Motor Development
Newborns can't move around on their own, and they don't have much control over their limbs, but from the time they are born they have a set of involuntary, patterned motor responses called reflexes.
Reflexes: patterned, involuntary motor responses that are controlled by the lower brain centers
These reflexes are hardwired into the newborn's nervous system, so they don't need to be learned. Within the first few months of life, the higher centers of the brain develop and take over from the lower centers. As this happens most of these reflexes disappear on a predictable timetable and are replaced by voluntary and intentional actions. It is not as though reflexes and voluntary behavior are two distinct types of response. Infants begin moving before birth, exercising their muscles and giving feedback to the motor cortex of the brain that helps develop voluntary movements after birth.
Newborns can't move around on their own, and they don't have much control over their limbs, but from the time they are born they have a set of involuntary, patterned motor responses called reflexes.
Reflexes: patterned, involuntary motor responses that are controlled by the lower brain centers
These reflexes are hardwired into the newborn's nervous system, so they don't need to be learned. Within the first few months of life, the higher centers of the brain develop and take over from the lower centers. As this happens most of these reflexes disappear on a predictable timetable and are replaced by voluntary and intentional actions. It is not as though reflexes and voluntary behavior are two distinct types of response. Infants begin moving before birth, exercising their muscles and giving feedback to the motor cortex of the brain that helps develop voluntary movements after birth.
There are two basic types of motor skills which are gross and fine.
Gross motor skills: skills that involve the large muscle groups of the body - for example, the legs and arms
Fine motor skills: skills that involve small movements, mostly of the hands and fingers, but also of the lips and tongue
Gross motor skills: skills that involve the large muscle groups of the body - for example, the legs and arms
Fine motor skills: skills that involve small movements, mostly of the hands and fingers, but also of the lips and tongue