University of Groningen
A new perspective on the development of motor variability during middle childhood Golenia, Laura
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Golenia, L. (2018). A new perspective on the development of motor variability during middle childhood.
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen.
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A new perspective on the development of motor variability during middle childhood
Laura Golenia
The experiments described in chapter 2, 3, and 4 were conducted in the Center for Human Move- ment Sciences, University Medical Center Groningen, the Netherlands.
Ph.D. training was facilitated by the research institute School of Health Research (SHARE), part of the Graduate School of Medical Science Groningen.
The printing of this thesis was financially supported by:
• University of Groningen
• University Medical Center Groningen
• Center for Human Movement Sciences
• Stichting Beatrixoord Noord-Nederland
Paranymphs: Anniek Heerschop
Inge Tuitert
Cover and layout: evelienjagtman.com
Printed by: Gildeprint
ISBN printed version: 978-94-034-0857-6 ISBN digital version: 978-94-034-0856-9
© Copyright 2018, Laura Golenia
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic and mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the author.
A new perspective on the development of motor variability during middle childhood
PhD Thesis
to obtain the degree of PhD at the University of Groningen
on the authority of the Rector Magnificus Prof. E. Sterken
and in accordance with the decision by the College of Deans.
This thesis will be defended in public on Wednesday 3 October 2018 at 12.45 hours
by
Laura Golenia born on 17 July 1989
in Munich, Germany
Promotores Prof. E. Otten Dr. M.M. Schoemaker
Copromotor Dr. R.M. Bongers
Reading committee Prof. B.Vereijken Prof. M. Hadders-Algra Prof. B. Steenbergen
Table of contents
Prologue 6
Chapter 1 General introduction 9
Chapter 2 Development of reaching during mid-childhood from a developmental systems perspective
25
Chapter 3 The development of consistency and flexibility in manual pointing during middle childhood
47
Chapter 4 Variability in coordination patterns in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD)
65
Chapter 5 What the dynamic systems approach can offer for understanding devel- opment: an example of mid-childhood reaching
87
Chapter 6 General discussion 101
Epilogue 118
Appendices Summary 123
Samenvatting (short summary in Dutch) 127
Zusammenfassung (short summary in German) 131
Acknowledgments 135
Curriculum vitae 139
Scientific output 141
Conference contributions 143
Prologue
“They’re made out of meat.”
“Meat?”
“Meat. They’re made out of meat.”
“Meat?”
“There’s no doubt about it. We picked up several from different parts of the planet, took them aboard our recon vessels, and probed them all the way through. They’re completely meat.”
“That’s impossible. What about the radio signals? The messages to the stars?”
“They use the radio waves to talk, but the signals don’t come from them.
The signals come from machines.”
“So who made the machines? That’s who we want to contact.”
“They made the machines. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. Meat made the machines.” […]
“No brain?”
“Oh, there’s a brain all right. It’s just that the brain is made out of meat!
That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”
“So ... what does the thinking?”
They’re made out of meat - Terry Bisson (1991)
In Terry Bisson’s short story, “They’re Made Out of Meat” (1991), two aliens that are tasked with registering all intelligent life in the universe stumble upon planet Earth. To their horror, they discover the human race, a life form entirely made of “meat” - talking, moving, thinking meat.
For us, meat talking to meat, it is normal to behave like we behave. Reading Terry Bisson’s short story, I came to realize that it is astonishing that our physical bodies are somehow capable of our behavior. I was so astonished, in fact, that this short story sparked my interest in the study of thinking meat and its behavior. I also realized that neither cognitive ghosts nor neural machines are sufficient for describing the rich array of human behavior. Instead, I came to believe that we must study an integrated system, with each meaty component of the body contributing to the emerging behavior. During classes of my Master study, I learned about a theory that encompasses my thoughts about Terry Bisson’s short story; the Dynamic Systems theory. This theory states that behavior emerges from interactions of multiple components entailed by the person, environ- ment, and task. I was hooked.
To be continued on page 118
