‘Crawling triggers development’

Press, 7 December 1988, Page 18

‘Crawling triggers development’

NZPA-AP Portland, Oregon The eight-month-old was not fooled when the stopwatch that had looked so interesting was covered with a cloth — he yanked the cloth away. But research underway around the United States suggests the infant might not have been so discerning if he had not yet begun to crawl. Parents know that children experience all kinds of new things once they begin to crawl — the taste of the cat’s food, the allure of their sister’s room.

But psychologists say crawling also seems to

trigger a variety of developmental milestones babies reach between the ages of six and nine months. They learn that toys still exist even when hidden, heights can be dangerous and objects exist that have nothing to do with themselves.

Psychologists have attributed such advances to maturation of the nervous system. But the new research is finding that developmental changes do not occur before babies are mobile, even if crawling is delayed several months.

“It’s nothing short of a psychological revolution,”

said Rosanne Kermoian, assistant professor of psychology at Reed College. “We’re finding that not only are the changes very dramatic, they’re also very broad. “We think it’s not crawling itself ... but the experiences that are associated with crawling. They have to pay attention to where they are located in space so when they go room to room they don’t get lost.” The research also has implications for babies delayed in crawling by handicaps or injuries, Rosanne Kermoian said. They do not display the

developmental changes until they begin to crawl, even if that occurs several months later than average - The research shows that crawling also seems to trigger babies’ understanding that they aren’t the centre of the universe, she said. “What we find is that as children gain experience crawling, they understand better what the mother is communicating about other things that are going on in the world. That’s a huge change. If a mother points, the child looks to the event... Rosanne Kermoian said.