Ann Gentile
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Antionette M. Gentile | |
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| Born | August 28, 1936 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | February 7, 2016 (aged 79) |
| Other names | A. M. Gentile Ann Gentile |
| Education | Brooklyn College (BA) Indiana University (P.E.D.) State University of New York at Stony Brook (Ph.D.) |
| Occupation | Physical educator |
| Employer | Teachers College, Columbia University |
| Known for | Research in motor learning and neuropsychology |
| Title | Professor Emerita |
Antionette M. Gentile, Born August 28, 1936, New York City, New York U.S.
Early Life and Education
Ann Gentile was born in New York City, New York and stayed in the state of New York throughout childhood and into her undergraduate education where she attended Brooklyn College, where she played women’s basketball. Her undergraduate degree was in Physical Education. After obtaining her undergraduate degree, in the late 1950s, she was a physical educator instructor at Rhode Island College. Sometime in the early 1960s, Dr. Gentile began a doctorate in Physical Education (PED) at Indiana University. Here, her study was focused on the motor functions of high-performance athletes and dancers. Before completion of her PED, Dr. Gentile started working at Teachers College in 1964 as an instructor. She completed her PED from Indiana University in 1967 and was promoted from Instructor to Assistant Professor at Teachers College. While still teaching at Teachers College, she went on to earn a PhD in Neuropsychology at State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1972. Her dissertation was focused on the organization of movements and delayed alterations of those movements in monkeys. Dr. Gentile had unique training that encompassed neuroanatomy, movement, motor learning, and development.
Career
After completing her undergraduate work, Dr. Gentile started her career as an Instructor of Physical Education at Rhode Island College. She was hired as an Instructor at Columbia University’s Teachers College in 1964, before the completion of her PED. Here, she worked “on the faculties of Movement Science and Psychology and was a leader in the movement science and neuromotor research”. Upon finishing her PED, Dr. Gentile was promoted to Assistant Professor at Teacher’s College and concurrently completed a PhD. Her PhD was awarded in 1972. The first motor learning graduate program at Teachers College was created by Dr. Gentile and a colleague, Dr. Joe Higgins. From 1974-1985 she was an Associate Editor for the Journal of Motor Behavior. Dr. Gentile served as Department Chair of Movement Sciences and Education and Division Director at Teachers College, Columbia University. In 1980, she was inducted into the National Academy of Kinesiology. During her years as a Professor, Dr. Gentile desired to see students achieve their academic potential, so she took the initiative to act as research advisor for many students in rehabilitation sciences. She is now credited for her role in "numerous nationally acclaimed publications, including research studies on Down’s syndrome and Parkinson’s disease, among many others.” She was promoted to Full Professor in 1976, the first woman to hold that title in her division.
Research
Dr. Gentile worked on many research projects in her lifetime. Her PED thesis paper, which was focused on short-term memory and the retention of simple motor acts, found that the ability to reproduce an action that is stored in short-term memory decreases very quickly, specifically between 4 and 16 seconds after the action is performed.[1] She also found that the more extreme an action is, the less likely correct reproduction of the action will occur.[1]
Dr. Gentile also went on to get her PhD and completed a dissertation entitled Movement Organization and Delayed Alteration Behavior of Monkeys following Selective Ablation of Frontal Cortex.[2] Using control, kinesthetic cues (i.e., force variation: different weights on right and left), and kinesthetic and articular cues (i.e., spatial variation: sliding on left vs lifting on right), Dr. Gentile tested a right/left delayed alteration task. This was done in normal monkeys, and monkeys with varying levels of ablations to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. This work provided evidence that the “dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is involved in higher level kinesthetic-motor processes”.[2]
Her early work in her laboratories in Thorndike and Russell Halls at Teachers College included biomechanical analyses of movement in rats. Many of these studies involved surgically creating lesions in the rats’ cortices and recording movements. This work reported how movement was changed rather than simply reporting movement or reaction time.[3][4][5][6]
A seminal paper written by Dr. Gentile in 1972 titled A Working Model of Skill Acquisition with Application to Teaching which laid out the ideas that neuromotor skills are acquired in distinct stages, with a performer’s current stage having implications for teaching or treatment.[7] The proposed two stages of learning include: 1) getting an idea of the movement and 2) fixation/diversification. The second stage of entering fixation or diversification is based upon the environmental control and regulatory conditions.[7]
One of her biggest contributions to the field of motor learning is her proposal of the “Taxonomy of Tasks” or as it is still taught today “Gentile’s Taxonomy of Motor Skills.”[8] This taxonomy classified skills based on two dimensions: 1) action requirements and 2) regulatory conditions. Under action requirements, skills are categorized whether the body must be transported during the skill and if there is an object the body must interact with during the skill performance. Under regulatory conditions, or environmental context, skills are classified based on whether the environment is stable or in motion and whether there is intertrial variability.[8] This taxonomy was developed as a guide for therapists to establish rehabilitation protocols; however, it is also vastly used in the areas of physical education and motor neuroscience.[9]
She expanded the ideas of learning processes in her 1998 manuscript, Movement Science: Implicit and explicit processes during acquisition of functional skills.[10] Dr. Gentile applied the ideas of explicit and implicit learning to motor skill acquisition. These concepts were studied in cognitive learning but had yet to be applied to motor skill learning. These works had implications on neurorehabilitation. At that time, it was commonly considered that rehabilitation recovery was imposed by the therapist. Dr. Gentile challenged this by arguing that a large amount of learning early on occurs implicitly and that a patient’s cognitive ability determines whether or not an intervention will be successful.[10] Dr. Gentile influenced numerous therapists to use implicit learning and allowing patients to problem-solve the solution.[11]
Legacy
In the spring of 2008, colleagues, friends and students created the A.M. Gentile Scholarship Fund in Motor Learning at Teachers College to honor their great professor.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Gentile, A. M. (1967). Short-term retention of simple motor acts (Thesis). Indiana University, ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. ProQuest 6804965.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Gentile, A. M. (1972). Movement organization and delayed alteration behavior of monkeys following selective ablation on frontal cortex (Thesis). State University of New York at Stony Brook, ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. ProQuest 7229362.
- ↑ Gentile, A. M.; Green, S.; Nieburgs, A.; Schmelzer, W.; Stein, D. G. (1978). "Disruption and recovery of locomotor and manipulatory behavior following cortical lesions in rats". Behavioral Biology. 22 (4): 417–455. doi:10.1016/S0091-6773(78)92547-6. PMID 697680.
- ↑ Held, J. M.; Gordon, J.; Gentile, A. M. (1985). "Environmental influences on locomotor recovery following cortical lesions in rats". Behavioral Neuroscience. 99 (4): 678–690. doi:10.1037/0735-7044.99.4.678. PMID 3843734.
- ↑ Gentile, A. M.; Beheshti, Z.; Held, J. M. (1987). "Enrichment versus exercise effects on motor impairments following cortical removals in rats". Behavioral Neuroscience. 47 (3): 321–332. doi:10.1016/S0163-1047(87)90435-3. PMID 3606531.
- ↑ Slavin, M. D.; Held, J. M.; Basso, D. M.; Lesensky, S.; Curran, E.; Gentile, A. M.; Stein, D. G. (1988). "Fetal brain tissue transplants and recovery of locomotion following damage to sensorimotor cortex in rats". Progress in Brain Research. Vol. 78. Elsevier. pp. 33–38. doi:10.1016/S0079-6123(08)60263-0. PMID 3247434.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Gentile, Antoinette M. (1972). "A Working Model of Skill Acquisition with Application to Teaching". Quest. 17 (1): 3–23. doi:10.1080/00336297.1972.10519717.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Gentile, Antoinette M. (1987). "Skill acquisition: Action, movement, and neuromotor processes". In Carr, J. H.; Shepherd, R. D.; Gentile, A. M.; Hind, J. M. (eds.). Movement science: Foundations for physical therapy in rehabilitation. Rockville, MD: Aspen. pp. 93–154.
- ↑ Adams, D. L. (1999). "Develop better motor skill progressions with Gentile's taxonomy of tasks". Journal of Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance. 70 (8): 35–38.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Gentile, Antoinette M. (1998). "Movement Science: Implicit and Explicit Processes during Acquisition of Functional Skills". Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy. 5 (1): 7–16. doi:10.3109/11038129809035723.
- ↑ Gordon, A. M.; Quinn, L.; Kaminski, T. R.; Magill, R. A. (2016). "In Memoriam: Antoinette M. Gentile (1936 – 2016)". Journal of Motor Behavior. 48 (6): 479–481. doi:10.1080/00222895.2016.1198193.
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