Abstract
It’s a landmark event for parents when their child begins to locomote, first by crawling and usually even more so when it takes its first step. Presumably one reason for the importance of these behaviors is that they are the first signals of a child’s eventual independence. These initial halting first steps grow into seemingly effortless, often graceful movement around one’s environment. By the time a child is a few years old she can walk, run, jump, and skip to get to interesting places she knows about, when they are visible at the moment. In short, the child can skillfully execute a variety of modes of locomotion and use them in the service of finding her way to remote places. Both aspects of mobility, the execution of movements and the wayfinding continue to develop through childhood.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Acredolo, L.P. (1976). Frames of reference used by children for orientation in unfamiliar spaces. In: I.G.T. Moore & R.G. Gollege (Eds.). Environment knowing. Stroudsburg, PA: Dowden, Hutchinson, & Ross.
Acredolo, L.P. (1978). Development of spatial orientation in infancy. Developmental Psychology, 14, 224–234.
Acredolo, L. P. (1979). Laboratory versus home: The effect of environment on the nine-month-old infant’s choice of reference system. Developmental Psychology, 15, 666–667.
Acredolo, L.P. & Evans, D. (1980). Developmental changes in the effects of landmarks on infant spatial behavior. Developmental Psychology, 16, 312–318.
Acredolo, L.P. Adams, A. & Goodwyn, S.W. (1984). The role of self produced movement and visual tracking in infant spatial orientation. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 38, 312–327.
Adolph, K.E., Gibson, E.J. & Eppler, M.A. (submitted for publication, 1990). Perceiving affordances of slopes: The ups and downs of toddlers’ locomotion.
Bertenthal, B. I. & Bia, D.L. (1989). Infants’ sensitivity to optical flow for controlling posture. Developmental Psychology, 25, 936–945.
Bower, T.G.R., (1974) The evolution of sensory systems. In: R.B. MacLeod & H.L. Pick, Jr. (Eds.). Perception: Essays in Honor of James J. Gibson. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Burton, A. W., Pick, H.L., Jr., Heinrichs, M. & Greer, N.L. (1989). To go over or under. Paper presented at the meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development, Kansas City, MO.
Butterworth, G. & Hicks, L. (1977). Visual proprioception and postural stability in infancy: a developmental study. Perception, 6, 255–262.
Craton, L.G., Elicker, J., Plumert, J.M., & Pick, H.L., Jr. (1990) Children’s use of frames of reference in communication of spatial location. Child Development, in press.
Dunbar, C. & Pufall, P. B. (1989). Children’s perception of spatial affordances: stepping over and under obstacles. Paper presented at the Fifth International Conference on Perception and Action, Oxford: OH.
Getchell, N. & Roberton, M.A. Whole body stiffness as a function of developmental level in children’s hopping. Developmental psychology, 25, 920–928.
Gibson, J.J. (1958). Visually controlled locomotion and visual orientation in animals. British Journal of Psychology, 49, 182–194.
Gibson, J.J. (1966). The senses considered as perceptual systems. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Gibson, J.J. (1979). An ecological approach to visual perception. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Gibson, E.J., Riccio, G., Schmuckler, M., Stoffregen, T., Rosenberg, D. & Taorimina, J. (1987). Detection of the traversability of surfaces by crawling and walking infants. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 13, 533–544.
Gibson, E.J. & Schmuckler, M. (1989). Going somewhere: An Ecological and experimental approach to development of mobility, Ecological Psychology, 1, 3–25.
Goldfield, E.C. Transition from rocking to crawling: Postural constraints on infant movement. Developmental Psychology, 25, 913–919.
Hay, J.C., Pick, H.L. Jr. & Ikeda, K. (1964). Visual capture produced by prism spectacles. Psychonomic Science, 2, 215–216.
Landau, B., Spelke, E. & Gleitman, H. (1984). Spatial knowlege in a young blind child. Cognition, 16, 225–260.
Lashley, K.S. & Ball, J. (1929). Spinal conduction and kinesthetic sensitivity in the maze habit. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 9, 71–105.
Lee, D. (1974). Visual information during locomotion. In: R.B. MacLeod & H.L. Pick, Jr. (Eds.). Perception: Essays in honor of James J. Gibson. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Lee, D.N. (1976). A theory of visual control of braking based on information about time to collision. Perception, 5, 437–459.
Lee, D.N. & Lishman, J.R. (1975) Visual proprioceptive control in stance. Journal of Human Movement Studies. 1, 87–95.
Liben, L.S. (1988). Conceptual issues in the development of spatial cognition. In: J. Stiles-Davis, M. Kritchevsky, & U. Bellugi (Eds.). Spatial cognition: Brain bases and development. Hillsdale, NJ: LEA.
Lockman, J.J. (1984). Development of detour abilities in infants. Child Development, 55, 482–491.
Macfarlane, D.A. (1930). The role of kinesthesis in maze learning. University of California Publications in Psychology, 4, 277–305.
Palmer, C. (1987). Infant locomotion through apertures varying in width. Paper presented at the International Conference on Event Perception and Action, Trieste, Italy.
Palmer, C. (1989). Max headroom: Toddlers locomoting through doorways. Paper presented at meetings of the Society of Research in Child Development, Kansas City, MO.
Plumert, J., Marks, R., Pick, H.L., Jr. & Wegesin, D. (1989). The ability of children and adults to organize efficient searches and route directions. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Rader, N. & Stern, J.D. (1982). Visually elicited reaching in neonates. Child Development, 53, 1004–1007.
Reed, E.S. (1982). An outline of a theory of action systems. Journal of Motor Behavior, 14, 98–134.
Rieser, J.J. (1979). Spatial orientation of six-month-old infants. Child Development, 50, 1078–1087.
Rieser, J.J., Guth, D. & Hill, Hill, E. (1986). Sensitivity to perspective structure while walking without vision. Perception, 15, 173–188.
Rosengren, K.S. (1989). The role of vision and proprioception in the development of balance control. Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Schmuckler, M.A. & Gibson, E.J. (1989). The effect of imposed optical flow on guided locomotion in young walkers. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 7, 193–206.
Shumway-Cook, A. & Woollacott, M.H. (1985). The growth of stability: Postural control from a developmental perspective. Journal of Motor Behavior, 17, 134–147.
Smith, R., Haake, R. J. & Pick, H. L. Jr. (1985) Toddlers’ use of visual and auditory information for location in spatial orientation. Paper presented at meetings of American Psychological Association, Los Angeles, CA.
Stoff regen, T.A., Schmuckler, M.A. & Gibson, E.J. (1987). Use of central and peripheral optical flow in stance and locomotion in young walkers. Perception, 16, 113–119.
Strelow, E.R., (1985) What is needed for a theory of mobility: Direct perception and cognitive maps-Lessons from the blind. Psychological Review, 92, 226–248.
Sullivan, C., Montello, D., Somerville, S. & Pick, H.L., Jr. (manuscript in preparation) The integration of separately learned spatial layouts.
Ulrich, B.D., Thelen, E. & Niles, D. (in press). Perceptual determinants of action: Stair-climbing choices of infants and toddlers. In: J. E. Clark & J. Humphrey (Eds.). Advances in Motor Development Research, Vol. III. New York: AMS Press.
von Hofsten, C. (1983). Eye-hand coordination in the newborn. Developmental Psychology, 18, 450–461.
Walk, R.D. & Gibson, E.J. (1961). A comparative study of visual depth perception. Psychological Monographs, 75.
Williams, H.G., McClenaghan, B., Ward, D., Carter, W., Brown, C., Byde, R., Johnson, D. & Lasalle, D. (1986). Sensory-motor control and balance: A behavioral perspective. In: H.T.A. Whiting & M.G. Wade (Eds.). Themes of Motor Development. Dordecht: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
Woollacott, M.H. Postural control and development. In: H.T.A. Whiting & M.G. Wade (Eds.). Themes in motor development. Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff, 3–19.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1990 Kluwer Academic Publishers
About this paper
Cite this paper
Pick, H.L. (1990). Issues in the Development of Mobility. In: Bloch, H., Bertenthal, B.I. (eds) Sensory-Motor Organizations and Development in Infancy and Early Childhood. NATO ASI Series, vol 56. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2071-2_32
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2071-2_32
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-7430-8
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-2071-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive