Transcript
Current Events Article
Many parents worry if their child is developing at the right pace. Oskar Jenni conducted a study to show what impact the time a child started walking would make. He used 200 children, boys and girls. He found that children walk on average at 12 months. Some of the children in his study where earlier and some of them walked later. In the end, there were no findings that the exact time they started walking made an impact. When the children reached school age the time, they started walking had no effect on their motor skills or their intelligence.
I think a logical follow up study would be the same study but with only one gender. I think boys’ movements are quicker than girls. I would be almost positive that gender would play a role on when the child walks. It would be great to see a boy versus girl study.
I can see this study being put into practical advice if I imagine that I am a teacher at a infant daycare. Let’s say a mom of a 17-month-old is expressing concern because her child is still not walking but all the rest are. Being able to tell the parent that their child is still normal would be very rewarding. I could tell her based off this study it is okay for another 3 months. After 20 months is when she needs to start looking into it.
Reference
Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Foerderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung. (2013, March 28). Child development: Early walker or late walker of little consequence. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 26, 2020 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130328075702.htm
Original Works
The article I chose was the “visual cliff. This article starts off by telling us that as babies’ muscular coordination matures, they can keep from falling off from high ledges. It brings up the question of whether this is from experience of a fall or is it in-born. It continues to bring up perception, height being their special interest. The Cornell University is the one who completed the study. They made a false cliff and tested children. The age range was from 6months to 14months. Most all the children would have fell off if not for the safety of the false cliff.
The university also studied other species as well. The lambs acted as we humans did but the chicks where ably to maneuver greatly! Rats were different, because they use their whiskers to sense the depth. They would move about as long as the whiskers could reach the bottom. Kittens showed the greatest depth perception, whereas turtles showed the worst. They were able in the end to make the broad conclusion that if a species can adequately move it can determine depth.
This experiment was a landmark contribution for development psychology. Sight is part of our development process. “Distance perception: information in the light reaching the eye provides stimuli that can be utilized for the discrimination both of depth and of receding distance on the level”. Based on this definition of distance perception the article provided we know that this is a physical skill.
Reference
Gibson, E. J., & Walk, R. D. (1960). The "visual cliff". Scientific American, 202, 67–71.
