Chapter 4. Motor Development Research Approaches

Research Designs

Development Simulation

Dependent Variables

Anthropometric Measures

Moving the Field Forward: Strong Inference Research

Moving the Field Forward: Wohlwill's Developmental Research Schema

Research Methods in Practice: Esther Thelen and Reflex Stepping

Part II. What Perspectives Do Researchers Use to Study Motor Development? Contemporary Research

Chapter 5. Development of Postural Control

Theoretical Perspectives

Early Development

Rising to Stand

Postural Control in Older Adulthood

Summary

Chapter 6. Development of Foot Locomotion

Intertask Developmental Sequence

Intratask Developmental Sequences

Further Study

Chapter 7. Development of Ballistic Skills

Intertask Developmental Sequence

Intratask Developmental Sequences

Developmental Research

Chapter 8. Development of Manipulative Skills

Reaching and Grasping

Interception Skills

Summary

Part III. How Do Practitioners Adopt a Developmental Perspective? Applying Research

Chapter 9. Atypical Motor Development

Identifying Atypical Development by Understanding Typical Development

Motor Development That Is Not Average

Combining Theory and Practice

Summary

Chapter 10. Advances in Interventions

Interventions in Typically Developing Populations

Interventions for Atypical Populations

Interventions for Children With Disabilities

Summary