Page 26 - Biblical Counseling II

Motor Development is physical coordination enabled by the developing brain. As an infant’s muscles and
nervous system mature, more complicated skills emerge. With occasional exceptions, the sequence of
physical (motor) development is universal. Babies roll over before they sit unsupported, and they usually
crawl on all fours before they walk. These behaviors reflect not imitation but a maturing nervous system;
blind children, too, crawl before they walk.

Genes play a major role in motor development. Identical twins typically begin sitting up and walking on
nearly the same day. Maturation – including the rapid development of the cerebellum at the back of the
brain – creates our readiness to learn to walk at about age 1. Experience before that time has a limited
effect. Look at the above chart of early childhood development milestones. Every child develops differently,
but this chart is a guide to development.

Maturation and Infant Memory: Our earliest memories seldom come before our third birthday. By 4 to 5
years, childhood “amnesia” is giving way to remembered experiences.
Reflection: What is your earliest memory? Write about it below. These memories are usually associated with
strong emotions like happiness, sadness, fear, or excitement.

Social Development

How do parent-infant attachment bonds form?
“From birth, babies in all cultures are social creatures, developing an intense bond with their caregivers.
Infants come to prefer familiar faces and voices, then to coo when given their mother’s or father’s attention.
Soon after object permanence emerges and children become mobile, a curious thing happens. Object
permanence is the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived. At about 8 months,
they develop stranger anxiety, which is the fear of strangers that infants commonly display around 8 months.
They may greet strangers by crying and reaching for familiar caregivers. “No! Don’t leave me!” their distress
seems to say. At about this age, children create schemas of familiar faces. A schema is a cognitive framework
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