Review articleTechnologies shape sensorimotor skills and abilities

Humans shape their environment more than any other species does, and the environment, in turn, shapes the profile of human skills. In spite of the general specificity of practice of sensorimotor skills, the waxing and waning of specific skills goes along with modulations of a broader range of skills or sensorimotor abilities. This is illustrated by two examples. The first one is the death of handwriting, which is associated with a reduction of the quality of arm-hand motor control in the production of figural movements. The second one is the birth of video gaming, which facilitates performance in a variety of tasks, ranging from airplane piloting to laparoscopic surgery, probably because of improved control of attention, visual orientation, and further changes. These examples also illustrate the ambivalence of many technological changes that nourish social and educational controversies.