Sensory Motor Organizations And Development In Infancy And Early Childhood

This book is the outcome of a Nato Workshop, held in France in July 1989. The workshop was organized to examine current ideas about sensory-motor organizations during human infancy and their development through early childhood. The study of sensory-motor development is experiencing a profound shift in scope, focus, methodology and theoretical foundations. Many of these changes are quite new and not yet well covered in the literature. We thought it would be useful for some of the leading researchers in this field to convene together and to compare notes, and collectively to establish future directions for the field. The reasons for a new conceptualization of sensory-motor development are no doubt numerous, but three are especially significant: 1. One concerns a shift from studying either sensory or motor processing to investigation of the relations between the two. 2. The second is connected to the new emphasis on action, and its implications for goal-directed and intentional behaviour extending over time. 3. Lastly, new theories and methodologies provide access to new tools for studying and conceptualizing the developmental process. 1.-One of the most enduring legacies of the behaviorist perspective has been a focus on the stimulus and the response to the exclusion of the relation between them (Pick, 1989). Historically, this bias translated into a research agenda in which the investigator was concerned with either perceptual or motor competence, but rarely the relation between them.

Research on the development of human infants has revealed remarkable capacities in recent years. Instead of stressing the limitations of the newborn, the modern approach is now more optimistically based on an assessment of the adaptive capabilities of the infant. Innate endowment, coupled with interaction with the physical and social environment, enables a developmental transition from processes deeply rooted in early perception and action to the cognitive and language abilities typical of the toddler.; This book reviews a number of issues in early human development. It includes a reconceptualization of the role of perception at the origins of development, a reconciliation of psychophysical and ecological approaches to early face perception, and building bridges between biological and psychological aspects of development in terms of brain structure and function. Topics covered include basic exploratory processes of early visual systems in early perception and action; face perception in newborns, species typical aspects of human communication, imitation, perception of the phonetic structure of speech, origins of the pointing gesture, handedness origins and development, theoretical contributions on perception and cognition, implicit and explicit knowledge in babies; sensory-motor coordination and cognition, information processing and cognition, perception, habituation and the development of intelligence from infancy.

Thoroughly revised and updated, this second edition continues to present both a theoretical and practical approach to motor development and adapted physical activity programs for preschoolers and infants with delays or disabilities. Written from a broad perspective, the authors use easy-to-understand language so that families, caregivers, students, and teachers may provide instruction utilizing the ecological dynamics of various environments. Chapter topics include: motor development, organization of the nervous system, muscle tone, medical and biological considerations (including prematurity and low birth weight, drug exposure, and autism spectrum disorders), assessment, principles of intervention, and multi-sensory activities. This new edition identifies the effects of Autism Spectrum Disorders on sensory dysfunction and provides activity interventions to be used by movement specialists. Additionally, the book explains the principles of motor development and answers questions related to positioning, lifting, carrying, and feeding of young children. Practical suggestions and activities are provided for families and professionals to enhance sensory-motor development of the young child during structured motor intervention and throughout the day. Generously illustrated, this comprehensive book is an excellent resource for adapted physical educators, early interventionists, and caregivers in motor development for young children with delays or identified disabilities. It will additionally serve as a reference for individuals developing motor programs for older children, particularly children with severe sensory-motor delays.

This volume shares significant contemporary "Francophone" contributions to developmental psychology outside geographic and intellectual borders of French-speaking countries. Except for the spread of Piagetian theory after World War II into Anglophone psychology, these new publications have not become so well known worldwide as progress in Francophone developmental psychology warrants. However, the work of a new generation of developmental theorists and experimentalists continues to shape important and original lines of thinking and research in France, Canada, and in other French-speaking countries. This work also contributes uniquely to issues such as sensori-motor development, perception, language acquisition, social interaction, and the growth and induction of cognitive mechanisms. Scientific concepts are not only embedded in a paradigm, but also in a culture and a language. Instead of writing about Francophone developmental psychology from "outside," this volume brings together original English-language contributions written by researchers working in different Francophone countries. Chapters summarize and interpret research on a given topic, making explicit the context of philosophical and theoretical traditions in which the empirical advances are embedded. Original essays are accompanied by editorial commentaries from eminent scientists working on the same topics in other parts of the world -- topics that are closely related to Francophone streams of thought and themes of study. Together, these essays fully and faithfully represent modern scientific perspectives toward understanding many facets of mental growth and development of the young child.

Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.

Sensory motor activities are crucial for children to learn from their environment. Bridging the gap between theory and practice, this revised edition is a complete package of tried-and-tested sensory motor activities for children, covering basic movements, interoception, sensory and body awareness and early visual perceptual skills. Providing an overview of the sensory systems, the authors offer practical strategies for parents/carers and practitioners to link knowledge to practice when communicating and engaging with a child. The authors present both familiar and novel activity ideas, explaining how they provide sensory stimulation to the relevant sensory systems and may help to support the child’s development, sensory processing and regulation levels. New material includes: greater emphasis on understanding the sensory systems and how they link to the activities a brand new chapter on interoception revised recording methods, including Goal Attainment Scaling as an outcome tool an expanded list of activities. Sensory Motor Activities for Early Development, 2nd edition is an essential text for all parents/carers and practitioners who use sensory motor activities in a playful way to help the development of children with a range of needs. It will be valuable reading for those working with children who do not initiate movement, who require help with their movement, who need to refine their movement, who need encouragement or motivation to engage in purposeful movements, or those who need activities to provide sensory stimulation.

This book provides the latest information about the development of intersensory perception -- a topic which has recently begun to receive a great deal of attention from researchers studying the general problem of perceptual development. This interest was inspired after the realization that unimodal perception of sensory information is only the first stage of perceptual processing. Under normal conditions, an organism is faced with multiple, multisensory sources of information and its task is to either select a single relevant source of information or select several sources of information and integrate them. In general, perception and action on the basis of multiple sources of information is more efficient and effective. Before greater efficiency and effectiveness can be achieved, however, the organism must be able to integrate the multiple sources of information. By doing so, the organism can then achieve a coherent and unified percept of the world. The various chapters in this book examine the developmental origins of intersensory perceptual capacities by presenting the latest research on the development of intersensory perceptual skills in a variety of different species. By adopting a comparative approach to this problem, this volume as a whole helps uncover similarities as well as differences in the mechanisms underlying the development of intersensory integration. In addition, it shows that there is no longer any doubt that intersensory interactions occur right from the beginning of the developmental process, that the nature of these intersensory interactions changes as development progresses, and that early experience contributes in important ways to these changes.