Motor Development in Children

Control over one’s motor behavior ranks among the infant’s greatest achievements. Psychologists who study the acquisition of motor skills in children find it useful to distinguish between gross motor development, that is, motor skills which help children to get around in their environment such as crawling and walking, and fine motor development, which refers to smaller movement sequences like reaching and grasping.

 

The development of motor skills has implications beyond simply learning how to perform new actions: motor skills can have profound effects on other areas of development. For example, researchers have shown that infants with locomotor experience (experience moving around their environment) were less likely to make errors while searching for hidden objects. The ability to initiate movement around one’s environment stimulates the development of memory, making hidden object tasks easier to solve. Psychology professor Carolyn Rovee-Collier argues that the onset of independent locomotion at around nine months old marks an important transition in memory development. Children who can move about the environment develop an understanding of locations such as here and there. Because infant memory is initially highly dependent on context, that is, the similarity between the situation where information is encoded (stored in memory) and where it is recalled, infants who have experience moving about the environment and who learn to spatially encode information become less dependent on context for successful recall. These examples show that gross motor development has implications beyond the immediately apparent benefits of crawling and walking.

 

Renowned psychologist Jean Piaget argued that the development of reaching and grasping was a key aspect of development because it formed an important link between biological adaptation and intellectual adaptation. Reaching and grasping are voluntary actions under the infant’s control, and as such, they open up exciting new possibilities in their ability to explore the environment. An infant who reaches for and grasps an object so as to explore it pushes his development forward as he engages in processes such as adapting his grip to the size and shape of the object. Piaget argued that these early processes drive cognitive development in the first two years of an infant’s life.

 

The development of reaching begins early on in life. Newborn infants seated in an upright position will swipe and reach towards an object placed in front of them, a behavior labeled “prereaching”. These poorly coordinated behaviors start to decline around two months of age and are replaced by “directed reaching” which begins at about three months of age. At this time reaching becomes more coordinated and efficient, and improves in accuracy. According to research conducted by Clifton et al., the infant’s reaching does not depend simply on the guidance of the hand and arm by the visual system but is controlled by proprioception, the sensation of movement and location based on the stimulation arising from bodily sources such as muscle contractions. By about nine months old, infants can adjust their reaching to take into account a moving object. However, nine-month-olds are far from expert reachers. A good deal of skill must still develop.

 

Once infants begin reaching they also begin to grasp the objects that are the target of their reaches. The ulnar grasp is seen when infants first engage in directed reaching. The ulnar grasp is a primitive form of grasping in which the infant’s fingers close against its palm. The fingers seem to act as a whole, requiring the use of the palm in order to hold an object. Shortly after this accomplishment, when infants can sit upright on their own, they can acquire the ability to transfer objects from hand to hand. Around the end of the first year, infants will have graduated to using the pincer grasp where they use their index finger and thumb in an opposable manner (placing them opposite each other), resulting in a more coordinated and finely tuned grip which allows for the exploration of very small objects or those objects which demand specific actions for their operation, such as the knobs on a stereo system which require turning to the left or right to adjust volume.

 

【Paragraph 1】Control over one’s motor behavior ranks among the infant’s greatest achievements. Psychologists who study the acquisition of motor skills in children find it useful to distinguish between gross motor development, that is, motor skills which help children to get around in their environment such as crawling and walking, and fine motor development, which refers to smaller movement sequences like reaching and grasping.

 

1. According to paragraph 1, the distinction between gross motor development and fine motor development is based primarily on

A. how much control the infant has over the motor skills

B. when the motor skills are developed

C. the size of the movement sequences involved

D. the usefulness of the movement sequences involved

 

【Paragraph 2】The development of motor skills has implications beyond simply learning how to perform new actions: motor skills can have profound effects on other areas of development. For example, researchers have shown that infants with locomotor experience (experience moving around their environment) were less likely to make errors while searching for hidden objects. The ability to initiate movement around one’s environment stimulates the development of memory, making hidden object tasks easier to solve. Psychology professor Carolyn Rovee-Collier argues that the onset of independent locomotion at around nine months old marks an important transition in memory development. Children who can move about the environment develop an understanding of locations such as here and there. Because infant memory is initially highly dependent on context, that is, the similarity between the situation where information is encoded (stored in memory) and where it is recalled, infants who have experience moving about the environment and who learn to spatially encode information become less dependent on context for successful recall. These examples show that gross motor development has implications beyond the immediately apparent benefits of crawling and walking.

 

 

2. According to paragraph 2, why do infants with locomotor experience have less trouble locating hidden objects

A. Moving around their environment helps infants to develop a better memory for spatial locations.

B. Moving around their environment increases infants’ ability to make use of context to identify objects.

C. Moving around their environment gives infants more opportunity to correct their errors when searching for objects.

D. Moving around their environment reduces the time infants have to spend spatially encoding information.

 

 

3. According to paragraph 2, as a result of developing an understanding of here and there, infants are better able to

A. describe the locations of objects in space

B. feel comfortable in new and unfamiliar situations

C. use context as an aid to recalling previously encoded information

D. recall information in situations unlike the one in which it was originally encoded

 

 

【Paragraph 3】Renowned psychologist Jean Piaget argued that the development of reaching and grasping was a key aspect of development because it formed an important link between biological adaptation and intellectual adaptation. Reaching and grasping are voluntary actions under the infant’s control, and as such, they open up exciting new possibilities in their ability to explore the environment. An infant who reaches for and grasps an object so as to explore it pushes his development forward as he engages in processes such as adapting his grip to the size and shape of the object. Piaget argued that these early processes drive cognitive development in the first two years of an infant’s life.

 

4. What can be inferred from paragraph 3 about the cognitive development of an infant in its first two years of life as described by Piaget

A. It is a sign of advanced development when an infant is able to control its urges to reach and grasp.

B. Repeated practice reaching for and grasping objects results in important biological adaptations.

C. Infants who spend large amounts of time in exciting environments have more difficulty in their intellectual development.

D. An infant’s development will be slower if it is not given the opportunity to reach for and hold objects.

 

 

【Paragraph 4】The development of reaching begins early on in life. Newborn infants seated in an upright position will swipe and reach towards an object placed in front of them, a behavior labeled “prereaching”. These poorly coordinated behaviors start to decline around two months of age and are replaced by “directed reaching” which begins at about three months of age. At this time reaching becomes more coordinated and efficient, and improves in accuracy. According to research conducted by Clifton et al., the infant’s reaching does not depend simply on the guidance of the hand and arm by the visual system but is controlled by proprioception, the sensation of movement and location based on the stimulation arising from bodily sources such as muscle contractions. By about nine months old, infants can adjust their reaching to take into account a moving object. However, nine-month-olds are far from expert reachers. A good deal of skill must still develop.

 

 

 

5. In paragraph 4, why does the author emphasize the point that nine-month-olds are far from expert reacher？

A. To support the idea that nine-month-olds vary a great deal in their reaching abilities

B. To distinguish between the directed reaching and the non directed reaching of infants

C. To stress that an infant’s reaching skills continue to improve even after the first nine months

D. To call into question the accuracy of the results presented by Clifton et al

 

 

 

6. According to paragraph 4, which of the following statements about directed reaching is true

A. Directed reaching behaviors have typically developed by the time an infant is about two months old.

B. Directed reaching behaviors do not appear until an infant is able to account for the movement of an object.

C. Directed reaching is the earliest form of reaching behavior that infants develop.

D. Directed reaching is controlled both by the visual system and by proprioception.

 

 

 

 

【Paragraph 5】Once infants begin reaching they also begin to grasp the objects that are the target of their reaches. The ulnar grasp is seen when infants first engage in directed reaching. The ulnar grasp is a primitive form of grasping in which the infant’s fingers close against its palm. The fingers seem to act as a whole, requiring the use of the palm in order to hold an object. Shortly after this accomplishment, when infants can sit upright on their own, they can acquire the ability to transfer objects from hand to hand. Around the end of the first year, infants will have graduated to using the pincer grasp where they use their index finger and thumb in an opposable manner (placing them opposite each other), resulting in a more coordinated and finely tuned grip which allows for the exploration of very small objects or those objects which demand specific actions for their operation, such as the knobs on a stereo system which require turning to the left or right to adjust volume.

 

 

 

7. All of the following statements about the ulnar grasp are true EXCEPT

A. It is a relatively uncoordinated form of grasping.

B. It is used by infants when they first engage in directed reaching.

C. It develops only after infants become able to sit upright on their own.

D. It makes use of the palm as well as the fingers to hold an object.

 

 

8. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

A. Infants of about a year old begin using their index finger and thumb to make more coordinated and finely tuned

movements, allowing them to explore and manipulate small objects.

B. Around the end of the first year, infants begin to use a type of grip on small objects that is more coordinated and finely

tuned than was the pincer grasp.

C. Infants begin handling very small or difficult-to-operate objects at about one year of age, resulting in improvements in their ability to grip objects with their thumb and fingers.

D. When one-year-old infants begin using the pincer grasp, they become much more interested in very small objects (such as knobs on a stereo system).

 

【Paragraph 4】■The development of reaching begins early on in life. Newborn infants seated in an upright position will swipe and reach towards an object placed in front of them, a behavior labeled “prereaching”. ■These poorly coordinated behaviors start to decline around two months of age and are replaced by “directed reaching” which begins at about three months of age. ■At this time reaching becomes more coordinated and efficient, and improves in accuracy. ■According to research conducted by Clifton et al., the infant’s reaching does not depend simply on the guidance of the hand and arm by the visual system but is controlled by proprioception, the sensation of movement and location based on the stimulation arising from bodily sources such as muscle contractions. By about nine months old, infants can adjust their reaching to take into account a moving object. However, nine-month olds are far from expert reachers. A good deal of skill must still develop.

 

9. Look at the four squares【■】that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage. What accounts for this greater accuracy？

Where would the sentence best fit？

 

10.【Directions】 An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.

The motor development in infants includes gross motor development and the fine motor development.

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Answer Choices

A. The ability to move around in an environment gives infants an understanding of location and thus reduces the extent to which their memory is dependent on context.

B. Infants become better at finding hidden objects once they have developed the type of grasp that allows them to handle and explore very small objects in their environment.

C. Piaget argues that an infant’s cognitive development is related to the development of fine motor skills that make it possible for infants to interact with and adapt their actions to their environment.

D. Fine motor skills tend to develop later than do gross motor skills because fine motor skills require smaller, more finely tuned movements and a great deal of coordination.

E. When infants first begin to grasp objects, they transfer the objects from hand to hand and firmly close their fingers against their palms.

F. Reaching and grasping begin early; by about three months, reaching is more coordinated and efficient, and by one year, infants begin to develop a coordinated and finely tuned grip.

 

 

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