1. LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENT5
A Topical Approach to
LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENT
Motor, Sensory, and Perceptual Development
John W. Santrock

2. Motor, Sensory, and Perceptual Development
Motor Development
Sensory and Perceptual Development
Perceptual-Motor Coupling

3. Dynamic Systems Theory
Motor Development
Dynamic Systems Theory
Seeks to explain how motor behaviors are assembled for perceiving and acting
Motivation leads to new motor behavior
Nervous system
Physical properties of body
Requires active efforts

4. Sample Reflexes Sucking reflex Rooting reflex Moro reflex
Motor Development
Sample Reflexes
Sucking reflex
Automatic sucking object placed in newborn’s mouth
Rooting reflex
Reaction when infant’s cheek is stroked or side of the mouth is touched
Moro reflex
Startle response in reaction to sudden, intense noise or movement
Grasping reflex
Occurs when something touches the infant’s palms; the infant responds by grasping tightly

5. Gross Motor Skills Motor skills that involve large-muscle activities
Motor Development
Gross Motor Skills
Motor skills that involve large-muscle activities
Infancy - Learning to walk
Childhood - Improve running, jumping, climbing, learn sports skills
Adolescence - Skills continue to improve
Adulthood - Peak performance of most sports before 30. Slow declines with age.

6. Milestones in Gross Motor Development

7. Motor Development
Movement and Aging

8. Motor Development
Fine Motor Skills
Involve more finely tuned movements, such as finger dexterity
Infancy - Reaching and grasping
Early Childhood - Pick up small objects, build towers
Childhood and adolescence - Writing and drawing skills emerge and improve. By 10-12, can do crafts, play musical instruments
Adulthood - speed may decline in middle and late adulthood, but most use compensation strategies

9. Origin and Development of Handedness
Motor Development
Origin and Development of Handedness
Genetic inheritance
Right-handedness dominant in all cultures
Hand preference possibly occurs in the womb

10. Handedness and Other Characteristics
Motor Development
Handedness and Other Characteristics
Left-handers more common among
Mathematicians
Musicians
Architects
Artists

11. What Are Sensation and Perception?
Sensory and Perceptual Development
What Are Sensation and Perception?
Sensation—occurs when information contacts sensory receptors
Perception—interpretation of sensation

12. Sensory and Perceptual Development
The Ecological View
People directly perceive information in the world around them
Perception brings people in contact with the environment to interact with it and adapt to it.
Affordances—opportunities for interaction offered by objects necessary to perform activities

13. Studying Infant Perception
Sensory and Perceptual Development
Studying Infant Perception
Visual preference method—developed by Fantz to determine whether infants can distinguish one stimulus from another
Habituation and Dishabituation
Habituation—decreased responsiveness to a stimulus after repeated presentations
Dishabituation—recovery of habituated response after change in stimulation
Tracking —use equipment to follow head and eye movements

14. Infants’ Visual Perception
Sensory and Perceptual Development
Infants’ Visual Perception
Visual Acuity
20/600 at birth, near adult levels by 1 year
Color
Can see green & red at birth, all colors by 2 months
Perceiving Patterns
Prefer patterns at birth
Improve face scanning by 2 mo.
Depth Perception
Developed by 7-8 months
Visual Expectations
Begin by 4 months
Expect gravity by 6-8 months

15. Sensory and Perceptual Development
Perceptual Constancy
Size constancy Recognition that object remains the same even though the retinal image changes
Shape constancy Recognition that object remains the same even though its orientation changes

16. Sensory and Perceptual Development
Vision in Childhood
Improve at color detection, visual expectations, controlling eye movements (for reading)
Preschoolers may be farsighted
Signs of vision problems
Rubbing eyes, blinking, squinting
Irritability at games requiring distance vision
Closing one eye, tilting head to see, thrusting head forward to see

17. Aging Vision Loss of Accommodation - presbyopia
Sensory and Perceptual Development
Aging Vision
Loss of Accommodation - presbyopia
Decreased blood supply to eye - smaller visual field, bigger blind spot
Slower dark adaptation
Declining color vision - in green, blue, violet part of spectrum
Declining depth perception - problems with steps or curbs

18. Sensory and Perceptual Development
Glare Vision and Aging

19. Sensory and Perceptual Development
Diseases of the Eye
Cataracts—thickening eye lens that causes vision to become cloudy, opaque, and distorted
Glaucoma—damage to optic nerve because of pressure created by buildup of fluid in eye
Macular degeneration—involves deterioration of retina

20. Hearing Prenatal Can hear before birth Infancy
Sensory and Perceptual Development
Hearing
Prenatal
Can hear before birth
Infancy
Improve sensitivity to soft sounds, pitches; ability to localize
Childhood
Hearing usually fine
Danger of otitis media
Adolescence
Most have excellent hearing
Danger from loud music
Adulthood
Few changes until middle adulthood
Hearing impairment increases with age

21. Other Senses Sense Infants Older Adults Touch and Pain
Sensory and Perceptual Development
Other Senses
Sense
Infants
Older Adults
Touch and Pain
Newborns feel pain
By 6 months, can coordinate vision and touch
Less sensitive to pain and touch in lower extremities
Smell
Can differentiate odors at birth, show preferences
Lose some sense of smell starting around age 60
Taste
Might prefer sweet tastes before birth
Like salty at 4 months
Decline in taste of begins in 60s

22. Intermodal Perception
Sensory and Perceptual Development
Intermodal Perception
Ability to relate and integrate information about two or more sensory modalities, such as vision and hearing

23. Perceptual-Motor Coupling
Perceptual and doing had been considered separate processes
Experts now suggest they are linked
Perception guides action
Action educates perception