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She states that the following researchers have reported zero to low
correlations between intelligence and various types of motor performance. Beck,
1957; Ryan, 1963; Schaffer, 1959; Singer, 1968; Singer and Brunk, 1967. Biddulph,
1954; Ismail and Gruber, 1967; Rarick and McGee, 1949, have reported more
significant relationships. Howard and Templeton (Cratty 1970), after a thorough
survey of the literature on spatial orientation, shape recognition, and
reproduction, concluded that young children are first able to recognize and
reproduce shapes without ant concern as to their upright position. Later, after
establishing their own body images, they can place the figures in the correct
position relative to up and down and left and right. They suggest that some kind
of body image concept must precede spatial orientation. The child that develops
awareness past his or her age norm may also be behind the norm in spatial
relationships, which could hinder his ability to read, to write, and to perform
other basic intellectual functions such as sequencing. It could therefore be
assumed that training in body image might aid the child in establishing the
concepts of spatial orientation and shape recognition.
Training for increasing
body image involves creating awareness of personal body parts and their position
in space in relation to the world around the child. Hellmuth (1968) states that
“if the child is not aware of these subtle kinds of things about the person and
the environment, it is doubtful if the child can be expected to form later more
complex judgments inherent in many classroom learning tasks.” Several methods
may be utilized in developing a concept of body image. This writer feels that
one should begin with a program of sensory motor integration as outlined by Jean
Ayres (1973). A second program could be the Frostig Program for the Development
of Visual Perception, which involves teaching the child laterality,
directionality and body schema, resulting in an increasing awareness on the part
of the child concerning personal body image. A third program is the diagnostic
remedial program of Kephart’s Purdue Perceptual Motor Survey, which is a
sequence, designed to utilize movement as well as tactile methods in introducing
the child to the limit and outreaches of the body. Along with the development of
an accurate body image, Kephart (1970) also advocates basic motor, which he
feels, will increase the child’s readiness for school tasks. He maintains that
one must help a child to establish what are termed “motor generalizations”.
These include:
1. Posture and balance. Both are necessary for accurate
perceptual judgement because they supply the stable base for the body.
2.
Locomotion. Mobility allows the child to learn about spatial relationships
within the environment
3. Contact. If the child does not have direct contact
with the objects around him or her there may be a deficit in manipulative
skills, which would prevent the child from becoming aware of objects, shapes,
and textures.
4. Receipt and propulsion. Throwing and catching balls, bean bags,
rings, etc. help a child to learn about velocities, sizes, and distances in
space.
5. Motor Generalizations. The two main motor generalizations, body image
and laterality, are essential for the perceptual organization of the child's
world which in turn makes it possible for the child to achieve sound
intellectual functioning. Singer (1968) points out that motor activity has also
proved valuable as a means of eliciting optimum levels of arousal for the
performance of a task. Several experiments have demonstrated a definite
relationship between the quality and quantity of obvious motor outputs of
children and their ability and/or inclination to engage in various tasks within
the classroom. Cratty (1970) has discovered that there appear to be optimum
levels of alertness, activation, or arousal necessary for the efficient
performance of a task. He maintains that simple tasks require a higher level of
arousal than complex tasks, perhaps because of a challenge or interest factor.
This writer feels that there is some truth in this but feels that vestibular
stimulation, as written about by Jean Ayres (1973) is the cause of the higher
arousal. Courts and Freeman (Cratty 1970) in a series of experiments observed
that if a person's muscular tension was raised by pressing on a hand-grip with
fifty per cent of their maximal hand pressure, that person would perform better
on tasks consisting of memorizing word lists and similar cognitive-verbal tasks.
The tension or release of energy resulting from the gripping seemed to raise the
level of activation. Railo's Norwegian experiment in which he administered
several hundred seventh graders a two- hour exam followed by a two-hour mental
task and then another two-hour exam produced unexpected resu.1te. The children
with good physical fitness per- formed more poorly on the final test than the
'unfit' children. Thus it was concluded that the fit children with high
capacities for movement and presumably high needs for movement were hampered by
the prolonged period of confinement while the less fit children felt less need
for physical activity. Cratty felt that the results of this experiment would
imply that active children need frequent opportunities to move in order to bring
their full attention and full intellectual energy to their academic work and
that the most effective way to remedy the situation is to integrate movement
activities with academic work. This writer feels that this should be common
practice, where needed, for all developmental and/or remedial programs.
The use
of motor games as reinforcement for good performance or as a learning task in
itself is another way in which motor activity serves as a motivation for a young
child. The use of motor activity has also been a positive factor in experiments
attempting to lengthen the attention spans of elementary school-age children.
Mercy (1965) found a high correlation between scores elicited from directions
like draw a line as slowly as you can and walk from here to there as slowly as
you can and I.Q. scores. Slowing a child down and aiding him or her to achieve
degrees of motor control will not necessarily improve mental capacities but it
does present the child with an opportunity to exhibit intellectual knowledge.
Another method of increasing the attention span of a child is through sustained
tasks on the balance beam.
Present the child with tasks to perform on the
balance beam, such as walk from one end of the beam to the other and then
gradually increase the length of the beam. (Gearheart, 1973). MOTOR LEARNING
Kephart (1960) maintains that we cannot think of perceptual activities and motor
activities as two different items; we must think of the hyphenated term
perceptual-motor. Just as in our thinking we cannot separate what part of the
child's activities in any task, such as copying a figure, is motor and what part
is perceptual, in our teaching we cannot separate what parts of the activity are
perceptual and what parts are motor. The total perceptual-motor process should
be considered in every learning activity, which we set up for the child.
Learning experiences should be designed for him in terms of this total process
in order to obtain the desired results. There are several methods in use today
which may be termed 'motor learning' or learning through the use of motor
activity. Some of the most common ones are those by such people as Marianne
Frosting, Musk Moisten, Newell Kephart, Gerald German, Ray Barch, and Bryant
Crate.
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