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A motor skill is a learned series of movements that combine to produce a smooth, efficient action.

• Gross motor skills include lifting one's head, rolling over, sitting up, balancing, crawling, and walking. Gross motor development usually follows a pattern. Generally large muscles develop before smaller ones, thus, gross motor development is the foundation for developing skills in other areas (such as fine motor skills). Development also generally moves from top to bottom. The first thing a baby usually learns to control is its eyes.
• Fine motor skills include the ability to manipulate small objects, transfer objects from hand to hand, and various hand-eye coordination tasks. Fine motor skills may involve the use of very precise motor movement in order to achieve an especially delicate task. Some examples of fine motor skills are using the pincer grasp (thumb and forefinger) to pick up small objects, cutting, coloring, writing, or threading beads. Fine motor development refers to the development of skills involving the smaller muscle groups.

• Ambidexterity is a specialized skill in which there is no dominance between body symmetries, so tasks requiring fine motor skills can be performed with the left or right extremities. The most common example of ambidexterity is the ability to write with the left or right hand, rather than one dominant side.

[edit] Dysfunction

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Motor skill dysfunction has many causes, e.g. demyelination of motor neurons. While fatigue or weariness may lead to temporary short-term deterioration of fine motor skills (observed as visible shaking), serious nervous disorders may result in a loss of both gross and fine motor skills due to the hampering of muscular control. A defect in muscle is also a symptom of motor skill dysfunction. Motor skills may be impaired by use of both minor and major tranquilizers.

[edit] See also

• Motor system

[edit] External links

• Section about motor learning and control in the Wikibook "Stuttering"