Motor Development in Infancy Flashcards
In Maturation, motor development follows a _____
Genetic plan: Infants and children develop motor skills in a fixed order and within specific time frames
According to this theory, infants assemble motor skills for perceiving and acting
To develop motor skills, infants must perceive something in the environment that motivates them to act and use their perceptions to fine-tune their movements, leading to creation of new motor behavior
Dynamic Systems Theory
Development of motor skills represent _____ to infant’s goals
Solutions
- Infants modulate their movement patterns to fit a new tasks by exploring and selecting possible configurations
- Motor development is when the infant actively puts together a skill to achieve a goal within the constraints set by the infant’s body and environment
- Built-in reactions to stimuli
- Govern newborn’s movements
- Automatic and beyond control
Reflexes
- Occurs when the infant’s cheek is stroked, or the side of the mouth is touched. The infant turns its head toward the side that was touched in an apparent effort to find something to suck.
- Disappears at 3-4 months
Rooting Reflex
- Occurs when newborns automatically suck an object placed in their mouth. This also serves as a self-soothing or self-regulating mechanism.
- Most stop at 1 year old
Sucking Reflex
- Startle reflex
- The baby arches its back, throws back its head, and flings out its arms and legs. Then the newborn rapidly closes its arms and legs; has survival value
- Disappears at 3-4 months
Moro Reflex
- Occurs when something touches the infant’s palms. The infant responds by grasping tightly.
- Disappears at 5-6 months
Grasp Reflex
Skills that involve large muscle activities
Gross Motor Skills
It is a dynamic process that is linked with sensory information in the skin, joints, and muscles; in vestibular organs in the inner ear that regulate balance and equilibrium; and in vision and hearing
Posture
Development of Posture over 2 months, 6-7 months, 8-9 months, and 10-12 months:
- 2 months: Sit with support
- 6-7 months: Sit independently
- 8-9 months: Learning to pull themselves to a standing position with support
- 10-12 months: Stand independently
In learning to walk, what is the key skill to be learned?
Stabilizing on one leg long enough to swing the other forward and shifting the weight without falling
When learning to walk, why do infants take small steps?
Due to their
- Limited balance control
- Limited strength
Infants with larger steps = increased balance and strength
In learning to locomote, what do infants learn?
What kinds of places are safe for locomotion
The First Year: Motor Development Milestones
- Prone, lift head
- Prone, chest up, use arms for support
- Roll over
- Support some weight with legs
- Sit without support
- Sit with support
- Pull self to stand
- Walk using furniture for support
- Stand alone easily
- Walk alone easily
- Some infants may not follow the standard sequence of motor accomplishments.
- The timing of later milestones may vary by two to four months.
Development in Second Year:
Motor development is vital to the child’s _____
- Toddlers become more motorically skilled and mobile.
- Motor development is vital to the child’s competent development, and few restrictions, except for safety, should be placed on their adventures.
Development at 13-18 months and 18-24 months
13 to 18 months:
- Can pull a toy attached to a string
- Use their hands and legs to climb up a number of steps
18 to 24 months:
- Can walk quickly or run stiffly for a short distance,
- Balance on their feet in a squat position,
- Walk backwards without losing balance
- Stand and kick a ball without falling
- stand and throw a ball
- jump in place.
These involve finely tuned movements
Fine Motor Skills
Fine Motor Skills @ 4 Months are cued by:
This is when infants do not need to see their own hands to reach for an object.
- Cues from muscles, tendons, and joints, not sight of the limb
- Guide reaching: infants do not need to see their own hands to reach for an object.
In first two years, infants refine how they
Reach and grasp
Grip with the whole hand
Palmer Grasp
Grasp with their thumb and forefinger
Pincer Grasp
Perceptual-motor coupling is necessary for the infant to coordinate grasping.
At 4 months, infant relies on _____ to determine how to grip an object
At 8 months, infant relies on _____ as a guide
Touch; Vision
When infant is motivated by a challenge, they create new motor behavior.
Then the infant _____ their movements to make them smoother and more effective. This is achieved through repeated cycles of action and perception of the consequences of that action
Tunes / Tuning
Motor Development Is _____
Opportunities for motor behavior involve the current status of a child’s body. Changes in infants’ bodies modify the nature of their motor behavior
Embodied
Motor Development Is _____
Environmental circumstances can facilitate or restrict possibilities for motor behavior. Variations in the environment require infants to be flexible and adapt to these changing circumstances
Embedded
Motor Development Is _____
Social and cultural contexts influence motor behavior. Caregivers play important roles in infants’ motor development. Cultures also vary in how much caregivers engage in behavior that stimulates and encourages infants’ and children’s motor development
Enculturated
Motor Development Is _____
Motor development is not isolated from other aspects of development, and it contributes to infants’ and children’s development in other domains
Enabling
Foundation of Gross Motor Skill Development
Postural Control
Cultural Variations in Guiding Infants’ Motor Development:
Mothers in developing countries tend to stimulate their infants’ motor skills more than mothers in more developed countries; their infants often reach motor milestones earlier
Infants’ development of a skill requires considerable _____
It is the ability to do what is necessary to attain life’s everyday goals
Behavioral flexibility
It is an excellent context for studying problem solving in infants because it provides information about how infants plan to reach a goal.
Tool use
An infant fans out its toes in response to a stroke on the outside of its foot
Babinski Reflex
