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Motor Skills

The Three Components of Motor Skills

Motor skill development File photo | Credit: Aussie Child Care NetworkOpens in new window

What are the components influencing the performance of motor skills? What can be observed and studied? Newell (1986) has offered an influential analysis of these questions. In his analysis, he suggests that three components of motor skills influence their performance, and that all three must be taken into account for the fullest understanding of motor skills. These components include:

  1. the person performing the skill,
  2. the task that is performed, and
  3. the environment in which the skill is performed.

In the simplest terms, the conceptualization of motor skills must take into account the who, what, and where of skills. Although motor skills are a composite of all three components, each component addresses unique features of skill performance, and each therefore lends itself to the study of a unique set of questions.

  1.   The Person

The attributes of individual persons play a significant role in shaping the performance of motor skills. Each person brings a unique composition of innate abilities, physical characteristics, psychological traits, previous skill-learning experiences, age, and motivation to the performance of motor skills.

Such personal features can interact in different ways with how individuals experience different practice arrangements, different types of institution and feedback, and other training arrangements. By studying such individual and training differences, movement scientists can gain information concerning the properties of skills and of the processes responsible for their learning.

  1.   The Task

The nature of the task is the second component shaping the performance of motor skills. Motor skill tasks vary widely in their goals and in the movement demands placed upon performers. Some tasks must be performed under a variety of conditions, such as driving in traffic, whereas others are performed consistently from one performance context to the next, such as shooting basketball free throws.

Tasks also vary relative to the perceptual demands they place upon individuals. Many motor skills have high perceptual demands. Baseball players must accurately determine the speed and path of a pitched ball when batting, and hockey goalies quickly discern the movement patterns of an opposing team rushing the net, for example.

Other tasks require the manipulation of implements for successful performance. Bowling, hammering nails, and using a prosthesis all require coordinating bodily movements within constraints imposed by external objects. The rules of sports skills may also constrain a person’s movements and influence the quality of task performance.

  1.   The Environment

The third component influencing skill performance is the environment in which a person executes the skill.

  • Where will a motor task be performed?
  • What is the environmental context of performance?

Skills may be performed within environments that are predictable or unpredictable, similar or dissimilar to practice conditions, recreational or competitive.

Skills may also be performed alone or in the presence of others, who can include other performers as well as spectators. Physical conditions of the performance context may also influence performance characteristics. Lighting conditions, temperature, wind, and gravity can subtanstially alter the performance of many skills.

Ultimately, the fullest understanding of motor skills drives from an appreciation of the interaction of all three components contributing to their performance.

Can You Identify the Components of Motor Skills That Influence Performance?

The performance of any motor skill is influenced by three distinct skill components. The environment in which a skill is performed can both facilitate and limit performance possibilities. Likewise, the nature of the task, including equipment and rules, can assist as well as limit performance. Finally, qualities inherent in the person performing the skill, such as previous experience, physical fitness, and motivation, play a significant role in skill performance.

For the following activities, can you think of something about each of these three components that would act to constrain or limit performance, as well as something that would facilitate the quality of performance?

  • Riding a bicycle
  • Catching a Frisbee
  • Walking on crutches
  • Serving a volleyball
  • Standing from a chair
  • Driving a car

List one factor that might limit, as well as one that might enhance, performance of each skill for the skill components of environment, task, and person.

See also:
  1. Adams, DL. (1999). “Develop better motor skill progressions with Gentile’s Taxonomy of Tasks,” Journal of Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, 70(8), 35 – 38.
  2. Gentile, AM. (2000). “Skill acquisition: Action, movement, and neuromotor process.” In J Carr and R Shepherd (eds.), Movement Science: Foundations for Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation (pp. 111 – 188). Gaitherburg, MD: Aspen Publications.
  3. Sheridan, MR. (1984). “Planning and controlling simple movement.” In MM Smyth and AL. Wing (eds.), The Psychology of Movement (pp. 47 – 82). London: Academic Press.
  4. Wulf, G, and Shea, C. (2002). “Principles derived from the study of simple skills do not generalize to complex skills.” Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 9, 185 – 211.
  5. Haywood, KM, and Getchell, N. (2004). Life span motor development, 4th ed. Champaign, 1L: Human Kinetics.
  6. Lashley, KS. (1951). “The problem of serial order in behavior.” In LA Jeffress (ed.), Cerebral mechanisms in behavior: The Hixon symposium (pp. 112 – 136). New York: Wiley.
  7. Smyth, MM, and Haggard, P. (1999). “Movement and action: Introduction to the special topic,” British Journal of Psychology, 90(12), 243 – 246.
  8. Kelso, AS, Fuchs, A, Lancaster, R, Holroyd, T, Cheyne, D, and Weinberg, H. (1998). “Dynamical cortical activity in the human brain reveals motor equivalence.” Nature, 392, 814 – 818.
  9. Kramer, AF, Strayer, DL, and Buckley, J. (1990). “Development and transfer of automatic processes,” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 16, 505 – 522.
  10. Jeannerod, M. (1994). “The representing brain: Neural correlates of motor intention and imagery.” Brain Behavior and Science, 17, 187 – 245.
  11. Guthrie, ER. (1952). The psychology of learning. New York: Harper & Row.
  12. Gentile, AM. (2002). “Skill acquisition: Action, movement, and the neuromotor processes.” In JH Carr and RB Shepherd (eds.), Movement science: Foundations for physical therapy in rehabilitation, 2nd ed. (pp. 111 – 188). Rockville, MD: Aspen Press.
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