Motor Development

Question 1

What is DST

Answer 1

Stands for Dynamic Systems Theory.

Focuses on how behaviour changes over time.

Emphasises multiple components interacting for a single change.

Question 2

According to DST , what is motor development caused by?

Answer 2

Increased strength and weight
Neural mechanisms
Posture control
Balance
Perceptual skills
Motivation

Question 3

What are the major milestones for when babies are born until 5 months?

Answer 3

Stepping reflex
Mini pushups during tummy time
Bounce when held upright

Question 4

What are the major milestones for babies 6-10 months old?

Answer 4

Sit up
Crawl
Stand w/ support
Cruise

Question 5

What are the major milestones for when babies 9-15 months old?

Answer 5

Pull to stand
Stand unsupported
Take first steps

Question 6

What are the major milestones for when babies 16-18 months old?

Answer 6

Dance
Climb stairs w/ help
Walk backwards

Question 7

What are the major milestones for when babies 2yrs old?

Answer 7

Run
Kick ball
Jump from low step

Question 8

What are attractors?

Answer 8

Stable, predictive bhvrs

Question 9

How do children arrive at milestones?

Answer 9

Variable different routes = caused through lots of experimentation, curiosity and learning which was not previously emphasised in research.

Question 10

What are the consequences of different measures of development?

Answer 10

It can affect literature bc it will show different patterns of development

Example:
Adolph et al’s longitudinal study (2008) = tested if children could sit independently for 3 seconds everyday. Infant 11 was consistent in showing the bhvr. Infant 7 was not.

Shows motor development is an ongoing process, doesn’t turn on.

Question 11

What are fine motor skills?

Answer 11

Uses smaller muscles. Used for object manipulation, drawing and grasping.

Question 12

What is gross motor skills

Answer 12

Uses larger muscles. Used for sitting, reaching, crawling, walking and running.

Question 13

What is the stepping reflex?

Answer 13

Coordinated bhvr resembling walking.

It has alternating leg movements and disappears at 2 months.

Not due to neurological maturity because they can do the same bhvr when they are lying down (due to distributed gravitational pull).

Question 14

Why does the stepping reflex disappear at 2 months?

Answer 14

Infants rapid weight gain in first few week makes their legs heavier + faster then stronger

Question 15

What is the importance of sitting independently?

Answer 15

Leads to new opportunities for exploring + exploring shape and visual perception.

Spencer et al. (2000) = sitting independently helps reaching

Ross-Sheehy et al, (2016) = sitting independently domino effect on infant perception

Question 16

What is figure/ ground assignment?

Answer 16

The ability to distinguish objects from the background. This is used to understand depth and plan reaching.

Question 17

What do adults use to distinguish figure/ground

Answer 17

Symmetry
Convexity (curvature)
Lower region

Question 18

Why do infants need figure/ground segregation

Answer 18

Infants use it to guide attention, eye-movements and learning

Question 19

What happened in Ross-Sheehy et al.’s (2016) figure/ground assignment study?

Answer 19

Showed two pictures to 6mths infants. There was 2 cues to figure out = motion and symmetry.
Both screens = motion (both in front/ both behind) - a diff. in symmetry

Consistent F/G cues = symmetrical moves in front + asymmetrical behind

Inconsistent F/G cues = asymmetrical moves in front + symmetrical moves behind

Sit up kids = preferred symmetrical bc it mirrored what they had learned.

Other group = no preference. Significant preferences showed infants perceive symmetry as a cue for F/G assignment.

Question 20

What is reaching and grasping?

Answer 20

Stretching w/ one/ both hands towards something to touch/grasp it.

Normally starts as swiping gestures until independent sitting = stable and precise.

Increased anticipation = experience with reaching and grasping increases.

Question 21

What is soft assembly reaching?

Answer 21

Argues all components = need to ‘assemble’ for a successful reach + infants bhvr.

Made of many components
- locate the goal
- stable base
- control arm extension.

The successful reach = environment, not genes/brain.

Variability in reaching = good + not a fixed sequence.

Question 22

Why were sticky mittens made?

Answer 22

Researchers devised several methods to try + help kids learn how to reach so they can understand how they do it.

Question 23

What are sticky mittens?

Answer 23

Mittens that have velcro + help children who can’t reach make contact w/ objects. Parents are asked to have a sticky mitten time, 10 mins/ day for 2 weeks.

Question 24

What are the strengths of sticky mittens?

Answer 24

Libertus and Needham (2010) = after one week w/ these toys, they reached significantly more often than their peers

Libertus, Joh and Needham (2016) = effects persist for 12 months

Question 25

What is counter research against sticky mittens?

Answer 25

Williams, Corbetta and Guam (2015) showed kids w/out sticky mittens had a higher performance

Question 26

What is the ‘A, not B’ task?

Answer 26

Created by Piaget to test 8-10mths infants’ representation. Researcher hide toy at A and the infant finds it (6x), then they hide it at B, the infant looks for it at A.

Question 27

What were the findings of the ‘A, not B’ task?

Answer 27

Infants don’t have object permanence until ~ 10mths

Question 28

How is bhvr described in relation to the ‘A, not B’ task?

Answer 28

Bhvr is a product of past history, just previous past + present  called nested timescales

The error is a result of previous attention to A + practise reaching to A. DST suggests attractors, motor memory and preservation is included.

Question 29

Why would errors persist in the ‘A, not B’ task?

Answer 29

There is no reaching on A
There are no objects = wave lids only
Unmarked locations (sandbox) in 2-4yrs
Long delays = even in adults in spaceship task
If you change posture between trials, errors are reduced (less reliant on motor memory)

Question 30

What is self-locomotion?

Answer 30

~8mths infants can crawl
~ 13-14 months = walking independently (toddling gait)

Question 31

What does Adolph (1997) study do?

Answer 31

Tracked infants in a weekly longitudinal study from early crawling to proficient walking. They changed the degree of the slope.

Question 32

What does Adolph (1997) research show?

Answer 32

Shows motor skills are context-dependent.
Knowledge doesn’t transfer from crawling to walking
A process of being fearless and getting hurt, to accurate and precise.

Question 33

What did Han and Adolph study do (2020)

Answer 33

Observed 138 toddlers who fell over 500 times whilst playing

Question 34

What were the findings of Han and Adolph (2020)

Answer 34

Falling didn’t change next bhvr of children = average of 1.84s in returning to previous bhvr

infants rarely fussed abt falling over = only 4%

caregivers rarely concerned about falling over = only 8%

Impact was not bad bc small body size + infants’ quick reactive bhvrs e.g bracing w/ hands

Question 35

What did O’Neal et al. (2018) do?

Answer 35

Used children 5-14 and made them do a road crossing simulation w/ CGI

Question 36

What were the results of O’Neal et al. (2018) study?

Answer 36

Children 5-14 years old = ↑ rate of pedestrian injuries than any other age groups

6-10yr = ↑ slower than older children + adults to enter a road + ↑ willing to enter

Question 37

What did O’Neal et al. (2019) do?

Answer 37

Repeated their 2018 study but w/ friends.
Pairs of friends cross a VR road 30x (50% left/right)
Stream of traffic from the left ~40kmh (25mph)
Traffic included random 2s-5s gaps
No instructions to cross together/ alone
They could wait as long as they wanted to

Question 38

What were the results of O’Neal et al. study (2019)?

Answer 38

Peers = risk to road safety + adolescents took riskier gaps w/ a friends than alone

To compensate for short gaps = entered + crossed faster

When solo, first crossers = ↑ risky

12 yo first crossers riskier than adults

Question 39

What does Oxley et al. (2012) show?

Answer 39

Most child pedestrians injuries happen at mid-blocks

Question 40

What does Bennet and Yiannakoulias (2015) show?

Answer 40

Shorted path to school often requires mid-block

Question 41

How does Liberty’s and Violi (2016) show motor experience is related to language?

Answer 41

Emergence of sitting correlates w/ vocal at 10-14mths

Question 42

How does Walle and Campos (2014) show motor experience is related to language?

Answer 42

Emergence of walking correlates w/ respective + productive vocabulary

Question 43

How does Clearfield et al. (2008) show motor experience is related to language?

Answer 43

Children = walk make more bids for communication to adults than same-age children who crawl

Question 44

How does Pruitt and Morini (2021) show motor experience is related to language

Answer 44

6-12yrs remember new vocal better if they exercise after learning words