Cognitive Science 301

Applied Cognitive Science and Education
Fall 2006

Motor Implementation

Graphomotor Function

• Motor components of writing
  • dynamic tripod grip: allows flexible use of all muscles of the fingers.
  • involves finely coordinated flexion and extension of muscles
  • to some extent the arm is also used
  • young writers first use a fist grip and arm muscles
  • the writing tool must provide kinesthetic feedback, "so that the writer . . . can maintain awareness of its location within letters and words." (p 205)
  • the writing tool must be stabilized without compromising flexibility
• Dysfunctions of graphomotor function
  • Impaired kinesthetic feedback
    • Afferent feedback "gives precision to the composition of the motor act" (p 205) and allows possibility of correction of the movement during the movement.
    • may be related to finger agnosia (not understanding the location of their fingers in space)
      • This may also be associated with poor sequencing abilities, and problems in math and spelling.
    • These individuals may be good at other fine motor tasks, which require visual input and visual kinesthetic feedback, such as sewing and building model airplanes.
    • Writing is often laborious, clumsy, and slow.  Perhaps too slow to function well in school.
      • Perhaps inattention does not allow completion of the slow, ineffectual task of writing.
    • Look at the different pencil grips shown in Figure 6-3.
    • Poor feedback also may allow insufficient or too great a pressure of the pencil on the paper.  This increased pressure assures kinesthetic feedback.
    • Awkward pencil grip decreases kinesthetic feedback because the muscles of the arm and shoulder do the work, rather than finger muscles.
    • "As the demand for writing increases through elementary school, the maladroit pencil grip can become an increasing liability." (p 208)
      • writer's cramp
      • cramp of ideas due to inability to write for extended periods of time
  • Eye-hand coordination problems
    • Visual feedback provides "gross monitoring rather than the fine-tuned kinesthetically transmitted feedback" from the finger muscles.
    • Dysfunctions may be experienced as the inability to perform fine motor tasks such as sewing and building model airplanes.
    • Problems arranging numbers and/or words in columns
  • Fine motor production
    • This may be because of difficulties creating an image (motor plan or program) of the required movement.
    • This may also be because of difficulties implementing the plan.
  • Motor memory deficits
    • Problems with recall of the motor plan may lead to poor writing.
    • Fluency (efficient and quick movements) depend on quick recall.
    • "Children with motor memory deficits have a characteristic handwriting, marred by frequent hesitation, retracing, and illegibility." (p 209)
    • Try the maze on page 209.  How did you do?
    • Fluctuations in recall may occur.
    • Printing letters requires less motor memory than remembering how the letters go together in cursive.
• Retrieval memory and motor implementation
  • Speedy and well-synchronized retrieval memory is essential for many tasks, especially writing.
    • Letters, words, spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and the sequential flow of ideas need to be synchronized and done quickly.
    • If the above tasks do not become automatic, too much effort must be used for them, rather than on higher-order cognition: development of ideas, use of problem-solving strategies, and creativity.
  • Remediation may involve practice copying geometric forms from memory.
• Attention Controls and motor implementation
  • "The need to sustain mental effort grows with the demands for increased output." (p 211)
  • " . . . they may become fatigued, distractible, impulsive, and bored too easily during writing activities." (p 211)
  • problems with planning a paper, problems proofreading, poor previewing, poor synchronization of all these 'boring' and effort-consuming tasks
• Language and motor implementation
  • expressive language dysfunctions may result in poor writing
  • difficulty with the components of writing (words, spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, sequential flow of ideas)
  • One needs to know what looks and sounds 'good' related to the expectations of the assignment.
• Organization and motor implementation
  • disorganization of materials: physical and/or spatial components of schoolwork
    • also problems completing assignments
    • problems collecting the appropriate tools to perform a task
    • problems taking work to school regularly
  • temporal-sequential disorganization
    • problems planning the amount of time for specific tasks
    • problems with sequential organization of writing
    • problems with geometric proofs
    • Long term assignments and completing them in a timely manner can be especially problematic.
  • difficulties with synthesis
    • combining information from many sources may be difficult
    • coming up with new ideas and integrating these with other information may be problematic
    • problems with identifying main ideas and summarizing
    • Retelling involves recognizing salient features and putting them together in meaningful discourse.

Main ideas

1. Graphomotor dysfunction involves appropriate kinesthetic feedback, appropriate pencil grip, efficient eye-hand coordination, and quick motor memory retrieval.
2. Poor attention controls can have severe consequences for motor implementation, especially if the task is arduous or not interesting.
3. Expression of language is greatly affected (writing and oral expression) by problems with motor function.  Communication is dysfunctional to varying degrees.

Questions

1. How could poor graphomotor skills influence expression of creative ideas in writing?
2. Can graphomotor skills be enhanced?  How?
3. What factors contribute to strong graphomotor skills?
4. What is finger agnosia?  Why is it important for writing with a pencil?