The ability to move from one place to another also ha-social implications. For one thing, crawling babies seem t< be better able to differentiate themselves from the rest of th< world; as Jason moves about in space, he sees that the pe< -pie and objects around him look different depending c how near or far they are. For another, being able to gi-' around means that children can produce various effects o-their world. They are no longer kept "prisoner" in a partic ular location. A baby who wants to be close to his or he-mother and far away from a strange dog can now mo\< toward

the one and away from the other. This is an impcr tant step in developing mastery over the world, which enhances self-confidence and self-esteem.
Jason's new abilities get him into new situations, anc he learns to look for clues to whether an ambiguous situation is secure or dangerous, showing growth in a ski known as social referencing.

Crawling babies look at—o-socially reference—their mothers more than babies wh( have not yet begun to crawl, apparently to try to pick u; emotional signals from their mothers' faces or gesture-which in turn influence the babies' behavior (Garland 1982). Social referencing is discussed further in Chapter 7

We see, then, how a single milestone of physical development, learning to crawl, may have far-reaching effect-in helping babies see their world and themselves in a new way.

INFANCY AND TODDLERHOOD
everything will support his weight), he can let go and stand alone. About 2 weeks before his first birthday, he is standing well by himself.
All these developments are milestones along the path to the most important motor achievement of infancy: walking. Vicky's first walking is done with support, holding on to Charles's hand or the couch or table. When there is nothing and no one to hold on to, she reverts to the security of crawling. A few days after ¦-he can stand unaided, she takes her first step, throws herself off balance, lets her well-padded seat hit the floor—and then stands up and tries again. Soon she 15 taking two steps at a time, then more; and soon after her first birthday she is walking well. She is now a bona

fide toddler.

During his second year, Jason is fascinated by climbing stairs, one at a time i he could crawl up before this—and fall down long before, and so his parents installed a baby gate and exercised constant vigilance). At first, he puts one foot after the other on the same step before going on to the next higher step, but later he alternates feet. Going down comes later. By age 3 he can balance briefly on one foot, and he is learning how to hop.

REPETITIVE PROCESSES IN MOTOR DEVELOPMENT
As children grow older, they become progressively better at all sorts of tasks. T. G. R. Bower (1976), however, has pointed out a few specific instances in which children display a particular ability at a very early age, after which they seem to lose it until regaining it at a later time. Walking is an example. At the age of 4 to 8 weeks, Vicky will make steplike motions that look like well-coordinated walking if she is held under her arms, with her bare feet touching a flat surface; this is known as the walking reflex. After 8 weeks, though, she loses this reflex and will not walk at all for about a

year.

The same thing seems to happen with regard to reaching out for objects that are seen or heard. In the first few weeks of life, Jason will reach out, but at about the age of 4 weeks, eye-hand coordination—that is, the ability to reach out and grasp objects that one can see—disappears, not to reappear till the age of 20 weeks. And at the age of 5 or 6 months, ear-hand coordination—that is, the ability to reach out and grasp objects that can be heard but not seen—disappears.

T. G. R. Bower believes that the various phases of development are related and that the early appearance of some of these abilities is important in a child's use of them later on. He also believes that the reason such abilities disappear is that they are not exercised. To test this hypothesis, he provided practice for some infants in some abilities. The results were mixed. Babies who were given practice in eye-hand coordination in their first 4 weeks showed an earlier reappearance of the ability later on, and indeed, some of the babies never lost the ability to reach. However, the babies who practiced ear-hand coordination the most seemed to lose the ability quicker and to regain it later than the babies who did not practice (T. G. R. Bower, 1976).
Experiments like these raise ethical questions about providing artificial practice, especially since normal development seems to be retarded in some cases. Furthermore, we do not know the long-term effects of artificially induced precocious development. The concepts are intriguing, but their practical effects are questionable.

AR OUND THE  WORLD
HOW UNIVERSAL IS "NORMAL" DEVELOPMENT?
The milestones Vicky and Jason pass in their motor development would seem so basic that babies in all cultures could be expected to pass them in the same sequence and at about the same time.

But babies in different societies develop along somewhat different patterns. What is normal and typical for children in one culture may not be so in another.
This holds true even for such basic behaviors as reflexes, as we saw in Box 2-5 in Chapter 2 (D. G. Freedman, 1979). In addition, black African babies tend to be more advanced than white infants in gross motor skills like standing and walking, and Asian infants are apt to show slower development in these areas. Some of these differences may be related to temperament. Asian babies, for example, tend to be more docile, a trait which may explain why they show a calmer response when a cloth is pressed to the nose (as described in Box 2-5)—and which may also make them less

likely to explore and move away from their parents (Kaplan & Dove, 1987).