TY - JOUR
T1 - Reflections on motor development research across the 20th century
T2 - six empirical studies that changed the field
AU - Clark, Jane E.
AU - Bardid, Farid
AU - Getchell, Nancy
AU - Robinson, Leah E.
AU - Schott, Nadja
AU - Whitall, Jill
N1 - Accepted author manuscript version reprinted, by permission, from Journal of Motor Learning and Development, 2019 (ahead of print). © Human Kinetics, Inc.
PY - 2020/8/8
Y1 - 2020/8/8
N2 - Motor development research has had a rich history over the 20th century with a wide array of scientists contributing to a broad and deep body of literature. Just like the process of development, progress within the field has been non-linear, with rapid periods of growth occurring after the publication of key research articles that changed how we conceptualized and explored motor development. These publications provided new ways to consider developmental issues and, as a result, ignited change in our theoretical and empirical approaches within the field of motor development and the broader field of developmental psychology. In this paper, we outline and discuss six pioneering studies that we consider significant in their impact and in the field's evolution, in order of publication: Halverson, 1931; Wild, 1938; Gibson & Walk, 1960; Connolly, Brown, & Bassett, 1968; Thelen & Fisher, 1982; Thelen & Ulrich, 1991. We have limited this review to empirical papers only. Together, they offer insight into what motor development research is, where it came from, why it matters, and what it has achieved.
AB - Motor development research has had a rich history over the 20th century with a wide array of scientists contributing to a broad and deep body of literature. Just like the process of development, progress within the field has been non-linear, with rapid periods of growth occurring after the publication of key research articles that changed how we conceptualized and explored motor development. These publications provided new ways to consider developmental issues and, as a result, ignited change in our theoretical and empirical approaches within the field of motor development and the broader field of developmental psychology. In this paper, we outline and discuss six pioneering studies that we consider significant in their impact and in the field's evolution, in order of publication: Halverson, 1931; Wild, 1938; Gibson & Walk, 1960; Connolly, Brown, & Bassett, 1968; Thelen & Fisher, 1982; Thelen & Ulrich, 1991. We have limited this review to empirical papers only. Together, they offer insight into what motor development research is, where it came from, why it matters, and what it has achieved.
KW - motor development
KW - research
KW - developmental issues
UR - https://journals.humankinetics.com/journal/jmld
U2 - 10.1123/jmld.2018-0031
DO - 10.1123/jmld.2018-0031
M3 - Article
VL - 8
SP - 438
EP - 454
JO - Journal of Motor Learning and Development
JF - Journal of Motor Learning and Development
SN - 2325-3193
IS - 2
ER -