Chapter 5: Motor, Sensory, and Perceptual Development

Flashcards covering motor, sensory, and perceptual development milestones and theories.

Who was Arnold Gesell?

A developmentalist who believed motor milestones were the result of an unfolding genetic plan known as maturation.

What is Dynamic Systems Theory?

This theory argues motor behaviors are assembled by infants for perceiving and acting and are not solely reliant on heredity.

What factors come together for an infant to perform an action, according to Dynamic Systems Theory?

Development of the nervous system, body's physical properties, the goal, and environmental support.

What is adaptation in the context of motor development?

A process where infants adjust their motor patterns to fit a new task by exploring various possible configurations.

What are reflexes?

Basic, adaptive reactions that newborns are born with.

What is the Rooting Reflex?

Causes the infant to turn its head toward the side that was touched, in an effort to find something to suck.

What is the Sucking Reflex?

Enables newborns to get nourishment before they have associated a nipple with food and can be self-soothing.

What is the Moro Reflex?

Newborns arch their back, fling out their arms and legs, and then return them in an embrace-like movement in response to sudden noise or movement.

What is the Grasping Reflex?

Infants respond by grasping tightly when something touches their palms.

What are Gross Motor Skills?

Large muscle activities, such as moving one’s arms and walking.

What is essential before infants can demonstrate gross motor skills?

Postural control.

How is posture a dynamic process?

It is linked with sensory information from proprioceptive cues, vestibular organs, vision, and hearing.

What are the key skills in learning to walk?

Stabilizing balance on one leg and shifting weight without falling.

What is the specificity of learning, according to Adolph's study?

Infants with experience in one mode of locomotion don't seem to appreciate the dangers in another.

What is very important in the development of new motor skills?

Practice and learning.

At what age can infants typically walk without assistance?

11-14 months.

What is vital to a child's competent development, according to child development experts?

Motor activity during the second year of life.

What gross motor skill can toddlers accomplish by 13-18 months?

Climb up a number of steps.

What gross motor skill can toddlers accomplish by 18-24 months?

Walk backward without losing their balance.

What do most infancy experts recommend?

Against structured exercise classes for babies.

What happens to motor skills during middle and late childhood?

Coordination and control of movement improves.

In gross motor skill activities, who usually outperforms?

Boys usually outperform girls.

What are the potential positive and negative consequences of sports participation for children?

Reducing risk of obesity and increasing self-esteem, but also pressure to win and physical injuries.

How do mothers in developing countries compare to mothers in industrialized countries in stimulating their infants' motor skills?

Tend to stimulate their infants’ motor skills more.

What is important to remember about standardized assessments of motor development?

That standardized assessments of motor development are based on North American infants.

What are fine motor skills?

Involves movements that are more finely tuned than gross motor skills.

What cues, not sight, guide early reaching for 4-month-old infants?

Muscle, tendon, joint sense.

What grasps do infants use?

Palmar grasp, then the pincer grip.

What appears to facilitate fine motor skill development?

Experience.

What happens to fine motor coordination around age 4?

Fine motor coordination becomes more precise.

In fine motor skills, who usually outperforms?

Girls usually outperform boys.

Who are occupational therapists?

Healthcare providers who work with infants and children to support engagement and develop practical ability for age-appropriate tasks.

What do physiotherapists or physical therapists focus on?

Focus on gross motor skill development or rehabilitation.

What is sensation?

Occurs when information interacts with sensory receptors.

What is perception?

The interpretation of what is sensed.

What are affordances?

Opportunities for interaction offered by objects to perform functional activities.

What is the visual preference method?

One way of studying whether infants can distinguish one stimulus from another by measuring the length of time they attend to different stimuli.

What are habituation and dishabituation?

Used to study an infant’s ability to distinguish between stimuli

What is the high-amplitude sucking method?

Used to test an infant’s ability to distinguish auditory stimuli.

What is the newborn’s vision?

Estimated to be 20/240.

What type of displays do infants prefer?

Infants prefer patterned displays to nonpatterned ones.

What is perceptual constancy?

Sensory stimulation is changing but perception of the physical world remains constant.

What is size constancy?

The recognition that objects maintain their size despite a change in the objects’ retinal image.

What is intermodal perception?

The ability to relate and integrate information about two or more sensory modalities.

How is perception and action related?

Perception and action are coupled.