Newell's Model Of Constraints

Newell’s Model of Constraints Assignment by William Maw

Looking at the bigger picture of life the small influential details can seem insignificant. People take why and how we are able to do things for granted all the time. What some people do not understand is that it’s there are small details at play in most aspects of our live. An important example of such a subject that requires examination is Newell’s model of constraints and how it relates to motor development. This model was created by Karl Newell in 1986 who proposed that “movements arise from the interactions of the organism, the environment in which the movement occurs and the task to be undertaken” (Getchell & Haywood, 2014, p. 6). Newell’s model of constraints was created to allow

Newell’s model while helpful however is can also be challenging to understand without the proper use of examples. That being said it’s also important to keep in mind that constraints are not always negative and in some cases can benefit people. It is key to use easy to understand and informative examples to help people eager to learn about the model. For example, an elderly woman decides to go swimming in her backyard pool in order to start being more active. As she get’s up from the couch she realizes that there is a pain in her hip which is slightly inhibiting her ability to move. As she looks for bathing suit she realizes the only one she owns is slightly uncomfortable. She decides to continue but once she gets to her to the door to her backyard she looks out the window to reaize there is a horrible storm brewing outside. This scenario is an example of discouraging negative constraints in the area of individual structural, task and physical environment. To elaborate the pain in her hip is inhibiting her desire to go out and be active. This could lead her to decide to stay in doors and not continue to do the movement causing her pain. The elderly women trying on the swim suit and finding it to be uncomfortable is an example of a task constraint. To elaborate this is because she find’s it uncomfortable and is less inclined to wear it and participate in the physical activity because of it. Finally, the storming occurring outside is an example of a physical environmental constraint. This is due to the weather becoming unfriendly and causing the environment to become unwelcoming to physical exercise such as swimming. The unfortunate scenario is that negative constraints can quite easily prevent people from participating in almost anything. However, while constraints can be negative and discouraging they also have the possibility to be positive and