Abstract

The Behavior Pattern of Throwing and Some Observations Concerning Its Course of Development in Children By MONICA R. WILD, PH.D. State Teachers College, Cedar Falls, Iowa THE PROBLEM E SE AR CH in the realm of child development has significantly entered the field of growth in motor behavior as basic to an understanding of all forms of behavioral development. Much is now known of the motor capabilities and their genesis and growth in the infant. How some of these continue their development in the play forms of childhood has not been systematically studied from the standpoint of neuromuscular changes in behavior. An attack on motor development from this angle seems timely. It was an interest in the genetic foundations of throwing behavior, a common skill element in many play activities of childhood, which stimulated this study. Its main problem has been to determine how children of successive age levels use their bodies when they execute a hard overhand throw. The problem includes four specific objectives: I. To study particularly the hard overhand throw as a special but commonly used type. 2. To discover age characteristics in manner of throwing. 3. To discover sex differences in manner of throwing. 4.