Movement Matters! Understanding the Developmental Trajectory of Embodied Planning

Lisa Musculus; Azzurra Ruggeri; Markus Raab

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.633100

Movement Matters! Understanding the Developmental Trajectory of Embodied Planning

Front Psychol. 2021 Apr 28:12:633100. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.633100. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Lisa Musculus¹, Azzurra Ruggeri^{2

3}, Markus Raab^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Performance Psychology, Institute of Psychology, German Sport University Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
² iSearch, Max Planck Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.
³ TUM School of Education, Technical University Munich, Munich, Germany.
⁴ School of Applied Sciences, London South Bank University, London, United Kingdom.

Abstract

Human motor skills are exceptional compared to other species, no less than their cognitive skills. In this perspective paper, we suggest that "movement matters!," implying that motor development is a crucial driving force of cognitive development, much more impactful than previously acknowledged. Thus, we argue that to fully understand and explain developmental changes, it is necessary to consider the interaction of motor and cognitive skills. We exemplify this argument by introducing the concept of "embodied planning," which takes an embodied cognition perspective on planning development throughout childhood. From this integrated, comprehensive framework, we present a novel climbing paradigm as the ideal testbed to explore the development of embodied planning in childhood and across the lifespan. Finally, we outline future research directions and discuss practical applications of the work on developmental embodied planning for robotics, sports, and education.

Keywords: children; development; embodied cognition; lifespan; planning.