Global-local processing in preschool children.

The tendency of young children to attend to global and/or local levels of hierarchically structured patterns was examined using an orientation judgment task. 3- and 4-year-old children and adults were asked to judge which way an equilateral triangle was pointing under different contextual conditions. In Experiment 1, contextual variations included overall pattern orientation, configuration alignment type, presence or absence of an immediate frame of reference, and type of local element context. The results showed that, contrary to previous reports in the literature, young children, like adults, attend to both global and local levels of a pattern. Both pattern orientation and the introduction of contextual cues affected children's judgments, and the magnitude of that effect varied with the particular contextual cue present in the stimulus array. In Experiment 2, contextual variations included overall pattern orientation and presence or absence of an internal local level element. Consistent with the results of Experiment 1, young children's orientation judgements were influenced by the addition of local level factors.

Spinal mobility in young children. A normative study.

The purpose of this study was to collect values of back mobility on healthy children between the ages of 5 and 9 years. Normative values of back mobility have not been established for children under 10 years of age. Measurements of anterior and lateral spinal flexion were obtained from 282 children, using a standard flexion measurement procedure. Intraclass correlation estimates of reliability ranged from .77 to .89, indicating acceptable agreement and stability across and within raters. Girls demonstrated greater mobility than boys in all three measurements. Post hoc trend analyses revealed consistent increases in left and right lateral flexion with increasing age. No linear trend existed for anterior flexion. Using these data, we developed normative values of back mobility for each sex and age grouping. These measures of back mobility will provide the clinician with an empirically validated comparison to help identify early restrictions in back mobility in children with juvenile arthritis and other pediatric populations who are at risk for restrictions in back mobility. Early identification may lead to better prevention and more timely and effective treatment programs.

Reliability of observational measures of the Movement Assessment of Infants.

This study was conducted to examine the reliability of the Movement Assessment of Infants (MAI), a recently published neuromotor assessment tool. Interobserver and test-retest reliability data were collected on 27 full-term and 26 preterm 4-month-old infants. Reliability coefficients (Pearson r) were calculated for both the total-risk scores and the section-risk scores on the MAI. The total-risk score was calculated by summing the questionable or abnormal ratings on each of the 65 test items. For each of the four sections of the test, tone, primitive reflexes, automatic reactions, and volitional movement, an individual section-risk score was computed in a similar manner. Fair reliability was demonstrated for the total-risk scores (interobserver: r = .72; test-retest: r = .76). Section-risk score coefficients yielded a wide range of values for both interobserver and test-retest reliabilities (poor to good reliability). These measures provide needed technical data for therapists using this test and will assist the authors of the MAI in their attempts to improve the clinical validity of this assessment tool.

Infant walkers and cerebral palsy.

We studied a 1-year-old infant with spastic cerebral palsy in its early stage. An infant walker was used by the mother to amuse the infant, but the walker was observed to produce a positive support reflex, perpetuating a primitive reflex that should fade during the first year of life. The walker also prevented the infant from practicing equilibrium reactions and protective responses that should be developing during this age. Positions assumed by the infant in the walker contribute to the development of common adverse sequelae of spastic cerebral palsy: heel cord contractures, sublocations and dislocations of the hips, and pronation contractures of the upper extremities.