Motor Skills, Sensation, and Perception

Flashcards covering motor skill milestones, infant reflexes, sensory development, and perception assessment methods based on the lecture notes.

APGAR Acronym

An acronym representing Activity, Pulse, Grimace, Appearance, and Respiration, which are the five health indicators evaluated in a newborn baby.

APGAR Score 7+

An APGAR evaluation result indicating that the newborn baby is in good health and condition.

APGAR Score 4-6

An APGAR evaluation result indicating that the newborn baby needs special care.

APGAR Score Below 3

An APGAR evaluation result indicating an emergency medical situation for the newborn.

APGAR Rating: Appearance (Color)

Scored as 0 for Blue, 1 for Pink body, blue extremities, and 2 for Pink.

APGAR Rating: Pulse (Heart rate)

Scored as 0 for Absent, 1 for Slow (below 100), and 2 for Rapid (over 100).

APGAR Rating: Grimace (Reflex irritability)

Scored as 0 for No response, 1 for Grimace, and 2 for Coughing, crying.

APGAR Rating: Activity (Muscle tone)

Scored as 0 for Limp, 1 for Weak and inactive, and 2 for Active and strong.

APGAR Rating: Respiration (Breathing)

Scored as 0 for Absent, 1 for Irregular and slow, and 2 for Crying, good.

Brazelton Infant Assessments Purpose

Evaluates a baby's personality, social responsiveness, and neurological health.

Brazelton Target Age

Designed for infants from Birth to 2 months.

Brazelton Assessment Scale Items

Consists of 28 Behavioral Items (measuring interaction with the world) and 20 Reflex Items (checking basic neurological integrity).

Habituation (Brazelton Area)

A core evaluation area of the Brazelton assessment measuring the baby's ability to sleep through distractions such as light or noise.

Motor Skills (Brazelton Area)

A core evaluation area of the Brazelton assessment evaluating the quality of movement and muscle tone in the baby.

State Regulation (Brazelton Area)

A core evaluation area of the Brazelton assessment measuring how the baby handles stress and self-soothes.

Orientation (Brazelton Area)

A core evaluation area of the Brazelton assessment measuring the infant's level of engagement with people and objects.

Reflexes (Infant)

Built-in, automatic survival mechanisms that occur in response to stimuli and are beyond the infant's control.

Reflex Disappearance Timeline

Most infant reflexes disappear within 3–4 months as voluntary brain control takes over.

Palmar Grasp Reflex

An infant reflex where fingers curl around objects touching the palm; present from birth to about 4 months, when replaced by voluntary grasp.

Rooting Reflex

An infant reflex where the head and tongue turn toward a stimulus when the cheek is touched; disappears over the first few weeks of life.

Sucking Reflex

An infant reflex involving sucking on objects placed into the mouth; present from birth to about 6 months.

Moro Reflex

A startle response to loud noise or sudden head position changes, causing the infant to throw out arms, arch the back, and bring arms together; present birth to about 5 to 7 months.

Babinski Reflex

An infant reflex involving fanning and curling the toes in response to stroking the bottom of the foot; present birth to about 8 to 12 months.

Stepping Reflex

Making stepping movements as if to walk when held upright with feet touching a flat surface; present birth to about 2 to 3 months.

Swimming Reflex

Holding breath and moving arms and legs as if to swim when placed in water; present birth to about 4 to 6 months.

Gross Motor Skills

Motor skills that emerge from reflexes and involve large muscle groups required for posture, balance, coordination, and locomotion.

Locomotion Factors

The elements involved in learning to walk: posture and balance, stepping, perceptual factors, and coordinating skills.

Sitting Milestone Timeline

Infants typically sit with help at 3 months and sit without help (sit alone) around 6 to 7 months.

Crawling Milestone Timeline

Infants typically achieve the motor milestone of crawling around 7–10 months (or 8–10 months).

Walking Milestone Timeline

Infants typically stand alone and walk alone between 10 to 12 months.

Tummy Time

A practice that builds essential neck, shoulder, and core strength in infants.

SIDS Connection to Motor Milestones

Back-sleeping reduced SIDS deaths but caused delays in some motor milestones like crawling, which is compensated for by tummy time.

Fine Motor Skills

Motor skills involving refined movements and dexterity to manipulate small objects, shaped by environment, experience, and perceptual coordination.

Grasping Evolution

Developmental progression of grasping from using the whole hand (Palmer grasp) to using the thumb and forefinger (pincer grip).

6-Month Fine Motor Milestone

The fine motor skill achieved at 6 months of age: picking up finger foods.

1-Year Fine Motor Milestone

The fine motor skill achieved at 1 year of age: filling a spoon.

2-Year Fine Motor Milestone

The fine motor skill achieved at 2 years of age: rotating the wrist.

Sticky Mittens Study

A study by Libertus & Needham where pre-reaching infants wore Velcro mittens allowing them to grab objects.

Sticky Mittens Study Finding

Demonstrated that early reaching experience led to faster social and cognitive interest in objects.

Gross Motor Skills (Age 2-3 years)

Walks more smoothly, runs but cannot turn or stop suddenly, jumps, throws a ball with a rigid body, catches by trapping ball against chest, and rides push toys using feet.

Fine Motor Skills (Age 2-3 years)

Unzips large zippers, puts on and removes some clothing, and uses a spoon.

Gross Motor Skills (Age 3-4 years)

Runs, ascends stairs alternating feet, jumps 15 to 24 inches, hops, pedals, and steers a tricycle.

Fine Motor Skills (Age 3-4 years)

Serves food, can work large buttons, copies vertical line and circle, and uses scissors.

Gross Motor Skills (Age 4-5 years)

Runs smoothly with stopping/turning control, descends stairs alternating feet, jumps 24 to 33 inches, skips, throws ball by rotating body/transferring weight, catches ball with hands, and rides/steers tricycle effectively.

Fine Motor Skills (Age 4-5 years)

Uses scissors to cut along a line, uses fork effectively, and copies simple shapes and some letters.

Gross Motor Skills (Age 5-6 years)

Runs more quickly, skips more effectively, throws and catches a ball like older children, makes a running jump of 28 to 36 inches, and rides bicycle with training wheels.

Fine Motor Skills (Age 5-6 years)

Ties shoes, uses knife to cut soft food, and copies numbers and simple words.

Goals of Early Sensory Processes

Serves two main goals in early development: social interaction (responding to caregiver) and comfort (soothed during distress).

Early Facial & Voice Preference

Infants prefer their mother's face and voice over a stranger's by 2 days of age.

Maternal Smell Discrimination Age

Infants respond to and prefer their mother's smell by 6 days of age, though this preference is not present at 2 days.

Innate Taste Preferences

Newborns have an innate preference for sweet (breastmilk) and an innate rejection of bitter (toxins).

Salt Preference Timeline

An infant's preference for salt appears around 4 months of age.

The Carrot Juice Study (Mennella)

Showed that prenatal or breastmilk exposure to carrot juice led to higher acceptance of the flavor during weaning.

Newborn Smell Preferences

Newborns sense smells at birth and prefer vanilla and strawberry smells over fish and rotten egg smells.

DeCasper et al. Hearing Study

Demonstrated that infants read 'The Cat in the Hat' prenatally by their mothers preferred that story (measured by sucking patterns) over a new story.

Infant Binocular Vision Timing

Binocular vision develops in infants by 14 weeks of age.

Infant Color Vision Timing

Color vision is well developed in infants by 4-5 months of age.

Size and Shape Constancy

The realization that an object is the same despite appearing smaller when far away (size) or being viewed from different perspectives (constancy); emerges around 3 months.

Visual Cliff Studies (Gibson & Walk, 1960)

Depth perception study showing 1-2 month old infants notice the depth difference without fear, whereas 4-6 month old infants express fear of the 'deep' side.

Visual Cliff Setup

An experimental apparatus containing a glass surface over a patterned floor with a shallow side and a visual drop-off deep side to test depth perception.

Habituation

A research concept defined as getting bored of or accustomed to a repeated stimulus.

Dishabituation

A research concept defined as 'perking up' or recovering interest at the presentation of a new stimulus.

Visual Preference Method

A technique measuring infant perception based on the observation that infants look longer at preferred items.

High-Amplitude Sucking

A technique measuring infant perception where an infant alters sucking patterns to receive a reward such as a sound or taste.

Intermodal Perception

The ability to integrate information from two or more senses and identify a stimulus through one modality that was experienced through another.

Infant Eye-Tracking Setup

An experimental setup using a Magnetic Head Tracker (MHT) receiver attached to an infant's hat along with an eye tracker and infrared camera to record visual orientation.