Sensorimotor difficulties are common in children with autism spectrum disorder, and it has been suggested that motor planning problems underlie their atypical movements. At early school-age, motor planning development typically involves changes in visuomotor integration, a function known to be affected in autism spectrum disorder. However, there…

Speech problems affect about 66% of children with classic galactosemia (CG), but limited evidence is reported on early motor and sensory motor development in this at-risk population. Research has been focused on speech and language development, leaving a paucity of data on motor and sensory differences. This paper describes preliminary data…

Multisensory experiences crucially contribute to the development of infants' ability to match audio-visual (A-V) information. This study investigated two-day-old newborns' ability to bind non-verbal, naturally occurring, experienced A-V stimuli. Our results demonstrate that, when presented with experienced stimuli (yawns and hiccups) within an…

Batting or striking with a long-handled implement is an important fundamental motor skill used in several lifetime activities. This article outlines basic movement concepts that are developed through batting and provides recommendations that can serve as both curricular options for physical education and a potential homework idea for kids to…

Perceptual development which depends on ability of learning and maturity, is the most important process of mental development. It is commonly believed that the mental development of children is limited due to city life. Children can learn perceptual elements through movement participation. This improves the cognitive development, which triggers…

During infant development, objects and their functions are learned by means of active exploration. Factors that may influence exploration include reaching and grasping ability, object properties and the presence of developmental disorders. We assessed the development of exploratory actions in 16 typically-developing (TD) infants and 9 infants with…

Visual tracking of multiple objects in a complex scene is a critical survival skill. When we attempt to safely cross a busy street, follow a ball's position during a sporting event, or monitor children in a busy playground, we rely on our brain's capacity to selectively attend to and track the position of specific objects in a dynamic scene. This…

McCarty and colleagues (1999) developed the elevated spoon task to measure motor planning in human infants. In this task, a spoon containing food was placed on an elevated apparatus that supported both ends of the spoon. The handle was oriented to the left or right on different trials. We presented naive adult rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) with…

Background: Research on unimanual tasks suggested that motor asymmetries between hands may be reduced in people with Down syndrome. Our study examined handedness (as assessed by hand performance) and perceptual-motor integration effects on bimanual coordination. Methods: Adults with Down syndrome (13 non-right-handed, 22 right-handed), along with…

Background: The innate ability for typically developing children to attain developmental motor milestones early in life has been a thoroughly researched area of inquiry. Nonetheless, as children grow and are required to perform more complex motor skills in order to experience success in physical activity and sport pursuits, the range of…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine children's head orientation relative to the arrival angle of competing signals and the sound source of interest in actual school settings. These data were gathered to provide information relative to the potential for directional benefit. Method: Forty children, 4-17 years of age, with and without…

Paper presented at the Merrill-Palmer Conference on Research and Teaching of Infant Development, February 13-15, 1970. (JE)

Four experiments investigated 4-, 6-, and 9-month-old infants' ability to perceive whether the width relationship between a block and the opening of a box specified passing through or support. Found that six- and nine-month olds looked significantly longer than four-month olds when a block wider than a box opening passed through this opening. (MDM)

Study supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation, GB-5664.