Research Project Under the guidance of Dr. Sarah Berger at the College of Staten Island Child Development Lab, my research project tests the effect of sleep in infant motor development using a locomotor problem solving task. Motor development is defined as the ability to move and to develop those movements over time. The study focuses on the relation between sleep and locomotor problem-solving and how the timing of sleep and learning relate to each other and how that relationship impacts learning. To test this, we ask infants who are within their first week of walking independently after they just given up crawling as their main form of motor movement. For this group of infants, coming up with a solution to a problem can be a unique challenge because switching from walking to crawling during this new transition …show more content…
can be difficult.
The locomotor task that each of the infants will try to complete is crawling through a nylon tunnel, which reaches the infant’s shoulders in order for them to switch motor movements to accomplish the task. The responses to different levels of prompting by the experimenter will be measured, which can be defined as the number of times the infant was placed in an upright standing position in front of the tunnel, the number of times the infant was put on their hands and knees also the number of times a toy was rolled through the tunnel to show as an example in front of the infant, in that specific order. These prompts will help the infant to figure out how to solve the task of the tunnel. The times the infants will take a nap will differ after pre-test that the task is completed. Before the post-test the child will take a nap, either right after the pre-test or six hours after the pre-test. Data collections take place either at the Child Development Lab or in
participants’ homes. Research Goals Previous studies on infants haven’t been done on this topic of sleep and how it enhances motor problem solving skills. More specifically, motor development combined with the difference in timing of sleep is an issue that has not been examined. The goal of this project is to further elaborate on the knowledge of previous research on sleep and infant development which is one reason for the importance of this project. This project will look into the relationship between the amount of time from learning the new task and sleep also the effect that sleep has on memory in infants. The navigation through a tunnel is used to test the relationship, if any, between sleep and motor problem solving in infants. Since infants spend most of their time asleep than awake, it is important to study the effects of sleep on development and to learn more about how infant develop their motor problem-solving skills which is a continuing part of this project goals. Infants need sleep at night and during the day in order to process new information that they are learning and to regulate emotion. However, we cannot assume that infants learn new motor skills the same way adults do because infants are rapidly changing on day to day basis. Therefore, another goal for this project is to test the timing of sleep to see if it is a factor in an infant’s development. Relevance of Research This project is related to my course of study because my hope is to work with children in the future. The research project that I am a part of will help me to learn more information on infants and children especially the subject of a child’s motor development and their sleep patterns. When I participate in data collections, it gives me hands on experience handling children and their families. For example, my communication skills are increasing by speaking with the parents that participates. I’ve learned the proper way to hold a child for the study and being a part of data collections will help me to increase those skills. Being a part of this research team is also another benefit for me because it helps to increase my team work skills when working with other people. I also gain knowledge when listening to my team members speak about their experiences, their past and present work on research during lab meetings. My research experience in the Child Development Lab has shown me a perspective of psychology that was unexpected. I did not expect to be a part of an actual, ongoing research project from its beginning. I also did not anticipate being able to present my research at a conference in the near future. Stipend Use If I receive the Undergraduate Research Stipend award, it would be used toward my continuing education as a psychology major. I will use the award to support myself in order to spend extra time on my research. This award can help make me a more competitive applicant when I apply for graduate school. My main goal after graduating the College of Staten Island is to continue to pursue my career in psychology and aim to achieve a graduate degree in psychology. For the last couple of semesters that I have left at this college, I will continue to take classes and do research with Dr. Sarah Berger and her team at the Child Development Lab. The award will help me to be part of a successful research team.
The purpose of this assignment is to answer the three posed questions in regards to my Virtual Child, who I will refer to as Kieran throughout my assignment. I will be describing changes in his exploratory and problem solving behaviors as well as analyzing his temperament. I will also summarize his developmental assessment at nineteen months old that may differ from my perception of what was assessed through his developmental examiner. Kieran was at the age of eight months when I first used the object permanence test developed by Jean Piaget, in the aspect of sensorimotor development in both stage 3 and 4 of the Six Substages of Sensorimotor Development (Table 6-2, pg 154). At stage 3, infants begin to show greater interest in their world with objects becoming incorporated into what is called the secondary circular reaction where they start to learn about the actions associated with objects.
Gross motor development is the review of the child’s capability to move in a consistent man...
All mammals exhibit Rapid-Eye-Movement, or REM, sleep, and yet on certain levels this type of sleep would seem to be disadvantageous. During REM sleep, which is when most dreams occur, the brain uses much more energy than during non-REM (NREM) sleep. (1) This "waste" of energy coupled with the increased vulnerability of this state on account of the body's paralysis at this time suggests that there must be a very important reason, or reasons, for the existence of REM sleep and in extension of dreams. Determining the function of dreams, however, has proved very problematic with many arguments which directly oppose each other. Some of the primary functions of dreaming have been tied to is role in development, its production of neuro-proteins, and also to how it may allow for the "rehearsal" of neurons and neuronal pathways. The influence of dreaming on learning is one of the hottest debates. Some argue that dreams aid in learning, others that dreams aid in forgetting, and yet others that dreams have no effect on learning or memory. That REM sleep seems to aid in development might argue that REM sleep may be connected to learning. It seems that most scientists believe that REM sleep aids in certain memory consolidations although some argue that it actually leads to "reverse learning.
Cosleeping and Biological Imperatives: Why Human Babies Do Not and Should Not Sleep Alone." Neuroanthropology.net. n.p. 21 December 2008. Web. The Web.
Another reason for the difficulty of sleep research is the pace of discovery. The field moves too fast for its own good. As a result, no comprehensive beginner’s text is available in the field of circadian rhythms. By the time...
His session was more of a reassessment, and consisted of the administration the Buininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, which assess fine and gross motor. In order for Allie to give the child the test she let him choose which ones he wanted to start with such as running, hopping, or throwing a ball, making the test easier to administer. She allowed him to set up part of an obstacle course after he completed a section of the test to keep him motivated. However, since the test is long and the child will get tired she only administered half of it today and told the mom to work on a few things that he didn’t excel at today.
In this assignment I am going to describe a child observation that I have done in a nursery for twenty minutes in a play setting. I will explain the strengths and weaknesses of naturalistic observation through the key developmental milestones based in Mary Sheridan (2005) check-list and provide a theoretical explanation to support the naturalistic observation.
In the second experiment, the infants were introduced to a wheeled walker after at least thirty-two hours of voluntary forward motion in the device. The experiment provides an artificial means of loco-motor action. Infants were divided in to two groups:- pre-loco motor walkers and loco motor walkers. The average of the babies crawling in the loco motor walker was a total of about five days. The purpose of this was to show how each individual adapted to the walker. It showed the provisions of "artificial" loco motor experiment may facilitate or induce wariness.
Esther Thelen, explains how infants develop their independent walking. Upright bipedal locomotion is a very complex skill and demanding motor task.5 In her article, Hidden Skills: A Dynamic Systems Analysis of Treadmill Stepping during the First Year. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, Thelen states, “First a walker must generate a synchronized ensemble of muscle contractions to produce the locomotor movement. This usually involves muscles spanning many joints and body segments: the legs alternate in a pattern of swing and stance, the pelvis rotates and tilts, and the arms and shoulders swing forward and back in phase with the opposite leg. But locomotion, like all other motor actions, involves not just muscle contractions but also the interrelation between the motor patterns and the biomechanical and dynamic requirements of moving segments with mass and viscosity through a gravitational environment.”5 This excerpt supports the prior explanation of what the DST and Hierarchical Theories are and how they are interrelated; both are required to explain the principles of how infants learn to
Babies often wake up at night when they are hungry or uncomfortable. Parents usually help them get back to sleep and train them to stay asleep throughout the night. This process of sleep training helps babies develop a regular routine for sleeping. Although some babies quickly learn, other have trouble settling back to sleep.
Sleep deprivation is a commonplace occurrence in modern culture. Every day there seems to be twice as much work and half as much time to complete it in. This results in either extended periods of wakefulness or a decrease in sleep over an extended period of time. While some people may like to believe that they can train their bodies to not require as much sleep as they once did this belief is false (1). Sleep is needed to regenerate certain parts of the body, especially the brain, so that it may continue to function optimally. After periods of extended wakefulness or reduced sleep neurons may begin to malfunction, visibly effecting a person's behavior. Some organs, such as muscles, are able to regenerate even when a person is not sleeping so long as they are resting. This could involve lying awake but relaxed within a quite environment. Even though cognitive functions might not seem necessary in this scenario the brain, especially the cerebral cortex, is not able to rest but rather remains semi-alert in a state of "quiet readiness" (2). Certain stages of sleep are needed for the regeneration of neurons within the cerebral cortex while other stages of sleep seem to be used for forming new memories and generating new synaptic connections. The effects of sleep deprivation on behavior have been tested with relation to the presence of activity in different sections of the cerebral cortex.
If all of these important activities occur during sleep, why is it that people are so willing to short themselves of this vital activity? Although much about sleep still remains a mystery, research and experiments continue to show how important sleep is to each and every person. Throughout this paper, I will discuss sleep and the effects that it has on performance and health, especially among college students. A college student’s sleeping pattern is a reliable indicator of their level of performance in the classroom and other school-affiliated activities, as a lack of sleep leads to decreased performance. Sleep is directly related to the level of performance and health of an individual; the more rested a person is, the better that person will perform and feel (Dryer, 2006).
Much of society mistakenly believes that each individual needs eight hours of sleep in order to have a full night’s rest. This is untrue because the amount of sleep you need has a large dependence on the many factors that influence healthy energy. Age is a large indicator of how much sleep is relevant to an individual. Studies done by Milner (2008), “Benefits of napping and an extended duration of recovery sleep on alertness and immune cells after acute sleep restriction” show that an adult needs nine hours a day in order to carry out work productively, feel rejuvenated, and maintain contented moods. In contrast, infants tend to need more time to rest their bodies even though they are less active. A young baby spends 2/3rds of their day
Physical and motor development are two similar but different areas that describe child development. Physical development encompasses all of the various changes a child's body goes through. Those changes include height, weight, and brain development. Motor development is the development of control over the body. This control would involve developing reflexes such as blinking, large motor skills like walking, and fine motor skills like manipulating their fingers to pick up small objects like Cheerios. It is important to objectively study physical and motor development in children to gain knowledge on what characteristics are considered typical for each age and stage of development. This will enable me to be aware of when a child or children are developing at an irregular pace, and devise recommendations or find experiences and other resources that can aid in stimulating their development and to work towards closing achievement gaps. This particular assignment was to observe the selected child and reaffirm the importance of studying physical and motor development, and to develop ideas on how to involve it in my work as an early childhood professional.
Sleep plays a vital role in a person’s mental well-being. Sleeping affects how well people think, react, work, learn, and get along with others. While a person is sleeping, his brain is preparing to help him learn and remember information. A good night’s sleep enhances learning and problem solving skills. It is very important for the students to have sound sleep as it can improve their concentration, memory and creativity. Furthermore, having enough sleep increases the ability to m...