Motor Development: Developmental Stages, Milestones, Reflexes, Reactions, and Play

A complete set of vocabulary flashcards covering developmental stages, motor milestones, perceptual-motor development stages, postural reactions, primitive reflexes, play types, and middle childhood developmental tasks.

Developmental Domains

The four main interconnected areas of child development: physical and motor, cognitive, language and communication, and social-emotional.

Prenatal Proprioception

The fetal awareness of limb position and movement developed before birth alongside vestibular sensation and touch.

Neonatal/Infant Stage

The developmental period characterized by primitive reflexes, early motor behaviors such as lifting the head, and sensory maturation of the eyes and ears.

Toddler Stage

The developmental stage spanning 1 to 3 years of age, characterized by independent walking and exploratory behavior.

Preschooler Stage

The developmental stage spanning 3 to 5 years of age, characterized by imaginative play, workbook coloring, and peer socialization.

Elementary School-Aged Stage

The developmental stage spanning 6 to 12 years of age, associated with bicycle riding, participating in science projects, and classroom discussions.

Adolescent Stage

The developmental stage spanning 12 to 18 years of age, characterized by abstract thinking, journaling, and socializing with friends.

Motor Milestone Sequence

The normal developmental motor progression: head control (3 to 4 months), trunk control (3 to 4 months), rolling (around 6 months), sitting (around 6 to 8 months), crawling (around 8 to 10 months), pulling to stand (around 9 to 12 months), standing (around 12 months), and walking (around 12 to 15 months).

Functional Movement

Movement used to perform meaningful everyday tasks, which may incorporate compensatory strategies, adaptations, or assistive technology rather than typical unassisted developmental milestones alone.

Perceptual-Motor Development: Stage 1

Touch and proprioception refinement occurring at 4 to 5 years of age, focusing on early sensory discrimination, two-point discrimination, and stereognosis.

Two-Point Discrimination

The ability to distinguish two nearby points of touch as separate stimuli.

Stereognosis

The ability to recognize an object by touch without seeing it.

Perceptual-Motor Development: Stage 2

Kinesthetic acuity improvement occurring at 5 to 12 years of age, focusing on distance perception, balance and postural control, discrimination, and force and speed regulation.

Kinesthetic Awareness

The conscious awareness of body-part position and movement.

Perceptual-Motor Development: Stage 3

Kinesthetic memory and motor planning occurring at 6 to 12 years of age, emphasizing motor sequencing, rhythm and timing, and fluidity of movement.

Motor Sequencing

The organization of physical movements into the correct chronological order.

Perceptual-Motor Development: Stage 4

Directionality and laterality refinement occurring at 9 to 12 years of age, focusing on spatial awareness, spatial orientation, and left-right discrimination.

Laterality

The internal awareness and discrimination of the left and right sides of one's body.

Directionality

The ability to understand directions as well as the external location or movement of objects relative to oneself and the environment.

Righting Reactions

Postural responses whose primary purpose is to orient the head and body appropriately in relation to gravity and one another.

Neck Righting on Body

A righting reaction in which turning the head triggers rotation of the entire body.

Body Righting on Body (BOB)

A righting reaction that produces rotation between body segments, facilitating segmental rather than purely en bloc rolling.

Body Righting on Head (BOH)

A righting reaction in which movement or positioning of the body triggers an adjustment of the head to maintain orientation.

Labyrinthine Righting

A righting reaction that primarily utilizes the vestibular system to orient the head in space.

Optical Righting

A righting reaction that primarily utilizes visual input to orient the head in space.

Equilibrium Reactions

Postural adjustments that maintain or restore balance when the body's position changes, observed in supine, prone, quadruped, and standing positions.

Protective Reactions (Parachute Reactions)

Postural responses designed to prevent injury or falling by extending the limbs outward (forward, sideward/lateral, backward, or downward) to support body weight.

Integration (Primitive Reflexes)

The developmental process by which a stereotyped reflex response becomes less dominant as the nervous system matures and voluntary motor control emerges.

Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex (ATNR)

A primitive reflex appearing partially at 20 weeks gestational age and fully at 28 to 32 weeks gestational age, where turning the head causes the facial arm to extend and abduct while the occipital arm flexes and abducts; integrates at approximately 4 to 5 months.

Rooting Reflex

A survival reflex appearing at 28 weeks gestational age where tactile stimulation of the perioral area causes the hungry infant to turn the head and lips toward the stimulus; integrates around 3 months.

Suck-Swallow Reflex

A survival reflex appearing at 28 to 34 weeks gestational age characterized by rhythmic jaw and tongue movements followed by swallowing; integrates around 5 months as voluntary control emerges.

Palmar Grasp Reflex

A primitive reflex appearing at 28 weeks gestational age in which applying pressure to the palm elicits finger flexion; integrates around 4 to 7 months.

Plantar Grasp Reflex

A primitive reflex appearing at 28 weeks gestational age where pressure applied to the sole distal to the metatarsal heads triggers toe flexion; integrates around 9 months.

Flexor Withdrawal Reflex

A spinal reflex appearing at 28 weeks gestational age where a noxious stimulus to the sole causes flexion and withdrawal of the stimulated leg; integrates around 1 to 2 months.

Crossed Extension Reflex

A primitive reflex appearing at 28 weeks gestational age where a noxious stimulus to the sole causes the stimulated leg to flex and the opposite leg to extend and adduct; integrates around 1 to 2 months with inconsistent timing.

Galant Reflex (Trunk Incurvation)

A primitive reflex appearing at 28 weeks gestational age where stroking the skin beside the spine of a prone infant causes lateral trunk curvature toward the stimulated side; integrates around 3 months with inconsistent timing.

Moro Reflex

A primitive reflex appearing at 28 weeks gestational age triggered by a sudden backward head drop, causing arm abduction and extension with finger splaying, followed by arm flexion and adduction; integrates around 3 to 5 months.

Positive Support Reflex

A primitive reflex appearing at 35 weeks gestational age where contact of the balls of the feet with a firm surface triggers leg extension to bear weight; integrates around 1 to 2 months with inconsistent timing.

Automatic Walking Reflex (Reflex Stepping)

A primitive reflex appearing at 37 weeks gestational age in which holding an infant upright with feet on a surface elicits rhythmic high-stepping movements; integrates around 3 to 4 months.

Symmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex (STNR)

A postural reflex appearing postnatally at 4 to 6 months after full-term birth where neck flexion produces arm flexion and hip extension, and neck extension produces arm extension and hip flexion; integrates around 8 to 12 months.

Sensorimotor Play

The characteristic play type of infancy that relies on sensory and motor exploration, progressing from solitary to functional play.

Functional Play

Play that emerges around 1 year of age involving using objects according to their intended functions, such as brushing with a brush or drinking from a cup.

Exploratory Play

Toddler play focused on discovering the physical properties of objects by actively touching, manipulating, and testing them.

Parallel Play

A stage of toddler play where children play side-by-side near each other without directly engaging or playing together.

Social Play

Play behavior where children actively interact, share, and communicate with peers during play activities.

Pretend Play (Symbolic Play)

Preschool play involving imagination, assigning roles, or using objects symbolically to represent something else.

Constructive Play

Preschool play involving building, assembling, or creating physical structures using materials like blocks.

Rough-and-Tumble Play

Active physical play common in preschoolers and school-aged children involving playful wrestling, chasing, or tumbling in a safe setting.

Developmental Tasks of Middle Childhood

Three major developmental objectives occurring between 6 and 12 years of age: building wholesome attitudes toward oneself, developing fundamental skills for everyday living, and developing values and attitudes toward social groups.