Motor Development and Decline

Abstract

CURRENTLY, there is an increasing professional and general interest in the changes which take place in later life. It has, therefore, seemed pertinent to include in this chapter references to researches which are concerned with age changes in motor abilities thruout the entire life span. Motor abilities cover a wide range from large-muscle coordinations, strength and balance or postural control, to fine manual coordinations involving speed and dexterity; from simple reactions to complex, highlyspecialized patterns of reaction, including vocational and athletic skills. Numerous studies concerned with specific manual skills of young adults where there is no consideration of changes with age, and which are primarily concerned with learning, even tho the tasks involved are motor in nature, have been excluded from this survey. However, a few studies on laterality which give information on developmental changes have been included. Altho the age range has been extended and the field broadened, the total number of investigations reported in this area of motor performance has declined during the past three years below that of the preceding three-year period. In fact, the number of references cited in the successive chapters on motor development in the REVIEWS on Growth and Development, has shown a steady decline since the first one appeared in 1941.