Introduction The three major motor developmental theories are maturation, sensory processing and dynamic. Maturation refers to the biological growth processes that begin at conception and lead to the maturity of the body. These innate (inborn) changes occur in the body, brain and nervous system automatically in an orderly sequence at about the same time for most children. Because these changes are innate, they are not influenced by environmental experiences. Many of our basic abilities are closely tied to maturation. Maturation consists of three stages of motor development which are Equal Lateral (both sided motor movements), Lateral (one-sided motor pattern movements) and Bilateral (opposite side or cross pattern motor movements). Sensory processing is a complex set of actions that enable the brain to understand what’s going on both inside your own body, and in the world around you. The brain receives information through the senses: processes this information and organizes a motor response i.e sensory integration- function (A. Jean Ayres, 1985). The sensory processing contains five sensory systems in the Sensory Integration Model which are; Tactile (sense of touch), Vestibular (how the body responds to gravity), Proprioceptive (internal body awareness), Auditory (receive, identify, discriminate, understand and respond to vibration) and Visual (sense of sight, linked to the vestibular). The Dynamic theory is the nervous system that is considered part of the developing motor system, the Nervous System must dynamically change and interact with other systems to achieve co-ordinated movement (Kamm, Thelen and Jenson, 1990). There are four stages of Motor Development which are shared with the Dynamic Theory such as reflex, ru... ... middle of paper ... ... conclusion maturational theorist Arnold Gesell believes that a child will develop biologically and their environment has little involvement in a child’s development. Through a numerous of conducted experiments, he was able to put together and create a schedule of when milestones will occur which is known as the ‘Gesell Developmental Schedule’ where he was able to compare a child’s development to the standard norm. He also created the “Gesell Maturational Theory’, where heredity is of much more importance in their growth and development than the child’s nurturing environment. Gesell’s maturational theory is seen yet till today in a child’s everyday lives, from the time they are in the foetus till our adult life. His theory displays both strengths and weaknesses and other theorists challenging his theory but the debate between nature versus nurture will always arise.
Esther Thelen’s article “The Improvising Infant: Learning to Move” describes her research into how and why infants use repeated motor sequences. She found these movements are related to the onset of new behaviors. Once an infant has achieved full mastery of the skill, the oscillating movements stopped. Infants do these actions when they are excited or drowsy, and even though the movements are involuntary, the infants can take over the movement for an intentional act, such as demonstrating impatience or getting attention. These movements and what caused them fascinated Thelen, and she began to study them. One particular experiment she ran focused on a disappearing reflex.
For my reflection paper I chose to write about chapter 9 that talks about lifespan development. This chapter grabbed my attention and I found it most interesting. In the textbookit discusses how there are certain factors that uncontrollably make us who we are. Those factorsare "unique combination of genes you inherited from your biological mother and father. Another is the historical era during which you grew up. Your individual development has also been shaped by the cultural, social, and family contexts within which you were raised." (Pg.352) The patterns of our lives are because of developmental psychology. "Developmental psychology is a scientific approach which aims to explain growth, change and consistency though the lifespan. Developmental
Sensorimotor stage (birth – 2 years old) – Children begin to make sense of the world around them based on their interaction with their physical environment. Reality begins to be defined.
While teaching as a psychologist of the Connecticut State Board of Education, Gesell wrote many books about the growth and various functions of the human body. He quickly became aware of the importance and impacts both nature and nurture has on the growing of an infant. The Gesell Institute of Human Development is a nonprofit organization still functioning today; it is known for working to better understand and assist in the research of child development for children of ages 2 ½ to 9.
This process brings an infant to full adulthood. Maturation according to general psychology is primarily based upon individual genetic makeup, universal maturation, and predispositions (Sigelman & Rider, 2014). Cognition is a vitally important element in mental development. Without the ability to acquire an obtain knowledge one cannot gain a sense of consciousness. Both nature and nurture play a role in mental development. Sigmund Freud believed that humans have an unconscious instinct and a requirement to fulfill an urge. He believed that as a child develops there energy is divided into ID (the selfish part of the personality at birth), ego (irrational way of satisfying urges), and superego (moral standards). Erik Erikson’s theory derived from the works of Sigmund Freud. His theory differs from Freud in two major ways. One, he believes that children develop through social demands and biological maturation. Two, he believes that there are eight stages and that the unsuccessful completion of a stage will not hinder you from advancing to the next stage, but will cause complications in the rest of the developmental cycle. B.F Skinner believes that children develop through consequences. As simple as these principles sound they are backed by the logic of operant conditioning. This states, learned behaviors become more or less probable depending on the consequences it produces (Sigelman & Rider,
Motor development is directly associated to the advancement of our capabilities for voluntary physical movement. However, these changes take affect through the duration of our life, the most significant changes for humans occur between birth and 2 years of age. Motor skills is defined as “the learned ability to move some part of the body, from a large leap to a flicker of the eyelid” (Berger 2008). When a baby is born, they immediately are able to move their legs, grab things with their fingers and show facial expressions. This is due to the automatic movements that we refer to as reflexes. These reflexes includes the ability to maintain oxygen supply, maintain a constant body temperature and the ability to manage feeding, which are all essential for survival (Berger 2008). Usually at about 5 months, babies start to develop what 's called gross motor skills. According to Dorothy Einon “gross motor skills are larger movements a baby makes with his arms, legs, feet, or his entire body.
Over the first 18 months of an infant’s life, motor skills also develop very progressively more. This development can primarily be linked to a process called maturation. Maturation is natural process where the genetically determined biological timetable develops. For example, many milestones, such as crawling, walking, sitting, and standing are recorded during maturation. These progressive actions are depended on by the growth and development of the central nervous system.
Motor movement development has been a topic of controversy for the last century. The feud began in 1906 when Sir Charles Sherrington published The Integrative Action of the Nervous System. The work summarizes over two decades of research, revealing many fundamentals of neural science for the very first time (Burke, 2007). He was not only the first to suggest that the nervous system was a complex network of separate neurons, coining the term ‘synapse’, but he also was the first to discuss reflex arcs in detail. Although his work is noted for its advances in the field, some of Sherrington’s ideas were far-fetched; including his belief that complex behavior could be explained through the combination of individual reflex actions intertwined (Sherrington,
Motor behavior is a sub-discipline of kinesiology that focuses on the understanding of how humans control the way they move around and why they move in said manners. Motor behavior has three main sub-divisions: motor development, motor control, and motor learning. The focus of this paper will be the study of motor development as one ages. Motor development is an ever-changing characteristic process that occurs from birth all the way to death. Many researchers divide motor development into three sub-categories: the cognitive stage, associative stage, and the autonomous stage. Each stage occurs at a different point in one’s life and develops at different rates as well. This study explains the development and various age ranges in which
Bronfenbrenner theorised that there are many different influences that affect a child’s development, forming 5 systems to categorise certain events, or environments into. This theory helps me to understand the theme of Nature Vs Nurture, as it gives some context as to what environments can affect a child's development. From this, we can work out solutions for each child's situation, to ensure that their development is still progressing.
Six-year-old children can do everything that they have learned thus far, and then some. They also begin to be able to tie their shoes, write more words and numbers, gain more language skills due to rapid vocabulary development, and they also have longer attention spans as well. Their reading skills also change a lot and they continue to develop the ability and strategies to decode words, build fluency, read independently, and understand more and more about what they are reading. They enjoy sharing with their peers and the teacher what they are reading, along with writing stories and notes for friends and family. Their math skills also develop more as they explore counting
Development begins in the womb. The fetus develops organs and grows many times its size during this time. Once the child is born it is even more important that the environment helps with normal infant physical and mental growth. At birth, infant senses function through eyes, ears, nose, and tongue. Through these senses they explore their world and sensations occur. Perception occurs when the brain processes these sensations. Infant movements are involuntary (reflexes). Reflexes help the infant survive until they gain control of their body and can make movement for themselves. Infants experience the majority of their growth during the first year. During this time gross and fine motor skills develop. Understanding what these terms mean are very important and a key to your child's successful progression.
The results found were inconclusive. What was expected to be seen was growth in the student’s fine motor development from working in the maker space because the activities in the maker space were geared toward fine motor development. Some students worked in the maker space seven 7 of the 14 days of data collection. The other seven 7 days, no one worked in the maker space area. The first day of data collection, 12 students worked at the maker space table. As data collection went on, less students chose to work in the maker space area. No students chose to work in the maker space area for the last four days of data collection with the materials provided. The reoccurring students that worked in the maker space area for the seven 7 days observed had already scored at the highest level on the Ages and Stages Questionnaire in fine motor development. Therefore,
Child growth and development is a process that consists of some building blocks, which are components that combine in an infinite number of ways (Cherry, n.d.). As a result of the variations of building blocks in a child’s development, educators, psychologists, and philosophers have been constantly engaged in the debate of nature versus nurture debate. Many researchers agree that child development is a complex interaction between his/her genetic background (nature) and his/her environment (nurture). In essence, some developmental aspects are strongly affected by biology whereas other aspects are influenced by environmental factors. From the onset of an individu...
In the study of child development, nature and nurture are two essential concepts that immensely influence future abilities and characteristics of developing children. Nature refers to the genetically obtained characteristics and abilities that influence development while nurture refers to the surrounding environmental conditions that influence development. Without one or the other, a child may not develop some important skills, such as communication and walking. The roles of physiological and psychological needs in a person’s life are also crucial for developing children. Humanistic psychologist, Abraham Maslow, suggested that humans don’t only aim towards survival, but also aim towards self-actualization (Rathus, P. 94).