Developmental Behavior Analysis and Motor Development

Developmental Behavior Analysis and Motor Development Developmental Behavior Analysis Motor development and developmental behavior analysis is an important behavior related concept and much of the profound work on this field has been done by John. B. Watson. Behaviorism which can also be termed as learning perspective is regarded as a philosophy of psychology. The main concept of behaviorism is that all actions that are shown by the organisms and the human beings are to be termed as behaviors.

The second important fact argued by Watson's theory of Behaviorism is that all kinds of psychological disorders must be treated by making sure that the behavioral patterns are altered or the environments of the subjects are changed. One of the main facts that can be seen in these theories is that more stress has been given to the environment for better behavior development. Thereby environment can play more important roles in the development of behaviors.

Sometimes mentioned as the Behaviorism Manifesto, Watson published an article in 1913, "Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It." The article highlighted some of the major features of his theory of behaviorism (Brucker, 1980, p. 189). It believes that the explanation of behaviors is based on their scientific explanation rather them being linked to the psychologies of hypothetical constructs. Most of the facts argued by Watson in his theory of behaviorism is based on an extensive research conducted by him in the field of child psychology.

Child psychology was advanced with an introduction of natural sciences, which were more based on methods of objective research in which observable and measurable behaviors could be taken into account. Motor development in accordance to Watson is more of a conditioning process. Watson has mentioned some of the most important preprogrammed reflexes that are exhibited by the infants that include crawling, climbing, and walking. An important fact that can be learned from his viewpoint is that experience and practice can help condition these reflexes.

Current Research One of the most important researches in the field of motor development and developmental behavior analysis has been conducted by Esther Thelen. Thelen's research supports the fact argued by Watson that all the behaviors learned by the children are based on their experiences. Chaos theory by Thelen supports Watson's view on motor development and developmental behavior analysis. She argued that there is a great difference in the dynamic systems theories and conventional approaches where the standing of conventional approaches is lesser.

Dynamic theories as argued by Thelen make use of an understanding of an overall system and the interaction of the parts is taken into consideration (Savelsbergh, 2005, p. 244). It has been argued by Thelen that the development of mind cannot take place in the absence of life experiences and body. Her research clearly showed that the walking and steeping reflexes in the children ward off as they gain weight but if these infants are placed in the water, the stepping and walking reflexes are restored.

Before the revolutionary work of Thelen surfaced, the terms of stages and phases was used by the conventional scientists. They used to believe that behaviors of the children and infants are more dependent on the maturity of parts of the brain.

But the studies conducted by Thelen showed that the behavioral development and the reflex development in the children and infants is more dependent on a number of factors that include an exposure of the environment as well as the physical changes that take place in the bodies of the children. Major stress was given by Thelen on the physical therapies for the babies rather the physical therapies that tragedy children of specific ages.

From here, it can be seen that behaviors and experiences have great effect on the reflexes (Thelen, and Fisher, 1982, p. 770). It is important to highlight that motor development also depends on physical situation. A number of researches and studies have shown that physical stimulation has important roles to play in motor development in infants and children. Infants deprived of physical stimulation exhibit delayed motor responses. The current research has also shown that training children suffering from Down's syndrome can help children in learning steeping and walking in an efficient manner.

In these cases, one of the most important models that have been developed to study motor development is the behavioral development model. The main techniques used in the model include the use of operant dependent feedback in order to make sure that proper development can take place. These techniques that prefer the measurement of psychological changes have been used to treat children suffering from spalsy as well as spinal injuries.

Research conducted by Brucker has shown that the operant-based biofeedback mechanisms can help in making use of the remaining living stem cells from the nervous system of the children suffering from brain injuries or birth complications. One of the main facts that need to be highlighted in these cases is that the methods are not very strong and fail to produce stronger results but these methods can help in enhancing behavioral functioning (Miller, & Brucker, 1981, p. 356). Solutions for Disabled Children Behavior analytic theory was developed by Ferester in 1961.

Ferseter concluded autism is the result of the interactions that take place between the children and their parents. There are a variety of contingencies between parents and children that can help children suffering from autism. Behavioral incompatible theory was developed by Tutor and Drash in 1993.

The research conducted in this case has helped in the identification of more than sex contingency-based paradigms that can help children with autism, it was reported that the paradigms may play important roles in the development of avoidance-based responses and these can help in the development of repertoire of behaviors that can be incompatible with age related verbal behaviors. There are a number of neurological and sensory models that can play roles in producing more autistic repertoire.

The studies have shown that there is an incompatibility between the nervous systems and the environments of children with autism. Ghezzi and Bijou in 1999 introduced behavioral interference theory. Motor behavior is important as the infants can gain more knowledge about the environment as it can be seen that with the help of making movements, touching and walking they can feel the environment that surrounds them. Practical Implications Rhythmical stereotypes are one of the most important concepts highlighted by Thelen in 1979 (Savelsbergh, 2005, p. 248).

Four main categories of these stereotypies as mentioned by Thelen include movement of the torso, movement of the legs, movement of the arms and hands, and movement of the head and face. In her studies some of the most common kinds of stereotypies were leg kicks, foot rubs, head banging with a soft object. These movements are observed in all healthy infants and these have been termed as maturational.

Developmental trends as highlighted by Thelen show that these movements are seen between 24 and 43 months of growth start which thee start to decline (Schlinger,.