Types of motor skills (gross and fine) and their characteristics.

Motor development in childhood allows us to coordinate complex movements.

Thanks to the locomotor system, human beings are able to perform a wide repertoire of movements, ordered by the brain, which allow us to relate to the world and, also, to coordinate complex movements.Thanks to the locomotor system, human beings can perform a wide range of movements, ordered by the brain, which allow us to relate to the world and also to explore it in order to get to know it better.

By motricity we refer to the organism's capacity to perform different movements and gestures, which can be of greater or lesser complexity and perform a variety of functions.

From throwing a ball, writing with a pen or simply running, these movements are within the concept of motricity, however, they would fall into different categories of the same.

• Recommended article: "Developmental Psychology: main theories and authors".

Let's find out what are the types of motor skills, their development throughout a person's life and the movements that fall into each one.

Types of motor skills

Basically, motor skills are divided into two types, gross and fine motor skillsdepending on the types of Muscle groups involved in the movement being performed.

1. Gross motor skills

Gross motor skills refer to motor skills of a person in which large muscle groups are involved.. the intervention of this type of muscles allows movements in which the whole body or a large part of a limb is activated, such as crawling, walking, jumping, climbing, cycling, swimming and many others.

This type of motor skills begins to develop at an early age, around the first weeks of a baby's life. Their development is continuous, but if they are not practiced or exercises are not performed with the aim of improving this ability, there is no loss of gross motor skills. However, it is common for these skills to develop progressively throughout life, even into adulthood.

The direction in which the large muscle groups are perfected is from head to toe, i.e., first the large muscle groups are learned from head to toe.The direction in which the large muscle groups are perfected is from head to toe, i.e., first we learn how to move the head and neck, then we have greater control over the trunk and, finally, we control the legs and arms.

During the first years of life, the development of this type of motor skills is essential for the acquisition of the ability to control posture, body balance and gait.

1.1. Postural control

Developing the ability to control posture and balance are fundamental to being able to perform upright actions such as walking and sitting.

When the baby is just born, it is not able to control its posture voluntarily, nor is it able to hold its head in correct balance. That is why in the first weeks of life, it is advisable for the baby to lie down.

After two months of age, the baby has already acquired sufficient capacity to maintain a certain balance and can sit upright with the help of its caregivers.

By the first year of life, infants have acquired sufficient capacity to be able to sit on a chair by themselves.

1.2. Learning to walk

Related to the previous point, in order to be able to walk upright, he/she must first have sufficient postural control to be able to stand upright.

In addition, it will require strength in the legs, which will have been acquired after several months of crawling and putting part of the weight of the trunk on them, with the help of the arms.

It is around the first year of life that babies are able to walk, however, according to research in this field, it has been shown that the neural pathways for this are already present before birth.

One fact that would lend strength to this is that if a two-month-old baby is placed in an upright position but being held by someone, the baby will alternate legs as if walking.

Regardless of how innate this ability might be, it is very important for the baby to see others, both its own age and older, walking in order to develop this ability.

Rise and decline of gross abilities

Although significant changes occur during the first years of life, gross skills also improve during the period from 7 to 12 years of age, gross skills also improve during the period between the ages of 7 and 12.. At this age, the soon-to-be adolescent improves his or her ability to run, dodge, jump rope and other sports-related activities.

That is why it is quite notorious the realization of sports activities during adolescence, coinciding with the time when people notice a better dexterity in terms of their locomotor ability is concerned.

However, as everything that goes up must come down, after a few years, especially when approaching the age of 30, a decline in gross motor skills begins to occur. As a result, people over this age find that their movements become slower and more difficult to perform. To prevent early and rapid motor decline, frequent physical exercise is recommended at any age.

Fine motor skills

In fine motor skills, unlike its counterpart, small muscle groups are involved, small muscle groups are involved, which are mostly found in the hands, especially in the wrists and fingers.. This ability is remarkable in the human species, since it has a high control of the movements of the fingers of the hands, allowing to grasp objects, write, play the piano or make gestures.

The fine skills are developed throughout the life of the individual, being able to improve and learn new movements in almost any age of the person, as long as there are no physical injuries or brain level.

However, especially in childhood, there are significant changes in the development of these abilities, which go hand in hand with the improvement of certain skills promoted by the educational system.

2.1. First months of life

The first fine movements that can be observed in a baby are reflexes, which are manifested from the moment of birth. However, after a few weeks, many of these disappear.

At eight weeks, the baby is able to make some finger movements and can pick things up, albeit clumsily.

Between two and five months, the baby is already able to coordinate his gaze with the movement of his own hands, and this is a turning point in his ability to explore the outside world.

Between seven and twelve months is the peak of the baby's fine motor skills, with an improvement in the ability to grasp objects, point with the index finger, pass objects from one hand to another and, very importantly, pincer grasp.

By the time the baby is one year old, he has enough fine motor skills to handle objects voluntarily and more safely.

Thanks to this, he can pick up the objects he wants and thus explore them to get to know them better, learning both physically and through stimuli. Thus, learning aspects such as size, weight and shape.

2.2. Preschool

This stage is between two and five years of age. At this age, the child is able to close and open the hand by making different combinations with the fingers.

Thus, the child can learn to use scissors, paint with pencils, button his shirt and grasp objects more accurately.

In addition, they learn about the environment in which they find themselves and the stimuli they receive from it, effectively coordinating their movements to explore it.

2.3. School stage

Between the ages of five and seven, fine motor skills are already remarkably developed, although there is always room for improvement. Arms and legs are better synchronized.

It is at this age that children learn to write and read. The first attempts at writing, although clumsy, are the demonstration of them, while reading is characterized by using their fingers to direct their gaze to the line they have to read.

Bibliographical references:

• Guthrie, E.R. (1957) "The psychology of learning". Harper et Brothers, New York (ed.).
• Sparrow, W.A. (July 1, 1983). "The efficiency of skilled performance". Journal of Motor Behavior. 15 (3): 237-261.