Life Span Motor Development

Substantially revised, the third edition of this widely used introduction to life span motor development is an outstanding textbook for students with little or no background in the movement sciences.

The third edition reflects the most recent research findings and has been expanded to present topics from a new, unifying model of constraints approach. Students learn not only how to look at the individual but also at the task and the environment to fully understand the factors affecting motor development. In addition, a life span approach has been integrated throughout the text.

Students will benefit from many new reader-friendly features, including the following:

· Real-life experiences highlighting each chapter’s content

· A running glossary of terms in the margins, which provides definitions where students need them–next to key terms

· Interactive reflection questions throughout the text to help students master the material and test their learning as they go

· Assessment boxes to ensure that students learn about evaluation techniques and instruments in a consistent way

· A list of objectives opening each chapter

· Updated figures and photos

· Part summaries

Popular features from the second edition are retained, including the following:

· Discussion questions at the end of each chapter

· Concept summaries throughout each chapter

· An index of key terms at the end of each chapter

Completely reorganized, Life Span Motor Development, third edition, now features 19 concise chapters, making it easy for students to digest the material and for instructors to pick and choose chapters when time is limited. Also available are a new graphics package, instructor guide with test bank, and activity guide with a CD-ROM to facilitate teaching and learning.

The text is now divided into six easy-to-follow parts. Part I introduces students to the new model of constraints approach to the study of motor development and provides basic terminology, tools, and knowledge. Part II surveys motor development through the stages of physical growth and aging. Part III looks at motor development over the life span, from birth to older adulthood. Part IV discusses how motor development is affected by perceptual development. Part V addresses the impact of functional constraints on motor development. Part VI explores the development of physical fitness over the life span.

This outstanding textbook will appeal to students and help passive readers become more active thinkers who understand how to apply information to solve practical problems. The additional ancillaries will help instructors facilitate students’ learning processes and help the students experience the fascination of motor development issues in daily life.

Kathleen M. Haywood, PhD, is associate dean for graduate education at the University of Missouri at St. Louis, where she has taught courses in motor behavior and development, sport psychology, and biomechanics. She has served as secretary/treasurer and president of the North American Society for Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity and as chairperson of the Motor Development Academy of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. She also is a recipient of the Alliance’s Mabel Lee Award.

Dr. Haywood is also the co-author of the first and second editions of Archery: Steps to Success and Teaching Archery: Steps to Success. She earned her PhD in motor behavior from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1976.

Nancy Getchell, PhD, is an assistant professor at the University of Missouri at St. Louis and has been a contributor to the study of motor development for more than 15 years. She is a member of the North American Society for Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity, the International Society of Biomechanics in Sports, and the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. She earned a master’s degree and PhD in motor development from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.