Reflexes and Spontaneous Movements
differentiate primitive reflexes from spontaneous movements
Reflexes are responses to specific external stimuli, whereas spontaneous movements do not result from any apparent external stimuli Reflexive movements are specific and often localized, whereas spontaneous movements tend to be nonspecific and generalized The same stimulus will elicit a specific reflex over and over again (McGraw, 1943)
three main reasons why phylogenetic movements exist
baby needs to overcome the birth trauma reflexes and spontaneous movements facilitate survival both types of movements provide basis for later voluntary actions
All reflexes and spontaneous actions
basis of what we called coordinative structures
Spontaneous
behaviors that have no clearly identifiable stimuli kicking and arm bending
locomotor reflexes
considered as such because they mimic later voluntary human behaviors that result in motion through the environment
When a newborn infant grasps an object placed in her hand
does so automatically and without conscious thought
Spontaneous actions
facilitating 'exploration' of relationships between muscle activation, body motion, and sensory feedback 'motor babbling' ways to communicate the state of the neonate with his or her caretakers
baby will start sucking your finger
first times that this happen, it is an involuntary action
postural reactions
generally appear after the infant is 2 months old infant can roll over only after the derotative righting reflex appears, around 4 months of age
Reflexes are
involuntary coordinated muscular action very sensitive to stimulus properties sensitive to physical context such as posture and arousal state open a dialogue with the environment rudimentary patterns of coordination - aka "coordinative structures"
primitive reflexes
newborn infant grasps an object placed in her hand put your finger on their mouth you will perceive that the baby will start sucking your finger Lower brain centers often mediate primitive reflexes rooting, sucking, moro, and grasping
Infant Three types of Movement
primitive reflexes postural reactions locomotor reflexes
'motor babbling'
provide basis for trial-‐and-‐error learning
Newborn movements have been classified into two general categories
reflexes spontaneous movements
infantile reflexes
reflexes present only during infancy
Reflex and spontaneous motor actions are considered to be
rudimentary patterns of movement coordination ("coordinative structures") early opportunities that we have in life to integrate sensory-‐motor information form the first behaviors in our motor repertoire structure of our voluntary, coordinated, and controlled movements
three locomotor reflexes
stepping swimming crawling
Reflexes
stereotyped movements made in response to a specific stimulus fetal startle response or eye shielding considered indispensable in a young infant's life
Coordinative structure
unit of action and is the level on which a behavior is learned or developed answer to the question raised by many researchers - that is- "what exactly do we learn?" constrained behavior that is defined by synergistic action of muscles and joints that may be, but are not necessarily, physically connected to one another