How Do Our Physical Abilities Impact our Cognitive Development ?

Did you know that there is a direct correlation between physical development and cognitive development? 

Let’s define a few terms first.

Cognition:  is defined as 'the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses.” (Cambridge, 2015).

There are 5 general categories of cognition. 

1) Social Cognition 2) Executive functioning 3) Memory 4) Attention 5) Psychomotor speed

Physical Abilities: “Refers to the advancements and refinements of motor skills, or, in other words, abilities to use and control one’s body.”

You have: gross motor (large muscle movements) and fine motor (small muscle movements); proprioceptive control/awareness; strength; coordination; flexibility; balance; posture & gait, to name a few.

Physical Abilities relates to the growth and skill development of the body, including the brain, muscles, and senses. 

During infancy, foundations are created and built upon as other areas of development progress, such as physical and motor development. For example, young children will develop the abilities to balance, crawl, and walk from their foundational reflex responses. When infants and toddlers are able to move on their own, they are able to explore and contribute to their cognitive development in a way that was not possible when they were unable to walk or crawl.

Below are examples of how our physical abilities from a young age impact the development of our cognitive process

Exploration

Children/Infants who have delayed or limited motor abilities do not have as many opportunities to explore their environments. Exploration of one’s environment helps to develop our senses (smell, touch, sounds, etc.) problem solve and have new experiences.

Cognitive Development

As mentioned above, limited exploration often means limited experiences. “For example, learning about cause and effect (a contributor to cognitive development) can be limited merely because of restricted “experiments” with the things nearby".” (Laplante, et. al., 2007)

Social Development

Limited physical abilities further means that a child can only observe other children playing that are within his range of sight. They may not be able to keep up with peers their age, resulting in fewer opportunities to interact with others and develop foundational social skills.

Emotional development

Limited physical abilities can also affect emotional development, “as it may be difficult for the child to make his or her own way in the world and achieve autonomy,” as he/she will rely on others for support (Mayes & Zigler, 2006).

Why is all of this important?

As we get older, movement often only gets harder if we don’t already have a consistent routine and a positive past history with it. Especially for teens & adults whose physical abilities are impacted from a young age due to developmental differences. 

For many of the middle school students I work with who have ADHD and who are Autistic; attention and focus, emotional regulation, problem solving and social skills are all impacted. Building movement into therapy sessions, integrated it at home after school, and highlighting the importance of it, is one way to promote these skills.