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Development of ideomotor praxis representation
Author(s) -
Njiokiktjien C,
Verschoor C A,
Vranken M,
Vroklage L M
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
developmental medicine and child neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.658
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1469-8749
pISSN - 0012-1622
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8749.2000.tb00081.x
Subject(s) - representation (politics) , praxis , object (grammar) , gesture , psychology , cognitive psychology , action (physics) , the imaginary , developmental psychology , computer science , artificial intelligence , psychotherapist , epistemology , political science , philosophy , politics , law , physics , quantum mechanics
To create a short screening instrument to investigate the development of ideomotor praxis representation (IPR), 357 normally developing children between the ages of 21/2 and 91/2 years were investigated. The IPR screening consisted of six mimed actions which had to be performed on verbal request. The greatest change in the representational style is the transition from performing the action using the body as the object to performing with an imaginary object (i.e. symbolic representation). This transition suggests a development from a concrete and egocentric level of performance to an abstract and allocentric level. Before the age of 6 years differences are evident between self‐directed and externally directed gestures. The level of symbolic representation has to be dissociated from the degree of motor precision, which shows hardly any improvement after 6 years of age. With the proposed model one may interpret the level of IPR in clinical practice. IPR screening is clinically relevant from the age of 41/2 years onwards.