Motor Learning and Physiology

Physiology: Motor Learning

Motor skills provide not only physical but psychological benefits to the body. Motor skills, like bilateral coordination, help children learn to perform various tasks simultaneously. The complex tasks could be performed conveniently once the young master these motor skills. This paper aims to illustrate a strategy for reinforcing a learner regarding physical motor skills.

Motor Skill

The motor skill of interest is ‘bilateral coordination’ since it triggers to performance of intricate tasks by functioning in various ways. Since numerous actions occur daily in our daily routines, children must be aware of how to use them effectively. Research has suggested that bilateral coordination supports high physical functioning and academic achievement. The fluid intelligence of pre-schoolers has noticed an increase and showed a strong hold over reading and mathematical skills.

In this paper, the bilateral coordination of a 10-year-old boy is observed. For this, jumping jacks have been selected as the physical activity requiring the simultaneous movement of arms and legs.

Explanation of the Learner’s Ability, Experience, and Learning Situation

The learner was hesitant to do jumping jacks in the beginning when the class started. It was learned that the child has minor ADHD, as children with ADHD have poor motor coordination and neurobehavioral troubles (Mokobane et al., 2019). The child could not stand still as he was restless and constantly fidgeting. These few conspicuous symptoms of his minor ADHD do not let him concentrate on tasks properly (National Health Services, 2021). His motivation was, therefore, low in learning jumping jacks as well.

The learner’s ability to grasp the notion of jumping jacks, which is moving arms and legs in coordination, was low. In terms of experience, the learner was incapable of doing motor programming, and accuracy was not fluent. His first few movements showed that he was not comfortable in doing arms and legs movement symmetry as he mostly jerked. The variability in his actions, such as moving his legs first and then arms or moving one arm up and the other down, were visible signs of underdeveloped motor skills.

The symmetrical movements, like moving arms up when the legs should be straight and stretching arms wide when the legs should be stretched wide, were challenging for the learner. He was found annoyed at his fourth or fifth attempt. Sat sixth, when he instigated to try one more time, the learner angrily told the instructor that he did not want to. He did not shout at the instructor; however, his facial expressions showed that he was quite irritated by that time and his motivation level was zero. The learning situation was complicated and had to be stopped for some while before the instructor could find a way to encourage him again and do the same as his other class-fellows were doing.

Summary of Two Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Article 1

A study was conducted by Cho et al. (2014) among 57 Korean school-aged children with a mean age of 9 years. Fifty-eight children were selected for a controlled trial group, experimental research in which another 70 children were set as a control group. The assessment was made with the Bruininks-Oreretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (Cho et al., 2014). The measure used was BOT-2 for evaluating participants’ motor function. It is a test measuring the motor skills of individuals aged 4 to 21 (Cho et al., 2014). Statistical analysis was conducted using chi-square and t-tests to compile the final results.

The results cited that children with ADHD have trouble with fine motor coordination as they cannot display the skills needed for conducting complex tasks (Cho et al., 2014). Their balance is unstable as numerous motor overflow intricacies create subtle neurological signs of irritation and annoyance in behavior. Moreover, children are not physically active due to their inability to get involved in various physical activities, and their muscle strength is low, too (Cho et al., 2014). Manual dexterity is low and postural control cannot be witnessed visibly in ADHD children. The sequential development of physical and mental reflexes is weak, as they cannot respond quickly to actions and sensory stimuli in games.

The study is significant for two reasons: firstly, empowering the physical as well as psychological abilities of ADHD students; secondly, helping them to focus better in class, which would lead to their academic achievements. The article has also suggested how proficiency in bilateral coordination would assist such children and help them sit attentively in class without fidgeting (Cho et al., 2014). It would improve their focus and control, impacting their class understanding of lessons and, ultimately, better academic performance. Medical professionals suggest a therapeutic ball for ADHD children’s use in class that would provide a soothing effect on their erector spinous muscles and a therapeutic cushion for helping them calm down and control their nerves (Cho et al., 2014). Becoming irritated would be minimized, and higher harmonization in class activities, like holding the page with one hand and writing on it with the other, could be seen- the initial signs of a child’s improvement in bilateral coordination.

Article 2

The fundamental principles of goal setting are enrooted in the formulation of SMART goals. Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goals set the outline for parameters required to achieve a specific action. Theoretical and empirical research was conducted by Weinberg (2013) to show the importance of goal-setting in sports and its applications with best practices for the future.

The article started with a goal definition, a person’s motivation to achieve something (Weinberg, 2013). It could include losing twenty pounds in a few weeks or running a certain number of miles within a specified time. With close observation of such goals, it could be discerned that three broad categories of goals are stated: outcomes, goals, performance goals, and process goals (Weinberg, 2013).

The article further enhances the importance of goal-setting with Locke’s goal-setting theory. The theory states that goals set to achieve a higher level of performance and that require higher efforts are more effective than easy goals (Weinberg, 2013). Further, it is suggested that goals must be set rather than no goals. An influence in behavior is created with goal setting as an individual would be instigated to get into action and stir his behavior for confirming to the goals within a time limit.

For the effectiveness of goal setting, Locke also recommended four helpful ways. Regulating attention, activating effort, enhancing perseverance, and formulating new learning strategies could improve performance (Weinberg, 2013). Recent studies have shown a high correlation between goal setting and sports performance which was not seen in research studies a few decades ago. The stronger relationship occurring in goa, setting, and sports performance indicates that four ways highlight a mechanistic working of goals for creating motivation.

The article ends with stating principles of goal-setting, which are SMART goals. It includes carefully implementing strategies to help a sports player learn a certain game (Weinberg, 2013). For example, improvement in batting average would require a strategy of keeping eyes on the ball and moving back and forth to give the right swing of the bat to achieve the set score target.

Identification of Reinforcers

External Reinforcers

· Evidence has suggested that children get higher motivation through social learning and relationships (Horsburgh & Ippolito, 2018). Social learning theory’s groundwork could be used to motivate an ADHD child to do the same as his peers would do for learning jumping jacks and clapping from his friends would be used as an external reinforcer. Also, social learning theory seems to align well with Locke’s goal-setting theory, which has four ways to be effective. Social learning theory has four similar stages: attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation (Horsburgh & Ippolito, 2018).

· Acknowledgment from the teacher would be the second external reinforcer for the child, even if it is for one step of jumping jacks, such as moving arms in coordination.

· The third external reinforcer could be from the parents. The instructor can ask the parent to keep encouraging the child at home to get the desired results within a few days or weeks.

Vicarious Reinforcers

· It also invokes learning through observing others and their consequences, which would give satisfaction, happiness, and a sense of achievement to the 10-year-old ADHD child. Vicarious reinforcer could be the motivation to change his behavior that might come from the child’s favorite cartoon character, such as Goku (Dragon Ball Z), who can run a 100-meter distance within a few seconds after training. It is a reconsolidation of a strong memory of his cartoons that are fitness-based to revive his memory and induce internal motivation to do so (Eisenhardt & Menzel, 2007).

· Memory retrieval, such as the example of his friend who did well after performing another physical exercise in the lesson and was appreciated by the teacher, might help in this regard.

· Rewarding the child could be another strategy for vicarious reinforcement, like giving him candy in the end if he can do jump jacks properly and shows clear signs of bilateral coordination.

Internal Reinforcers

· Positive reinforcement could be done in the form of praising the child, giving him candy, and clapping from class fellows

· Negative reinforcement could be removing an aversive stimulus, such as his irritation, which could be minimized with constant encouragement from the instructor.

· If any of his class fellows laugh at him, which some children do if someone cannot learn anything properly, they should immediately abstain from keeping the motivation level of a 10-year-old high.

· Extinction could be used for ignoring some of the child’s behavior, such as getting irritated and the instructor still keeping his calm attitude towards the child, knowing his ADHD problem.

Negative Reinforcers

· One is discussed above, which disallows other class fellows to make fun of the child.

· The instructor could give a break to the child for 10 mins to recompose his thoughts and again try if he feels comfortable; otherwise, the next day.

· Prevent enforcing all actions of jumping jacks upon the child on the first day or all actions in one day. Starting with small steps like moving hands in coordination on the first day and moving legs in coordination the next day could be helpful.