Physical Development

Age plays a very important role in our everyday lives. Think about how many things in our lives hinge on a number.

Chronological Age Skeletal Age Developmental Age

Age measured in years, days, months; standard use of term

Age determined by maturity of skeleton; measured by an X-ray

Age expressed in one’s ability to complete a skill

So which of the above descriptions should be the one we use when discussing age in Kinesiology?

As we age, our bodies develop, sometimes changing dramatically. While you may have resembled your friends when you were young, you may now look very different. All bodies can be categorized into one of three key body types based on appearance and physical structure.

(Somatotyping)

Ectomorph –thinner body, characterized by long limbs and narrow hips; later to maturity

Endomorph –thicker body parts and more fatty tissue

Mesomorph –athletic body, characterized by stocky, heavily muscled, and broader bodies; earlier to mature

It must be noted that very few bodies fall into just one category, but are rather a combination of the different types.

-takes place at different rates during different points of life

-males and females develop at different rates and in varied ways

-4 basic stages ages are just a guideline

1. Infancy/Toddler (0-3 years)

Infancy – birth to 1 year, greatest rate of growth (triple weight), considerable development of heart, brain (75% of adult), lungs, and muscle

Toddler – large gains in body length, develop huge range of motor skills: walking, running, and using a spoon and fork.

2. Childhood (4-10 years)

-growth still great, but slows considerably compared to infancy

-stabilizing period: bone and muscle grow together to allow grounding of motor skills

-adopt the skills necessary for sport (age range to start organized sport)

3. Puberty/Adolescence (11-18 years)

-growth ramps up again (growth spurt)

-pituitary gland physical and psychological changes 2° sex characteristics, hormones

-females: 12-13

boys: 13-14

-adolescence = growing into body

4. Adulthood (18 years )

-most of growth complete (esp. height)

-lots of changes: weight, blood pressure, HR, deteriorations of muscle, joint movement, etc

WHY?

• getting older

• ignoring

•Exercise

•Diet

•Nutrition

• increased stress

Use your textbook to define the following:

Cephalocaudal sequence

Proximodistal sequence

All these changes and age ranges are “averages” But what can affect these averages?

Hormones

Heredity

Nutrition/Diet

Physical Activity

Sociocultural

“The changes that take place in a person’s ability to interpret and process information, alterations in emotional development, and the establishment of a person’s self-concept.”

-cognitive changes are more subtle

-Foremost researcher in this field was JEAN PIAGET (1896-1980)

-Swiss psychologist

-studied thousands of children

-laid out 4 progressive steps centred around a person’s ability to adapt to his/her environment

Sensorimotor stage (0-2 years)

-intelligence by means of motor activity without use of symbols

-crawl but not read

-knowledge based on immediate experiences

-memory to recall objects/events no real understanding

-some language near end

Pre-Operational (2-7 years)

-intelligence through use of symbols

-recognize/reproduce letters, numbers and pictorial representations

-Significant growth of language, memory, and imagination

-Linear thinking: “think through”

-Egocentric no other point of view

Concrete Operational stage (7-11 years)

-logical thinking develops

-solve hands-on concrete problems, mathematical operations, classify objects into lists

-understand sequences in reverse

-develop empathy

Formal Operational (11-15 years)

-abstract and increasingly complicated problem solving skills

-often a return to egocentric thinking

-how issues affect own identity

-appearance

Some researchers argue only 30% of adults would fit into the formal stage

Piaget does not explain why the stages occur

Socialization: the ways in which humans form attachments to each other

“Indeed, the single best childhood predictor of adult adaptation is not school grades, and not classroom behaviour, but rather, the adequacy with which the child gets along with other children. Children who are generally disliked, who are aggressive and disruptive, who are unable to sustain close relationships with other children, and who cannot establish a place for themselves in the peer culture, are seriously at risk.”

(Hartup, W., Having friends, making friends and keeping friends. ERIC Digest, 1992, EDO-PS-92-4)

It is up to you to have an understanding of the Individual, Social Skill, and Peer Relationship attributes found in your textbook (pg. 255)