SENSORIMOTOR Flashcards
who highlighted the importance of sensorimotor skills?
Piaget
what is the first stage of development?
sensorimotor stage (0-2 years)
what is the second stage of development?
preoperational stage (2-6 years)
what is the third stage of development?
concrete operational (6-12 years)
what is the last stage of development?
formal operational
12 years-adult
what happens in the sensorimotor stage of development?
infant explores the world through direct sensory and motor contact
object permanence and separation anxiety develop during this stage
what happens in the preoperational stage of development?
child uses symbols to represent objects, but does not reason logically
child has the ability to pretend
is egocentric
what happens during the concrete operational stage of development?
child can think logically about concrete objects
can add and subtract
understands conversation
what happens in the formal operational stage of development?
adolescent can reason abstractly
can think in hypothetical terms
what is proprioception?
an awareness of where your body is in space in relation to other things in the environment
how do you perform sensorimotor operations? eg, reaching for a cup of tea
sensory inputs from the visual system and proprioceptive system provide essential info about the task
different sensory inputs are integrated into a unified state estimate- has task relevant information
estimate the current state of the world compared to the desired state- where do you want the object and how can the motor system perform this action (inverse model)
execute motor commands by the body
why may errors occur during sensorimotor operations?
planning failure
external pertubations
inherent noise within the motor system
why does the brain use a forward model?
address the problem that sensory feedback is too slow to allow efficient error correction in rapid hand movements
what does a forward model do?
takes a copy of the outgoing motor command, and generates a prediction of the expected sensory input
as the movement progresses, the actual sensory input is compared to the predicte input to allow rapid detection and correction of errors
what issue arises if we don’t have accurate sensory inputs about the body and world?
won’t be able to create an accurate state estimation
what issue arises if there are deficits in the forward model?
difficulty in making rapid corrections to movement
what issue arises if the inverse model is impaired?
takes longer reaction times before a movement is performed
are motor control systems fixed at birth?
no
we rapidly and continually learn new information and adapt to the environment
what are two possible disorders of sensorimotor development?
autism spectrum disorder
development coordination disorder/dysparxia
what are the difficulties experienced in autism spectrum disorder?
communication
socialisation
narrow circumscribed interests
repetitive behaviours
sensory hypersensitivity
what are the difficulties for developmental coordination disorder/dyspraxia?
selection/timing/spatial organisation of purposeful movement and coordination
social anxiety, social and communciation skills
why are disorders for sensorimotor development proposed?
both conditions encompass sensory and motor difficulties
who investigated associations between autism, autistic traits and dyspraxia?
Cassidy et al, 2016
why did Cassidy et al investigate the associations between autism, autistic traits and dyspraxia?
want to know if dyspraxia was more prevalent in autism than the general population
if so, this suggests autistic people experience sensorimotor difficulties
want to know if dyspraxia is associated with higher levels of self-reported autisic traits
how are self reported autistic traits measured?
by the autism spectrum quotient
what did Cassidy et al, 2016 find out about the relationship between dyspraxia, autism and autistic traits?
adults with autism are significantly more likely to have dyspraxia than the general population (6.9% compared to 0.8%)
adults with dyspraxia have significantly higher autistic traits and lower empathy than controls
sensorimotor skills are important for social skills and empathy
who made the first clinical descriptions of autism?
Kanner and Aspergerin in the 1940s
independently observed the general clumsiness in the movements of autistic people
what percentage of autistic people have definite motor difficulties?
80%
what did Flanagan et al, 2012 find out about motor difficulties in autism?
motor differences are present from early infancy
what did Chawarska et al 2007 find out about motor difficulties in autism?
motor delays tend to be reported by parents as an area of concern around 14 months old