Infant Toddler Learning & Development Foundations

PERCEPTUAL AND MOTOR DEVELOPMENT
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provide perceptual/motor challenges
to infants as they practice a variety of
actions (Adolph and Berger 2006). This
dramatic physical development occurs
within the broad context of overall
development. As infants master each
challenge, their perceptual and motor
behavior reflects their ever-present
interpersonal orientation and social
environment.
The extent and variety of infant
perceptual and motor behavior are
remarkable. Infants and toddlers
spend a significant part of their days
engaged in motor behavior of one type
or another. By three and a half months
of age, infants have made between
three and six million eye movements
during their waking hours (Haith,
Hazen, and Goodman 1988). Infants
who crawl and walk have been found
to spend roughly half of their waking
hours involved in motor behavior,
approximately five to six hours per day
(Adolph and Joh 2007, 11). On a daily
basis infants who are walking “. . .
take more than 9,000 steps and travel
the distance of more than 29 football
fields. They travel over nearly a dozen
different indoor and outdoor surfaces
varying in friction, rigidity and texture.
They visit nearly every room in
their homes and they engage in balance
and locomotion in the context of
varied activities” (Adolph and Berger
2006, 181).
Early research in motor development
involved detailed observational studies
that documented the progression of
infant motor skills and presented an
understanding of infant motor behavior
as a sequence of universal, biologically
programmed steps (Adolph and
Berger 2006; Bertenthal and Boker
1997; Bushnell and Boudreau 1993;
Pick 1989). In comparison, current
research in motor development often
emphasizes action in the context of
behavior and development in the perceptual,
cognitive, and social domains
(Pick 1989). In particular, contemporary
accounts of infant motor development
address (1) the strong relationship
between perception and action
(Bertenthal 1996; Gibson 1988; Thelen
1995), (2) the relationship between
actions and the environment (Gibson
1988; Thelen 1995), and (3) the importance
of motives in motor behavior,
notably social and explorative motives
(von Hofsten 2007). Although historical
approaches may encourage professionals
to focus on the relationship
between growing perceptual/motor
skills and the child’s increasingly
sophisticated manipulation and understanding
of objects, contemporary
understanding suggests the value of
observation of this progression. How
these developing behaviors and abilities
play a role in the social/emotional
aspects of the child’s life and functioning,
such as forming early relationships
and building an understanding
of others, may be noteworthy.
The contemporary view suggests
that thinking about perceptual/motor
development can be inclusive of infants
and toddlers with disabilities or other
special needs. Children whose disabilities
affect their perceptual or motor
development still want to explore and
interact with the people and environment
around them. Although the
perceptual and motor development
of children with disabilities or other
special needs may follow a pathway
that differs from typical developmental
trajectories, sensitive and responsive
caregivers can provide alternative ways