Fundamentals of Motor Behavior

This is the essential primer in motor behaviour. The what, the where, the how! This book provides an overview of the field of motor behaviour. You don't need specialised knowledge to understand the concepts presented and the material frequently focuses on why the information is relevant in the real world. The book is organised to first introduce the reader to the field: how it emerged, the questions that interest people in the field, how they go about trying to answer those questions and potential career options. The second part of the book explains how the study of motor behaviour is concerned with the interactions between the environment, the task and the person executing the actions. It goes on to demonstrate how the knowledge resulting from this research can be applied to improve performance in a variety of settings. Finally, the epilogue asks a series of ‘what will you do?’ questions to prompt readers to consider how he or she might eventually contribute to the field. Need an easy guide to what motor behaviour is all about? This book is for you. It shows: techniques to observe and classify motor behaviour and to identify performance demands; how people control movements; how people learn motor skills; capabilities and limitations that each person brings to a particular task; and how to use the motor skill learning cycle to design and modify instructional programmes. It includes detailed descriptions of the various types of practice available, including when each might prove to be a good choice.