The Development of Timing Control and Temporal Organization in Coordinated Action
The Development of Timing Control and Temporal Organization in Coordinated Action

Author: J. Fagard

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 1991-09-30

Total Pages: 415

ISBN-13: 0080867359

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This volume examines the development of timing in coordinated action from several different ontogenetic perspectives. Some chapters emphasize the qualitative changes in manifest motor behavior during the early growth years and examine the relation between temporal characteristics of pre- and perinatal movements and goal directed actions with qualitatively different rules of temporal organization. Other contributors stress the developmentally invariant timing characteristics of species-typical and perhaps genetically programmed motor patterns of nonhuman organisms.Also examined is the molecular machinery that generates circumscribed motor patterns with stable temporal characteristics, as well as the reversible influences of peripheral feedback on and the interactions among discrete pattern generators. Despite their basic theoretical differences, both formulations imply the same generic hypothesis: that the temporal characteristics of manifest movement or action are controlled by central agencies acting on the peripheral skeleto-muscular system in a hierarchic top-down mode.

Emergent Forms
Emergent Forms

Author: Eugene C. Goldfield

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 1995-05-11

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 019535737X

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While it is often assumed that behavioral development must be based upon both physical law and the biological principles of morphogenesis and selection, forging a link between these phenomena has remained an elusive goal. Now in Emergent Forms, psychologist Eugene C. Goldfield offers an exciting new theoretical framework--based, in part, on the concept of self-organization--that promises to aid researchers in their quest to discover the underlying origins and processes of behavioral development. Addressing the question of how familiar human functional acts--such as eating, walking, manipulating objects, and smiling--emerge during infancy, Goldfield proposes that during perceptually guided spontaneous activity a variety of biodynamic devices for doing different kinds of work are assembled and adapted to specific tasks. Throughout, the theory is examined in the context of development, and extended to atypical development and other domains, such as cognition and language. The author also addresses many long-standing issues in behavioral development, including the apparent disappearance of so-called primitive behaviors, the emergence of new skills, and the role of the caregiver in skill acquisition. The author concludes his work by discussing how the implications of this research can be applied to understanding abnormal development in children who are motor impaired. Interdisciplinary in scope and accessible to a broad range of readers, Emergent Forms will fascinate students and researchers of ecological, developmental, evolutionary, and cognitive psychology.

Studies in Perception and Action II
Studies in Perception and Action II

Author: S. Stavros Valenti

Publisher: Psychology Press

Published: 2013-11-19

Total Pages: 413

ISBN-13: 1317759745

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This volume offers a comprehensive view of posters presented at the VIIth International Conference on Event Perception and Action. Arranged in order of appearance of their corresponding symposia on the conference program, this collection of 80 miniature articles on event perception and action represents the work of 136 researchers from 13 countries.

A Dynamic Systems Approach to the Development of Cognition and Action
A Dynamic Systems Approach to the Development of Cognition and Action

Author: Esther Thelen

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 414

ISBN-13: 9780262700597

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A Dynamic Systems Approach to the Development of Cognition and Action presents a comprehensive and detailed theory of early human development based on the principles of dynamic systems theory. Beginning with their own research in motor, perceptual, and cognitive development, Thelen and Smith raise fundamental questions about prevailing assumptions in the field. They propose a new theory of the development of cognition and action, unifying recent advances in dynamic systems theory with current research in neuroscience and neural development. In particular, they show how by processes of exploration and selection, multimodal experiences form the bases for self-organizing perception-action categories. Thelen and Smith offer a radical alternative to current cognitive theory, both in their emphasis on dynamic representation and in their focus on processes of change. Among the first attempt to apply complexity theory to psychology, they suggest reinterpretations of several classic issues in early cognitive development. The book is divided into three sections. The first discusses the nature of developmental processes in general terms, the second covers dynamic principles in process and mechanism, and the third looks at how a dynamic theory can be applied to enduring puzzles of development. Cognitive Psychology series

Introduction to Kinesiology
Introduction to Kinesiology

Author: Duane V. Knudson

Publisher: Human Kinetics

Published: 2021-10-26

Total Pages: 482

ISBN-13: 1718202733

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"Introduction to Kinesiology: Studying Physical Activity, Sixth Edition, gives students a complete overview of the field of kinesiology and explores the common career paths, questions, and ideas that are part of this discipline. The text stimulates curiosity about the field of kinesiology, gives insight into the subdisciplines of the field, and generates awareness of the current issues that kinesiology professionals seek to understand and solve"--

The Development of Coordination in Infancy
The Development of Coordination in Infancy

Author: G.J.P. Savelsbergh

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 1993-03-12

Total Pages: 563

ISBN-13: 0080867510

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This volume attempts to bring together a collection of current approaches to, and related empirical investigations on, the development of coordination in the first two years of life. It will be of interest to scientists and students in, for example, biology, human movement sciences, kinesiology, psychology, pediatrics, physiology, physical education, physical therapy and robotics.Contributors include those with established reputations in the field, as well as young authors, who are beginning to make their mark. Their efforts resulted in twenty chapters, of which seventeen were invited. The chapters have been divided into four sections. The first chapter is intended to outline the structure of the book.

Motor Control and Sensory-Motor Integration
Motor Control and Sensory-Motor Integration

Author: D.J. Glencross

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 1995-11-02

Total Pages: 462

ISBN-13: 0080537006

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This volume evolved from a workshop which addressed the general area of motor control, and the broader problems of serial organisation and sensory-motor integration of human skills. A number of specific issues are highlighted, including the neural mechanisms and disabilities of sensory-motor integration, planning and programming of action, the dynamics of interlimb coordination, amendment and updating mechanisms, and in particular, perception-action coupling and the representation of action. Underlying much of the volume are the major theoretical issues which include the debate between computational and prescriptive approaches versus the emergent properties and system dynamics approaches. The book represents a diverse approach from such disciplines as psychology, electrical and mechanical engineering, human movement studies, physiotherapy, neurology, and kinesiology.

Theories of Infant Development
Theories of Infant Development

Author: J. Gavin Bremner

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2008-04-15

Total Pages: 400

ISBN-13: 0470752173

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This volume provides an authoritative survey of all the major theories of infant development. An authoritative survey of major theoretical issues in infant development. Written by leading scholars in the field of infancy. Each chapter either presents a distinct theoretical approach to infant development or reviews contrasting theories in a specific subfield. Pays particular attention to current theoretical controversies. Contributors include Eugene Goldfield, Andy Meltzoff, Marinus van Ijzendoorn, Mark Johnson and Annette Karmiloff-Smith, among others.

Applications of Nonlinear Dynamics To Developmental Process Modeling
Applications of Nonlinear Dynamics To Developmental Process Modeling

Author: Karl M. Newell

Publisher: Psychology Press

Published: 2014-03-05

Total Pages: 365

ISBN-13: 1317779118

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There has been an increasing interest in the application of dynamical systems to the study of development over the last decade. The explosion of the dynamical systems framework in the physical and biological sciences has opened the door to a new Zeitgeist for studying development. This appeal to dynamical systems by developmentalists is natural given the intuitive links between the established fundamental problems of development and the conceptual and operational scope of nonlinear dynamical systems. This promise of a new approach and framework within which to study development has led to some progress in recent years but also a growing appreciation of the difficulty of both fully examining the new metaphor and realizing its potential. Divided into 4 parts, this book is a result of a recent conference on dynamical systems and development held at Pennsylvania State University. The first 3 parts focus on the content domains of development that have given most theoretical and empirical attention to the potential applications of dynamical systems--physical growth and movement, cognition, and communication. These parts show that a range of nonlinear models have been applied to a host of developmental phenomena. Part 4 highlights two particular methodological issues that hold important implications for the modeling of developmental phenomena with dynamical systems techniques.