According to Adolph & Hoch (2019), motor development, motor control, and motor learning: Introduction to Human Movement Assignment, SUSS, Singapore

Question 1a(i) & a(ii)

According to Adolph & Hoch (2019), motor development, motor control, and motor learning are different since each of them focuses on different aspects of human movement and motor skill acquisition. However, they are interconnected disciplines within the field of motor behavior.

Firstly, motor development emphasises the continuous, age-related process of change in movement with consideration of interacting constraints such as the individual, environment, and task from infancy to old age (Chia & Ng, 2023). For example, in early childhood, children develop the ability to crawl, walk, and subsequently run whereas, by school year, one usually develops their dynamic tripod grasp for handwriting (Chia & Ng, 2023). On the other hand, as adults approach ageing, motor abilities begin to decline such that they experience a reduction in abilities to balance and coordinate (Seidler et al., 2010).

Secondly, motor control involves the study of how both neural and muscular systems work in order to activate and coordinate the performance of human movement, involving the required muscles and limbs (Magill & Anderson, 2021). For example, one’s ability to maintain balance while walking on a balancing beam or catching a thrown ball requires both hand-eye coordination with muscles and joint movements (Magill & Anderson, 2021).

Thirdly, motor learning involves the processes that lead to acquiring, retaining, and enhancing one’s learned or experienced motor skills through practices and experiences and even the reacquisition of skills which may be difficult to execute caused by diseases, injuries, etc. (Magill & Anderson, 2021). For example, learning to ride a bicycle, improving one’s tennis serve accuracy through repetition or relearning to walk after an accident (Magill & Anderson, 2021).