Motor skill
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A motor skill is a skill requiring brain, body, and in some cases boldness. For example, dancers are able to control specific body segments to perform a variety of difficult movements and also have the boldness to actually execute the moves while others are watching. Motor skills and motor control depend upon the proper functioning of the brain, skeleton, joints, and nervous system. Most motor skills are learned throughout the lifespan and can be affected by disabilities. Motor development is the development of action and coordination of one's limbs, as well as the development of strength, posture control, balance, and perceptual skills. There are two categories of motor skills:
- Gross motor skills include lifting one's head, rolling over, sitting up, balancing, crawling, and walking. Gross motor development usually follows a pattern. Generally large muscles develop before smaller ones. Thus, gross motor development is the foundation for developing skills in other areas (such as fine motor skills). Development also generally moves from top to bottom. The first thing a baby usually learns to control is its eyes.
- Fine motor skills include the ability to manipulate small objects, transfer objects from hand to hand, and various hand-eye coordination tasks. Fine motor skills may involve the use of very precise motor movement in order to achieve an especially delicate task. Some examples of fine motor skills are using the pincer grasp (thumb and forefinger) to pick up small objects, cutting, coloring and writing, and threading beads. Fine motor development refers to the development of skills involving the smaller muscle groups.
- Section about motor learning and control in the Wikibook "Stuttering"