The Contribution of Early Experience to the Development of Movement Attitudes [microform] / Ruth Formanek

The author briefly surveys early psychomotor development in children, the process of separation-individualization during the first three years of life, and the effect that early experience may have on subsequent actual physical movement. The studies of Jean Piaget and Margaret Mahler provide a framework for examining the notions of space experienced in the first one and one-half years of life, durinq which time the infant learns to move, but remains unaware of his capacity to move. Attachment to the mother and the support drawn from this attachment by the child are discussed. Early experience with walking, during the ten-to-fifteen-month period is examined. The contributions of early experience and parental attitudes toward actual physical movement are discussed. Problems of the movement-phobic child are described. Implications for the teaching of physical education are noted. (MJB)