When we move throughout our world, we are exposed to many things: our social life with friends and family, communication, new cultures, and physical fitness. Using a review of neuroscience literature by Anderson and colleagues [1], we can discuss the role of primary acts of independence, such as crawling, in shaping children’s psychological development and make a case for physical activity in aid of cognitive development. In a series of posts, we explore how the development of independent movement, the acquisition of locomotor skills, influences psychological changes. The healthy development of motor abilities during childhood are linked to many other developmental skills. First, what happens when infants become mobile?
From Knowledge of Oneself to Understanding Her Place in the World
The research examining the development of locomotor skills shows mobility has implications on psychological development; however, the studies range across the type of relationship or impact locomotion has on psychological development. Anderson and colleagues (2013) wanted to highlight such research and summarized studies in which the onset of independent locomotion in infancy (or the absence of) is associated with psychological changes. The independence associated with mobility encourages exploration, which differs significantly from passive movement in a caretaker’s arms or a stroller. Children’s perspectives change from understanding how things and people around them relate to them egocentrically, to the idea of reciprocity and how they relate to others, allocentrically.
When children begin to crawl and walk, they go through a phase that makes them seem to be daredevils and take risks to go over the edge of the steps, couch, or bed. However, after a while, they take more calculated measures to get down, such as turning and going feet first, or they become scared and avoid dropping off from high places altogether. The development of caution of heights is one popular study of this concept. While intuitively, one might think that we become wary of heights over time by understanding the danger in falling, studies have shown it is more sophisticated than this. The authors highlight that in studies where facilitators introduce infants to heights with visual cliffs, those with less locomotive experience will go for the plunge while others who have been crawling for two-to-four weeks avoid drop-offs. There is no association between falling and wariness of heights, and children begin to crawl after infants develop the ability to view the world in 3D and overall depth perception. Instead, the research authors summarized explains that this psychological change is associated with the acquisition of the ability to maintain an upright position or postural stability, and it is the apparent realization that one can lose her postural stability that brings said wariness. Studies also show that one only gains this stability when she moves voluntarily, virtually, independently.
Caretakers can enhance the passive experience in prelocomotor stages, while the infant is still being carried or learning to crawl, children are vaguely aware of how they relate to their environment. The same is true for those with motor disabilities. Communicating the description of his or her surroundings will not only increase vocabulary, but it might also encourage interest in items, and consequently independent movement, or at least child-led navigation. As children become independently mobile, they are increasingly aware of their surroundings as well as their place within said surroundings. When children aware enough to navigate themselves or a mobile aid, their decision- and problem-solving skills develop and can focus on finding hidden objects.
[1] Anderson, D. I., Campos, J. J., Witherington, D. C., Dahl, A., Rivera, M., He, Uchiyama, I., Barbu-Roth, M. (2013). The role of locomotion in psychological development. Frontiers in psychology, 4, 440. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00440
Written by Rabiyah Abdus-Salaam, MS Educational Research
Rabiyah Abdus-Salaam is an educational researcher. She focuses on cognitive development and how biological and external factors relate to the learning process in early childhood. Her goal is to use research on cognitive developmental neuroscience to inform public policy on education in public schools. She uses program evaluation tools and the science of learning to reduce racial and gender disparities in schools.
At ZWIFLY, Rabiyah expands her knowledge of cognitive developmental neuroscience research and developmental methods in partnership with the ZWIFLY Affiliate company Motor Fairytales based in Milan.
