Abstract
In DSM-IV (APA, 1994) factors such as growing insight in clinical conditions based on scientific studies, and the need to adapt the system to a large variety of cultures are mentioned as reasons for the ongoing process of adapting classification systems. Not explicitly mentioned but maybe also a possible motivation for change is the continuously growing need for ‘specificity’ of categories. There has to be a proper balance between the two requirements: generality or globality on the one hand, and specificity on the other. The optimal level of generality depends of the function(s) that category has to serve. Broadly speaking, there are two important ‘functional domains’, namely:
-
the clinical domain: here the category serves to identify children, characterized by a particular set of ‘clinical’ phenomena, which may be the basis for ‘clinical’ decisions with respect to the individual child. Categories become either too specific or too global if they do not sufficiently match the sorts of decisions clinicians have to take with respect to guidance, treatment, measurements with respect to remedial teaching, special school placement or institutionalisation, etc.;
-
the scientific domain: here the category serves as a basis for the understanding of ‘the underlying nature’ of that particular condition. It should allow for a scientific (= empirical) approach to possible mechanisms at various ‘levels of explanation’: e.g. at the level of the organism/the nervous system: its anatomy, biochemistry, neurotransmission, neurophysiology or neurological functions or at the level of psychological functions: its way of processing information and the planning and execution of its behaviour or at the level of its social relationships and structures. Ideally in this connotation, a category is a source and stimulus for theory-building. There is a mismatch with the scientific study of diseases if the circumscription is so vague or ambiguous that it is meaningless to postulate particular mechanisms which can be empirically studied and which can be hypothesized to be core mechanisms in that particular condition.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders ( 4th ed. ). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.
Ayres, A. J. (1980). Sensory integration and the child. Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services.
Birch, H. G. (1964). Brain damage in children. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins.
Cermak, S. (1985). Developmental dyspraxia. In E. A. Roy (Ed.), Neuropsychological studies of apraxia and related disorders. Amsterdam: Elsevier, North-Holland.
Dwyer, C. and McKenzie, B. E. (1994). Impairment of visual memory in children who are clumsy. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 11(2), 179–189.
Geuze, R. H. and Börger, H. (1993). Children who are clumsy: Five years later. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 10, 10–21.
Geuze, R. H. and Dellen, T. Van (1990). Auditory precue processing during a movement sequence in clumsy children. Journal of Human Movement Studies, 19, 11–24.
Geuze, R. H. and Kalverboer, A. F. (1987). Inconsistency and adaptation in timing of clumsy children. Journal of Human Movement Studies, 13(8), 421–432.
Geuze, R. H. and Kalverboer, A. F. (1994). Tapping a rhythm: A problem of timing for children who are clumsy and dyslexic? Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 11, 203–213.
Hoare, D. (1994). Subtypes of Developmental Coordination Disorder. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 11(2), 158–169.
Hofsten, C. von and Rösblad, B. (1988). The integration of sensory information in the development of precise manual pointing. Neuropsychologia, 26, 805–821.
Ivry, R. B. and Keele, S. W. (1989) Timing functions of the cerebellum. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 1, 136–152.
Kalverboer, A. F. (1978). M.B.D.: Discussion of the concept. In A. F. Kalverboer, J. Mendlewicz, and H. M. van Praag (Eds), Advances in Biological Psychiatry, Vol. 01: M.B.D.: Facts and fiction. Basel: Karger.
Kalverboer, A. F. (1988). Follow-up of biological high-risk groups. In M. Rutter (Ed.), Studies of psychosocial risk: The power of longitudinal data (pp. 114137 ). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kalverboer, A. F. (1989). Merits and limitations of the information processing approach for the study of attentional deficit disorder. In L. M. Bloomingdale and J. M. Swanson (Eds.), Attention deficit disorder, Vol. 4: Current concepts and emerging trends in attentional and behavioral disorders of childhood (pp. 273282 ). Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Kalverboer, A. F. and Brouwer, W. H. (1983). Visuo-motor behaviour in preschool children in relation to sex and neurological status: An experimental study on the effect of ‘time-pressure’. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 24 (1), 65–88.
Kalverboer, A. F., Vries, H. de and Dellen, T. Van (1990). Social behaviour in clumsy children as rated by parents and teachers. In A. F. Kalverboer (Ed.), Developmental biopsychology: Experimental and observational studies in children at risk (pp. 257–269 ). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Keogh, J. F., Sugden, D. A., Reynard, C. L., and Calkins, J. A. (1979). Identification of clumsy children: Comparisons and comments. Journal of Human Movement Studies, 5, 32–41.
Kooistra, L., Snijders, T. A. B., Schellekens, J. M. H., Kalverboer, A. F., and Geuze, R. H. (in press). Timing variability in children with early treated Congenital Hypothyroidism. Acta Psychologica.
Kooistra, L., Laane, C., Vulsma, T., Schellekens, J. M. H., Meere, J. J. van der, and Kalverboer, A. F. (1994). Motor and cognitive development in children with congenital hypothyroidism: A long-term evaluation of the effects of neonatal treatment. The Journal of Paediatrics, June 94, 903–909.
Laszlo, J. I. and Bairstow, P. J. (1983). Kinaesthesis: Its measurement, training and relationship to motor control. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 35a, 411–421.
Losse, A., Henderson, S. E., Elliman, D., Hall, D., Knight, E., and Jongmans, M. (1991). Clumsiness in children–Do they grow out of it? A 10-year follow-up study. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 33, 55–68.
Lundy-Ekman, L., Ivry, R., Keele, S., and Woollacott, M. (1991). Timing and force control deficits in clumsy children. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 3, 367–376.
Mon-Williams, M. A., Pascal, E., and Wann, J. P. (1994). Ophthalmic factors in Developmental Coordination Disorder. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 11(2), 170–178. ( Special Issue: Developmental Coordination Disorder ).
Rösblad, B. and Hofsten, C. von (1994). Repetitive goal-directed arm movements in children with Developmental Coordination Disorders: Role of visual information. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 11(2), 190–202 ( Special Issue: Developmental Coordination Disorder ).
Rose, S. (1976). The conscious brain. London: Penguin.
Schoemaker, M. M. (1992). Physiotherapy for clumsy children: An effect evaluation study. Thesis, State University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands: Stichting Kinderstudies.
Schoemaker, M. M. and Kalverboer, A. F. (1990). Treatment of clumsy children. In A. F. Kalverboer (Ed.), Developmental biopsychology: Experimental and observational studies in children at risk (pp. 241–255 ). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Schoemaker, M. M., Schellekens, J. M. H., and Kalverboer, A. F. (1994). Effects of short-term physiotherapy on the handwriting proficiency of clumsy children. In C. Faurzé, P. Keuss, G. Lorette, and A. Vinter (Eds), Advances in handwriting and drawing: A multidisciplinary approach (pp. 463–476). Paris: Europia Press.
Touwen, B. C. L. (1979). Examination of the child with minor neurological dysfunction. London: Spastics International Medical Publications.
Van Dellen, T. and Geuze, R. H. (1988). Motor response processing in clumsy children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 29, 489–500.
Van Dellen, T. and Geuze, R. H. (1990). Experimental studies on motor control in clumsy children. In A. F. Kalverboer (Ed.), Developmental biopsychology: Experimental and observational studies in children at risk (pp. 187–206 ). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Visser, J., Geuze, R. H., and Kalverboer, A. F. (submitted). Variability in force, timing and impulse in isometric responses: Effects of age and motor competence.
Walton, J. N., Ellis, E., Court, S. D. M. (1962). Clumsy children: Developmental apraxia and agnosia. Brain, 85, 603–612.
Williams, H. G., Woollacott, M. H., and Ivry, R. (1992). Timing and motor control in clumsy children. Journal of Motor Behaviour, 24 (2), 165–172.
Wing, A. M. and Kristofferson, A. B. (1973). The timing of interresponse intervals. Perception and Psychophysics, 13, 455–460.
Wolff, P. H., Michel, G. F., Ovrut, M., and Drake, C. (1990). Rate and timing precision of motor coordination in developmental dyslexia. Developmental Psychology, 26, 349–359.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1998 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kalverboer, A.F. (1998). On the Relevance of Specific Classifications of Disorders with Particular Focus on DCD, Developmental Coordination Disorder. In: Rispens, J., van Yperen, T.A., Yule, W. (eds) Perspectives on the Classification of Specific Developmental Disorders. Neuropsychology and Cognition, vol 13. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-2581-1_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-2581-1_13
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-4961-2
Online ISBN: 978-94-017-2581-1
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive