Showing posts with label sara june. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sara june. Show all posts
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Attachment Theory & Artificial Cognitive Systems : sara june
Fri Dec 03, 2010
I have been creating performance works that utilize the PLEO as a proximal, very primitive, engineered artificial attachment system. An article written by researcher Dean Petters of Aston University that I have linked to below, beautifully summarizes the inter-connections between ethological research on imprinting, psycho-analytic and neurobiological theories of human attachment, and modern construction of AI systems. In my next work, I am endeavoring to unpack and explore more of the 'guts' of these connections through my PLEO series. http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~ddp/ArtificialAttachment_EUCognitionBriefing.pdf
ICHTHYORNIS - Prehistoric Bird : sara june
Sun Nov 28, 2010
Ichthyornis,a prehistoric bird (group: theropods), was, in appearance, similar to the modern gull; it had webbed feet for swimming, and a long beak for fishing. However, unlike modern birds, Ichthyornis had many small, smooth, and strongly curved teeth.
Modern bird species are currently thought to be the descendants of dinosaurs. Ichthyornis is thought to partially bridge the gap between Archaeopteryx (a dinosaur) and modern birds. Ichthyornis lineage perished in the cretaceous mass extinction 65 million years ago.
See a Fossil Image Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ichthyornis_yale.JPG
Ichthyornis,a prehistoric bird (group: theropods), was, in appearance, similar to the modern gull; it had webbed feet for swimming, and a long beak for fishing. However, unlike modern birds, Ichthyornis had many small, smooth, and strongly curved teeth.
Modern bird species are currently thought to be the descendants of dinosaurs. Ichthyornis is thought to partially bridge the gap between Archaeopteryx (a dinosaur) and modern birds. Ichthyornis lineage perished in the cretaceous mass extinction 65 million years ago.
See a Fossil Image Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ichthyornis_yale.JPG
Comments
I caught your performance in NY
this weekend, and really loved it. was glad to hear that you were
also based in Boston. if you have an email list, please put me on it,
i'd love to see some more of your work.
- Ian
- Ian
Extincting the Attachment Response : sara june
Fri Nov 26, 2010
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mobiusorg/5214988913/
The following is an excerpt from a paper on attachment behaviors in one-year-old human infants by Ainsworth and Bell.
Proximity and interaction-avoiding behavior in relation to the mother is shown in striking form by some young children upon reunion after separations lasting for weeks or months. Robertson and Bowlby (1952) and Heinicke and Westheimer (1965) report that some children do not seem to recognize their mothers upon reunion, and that for a longer or shorter time they remain distant from her and treat her like a stranger.
Bowlby (1960) has termed this kind of distanciation "detachment." During a prolonged separation, detachment tends to succeed protest and despair reactions, and after reunion it may persist for a long time-even in-definitely in cases in which separations have been very long and depriving. Such behavior has not yet been reported in nonhuman primates-perhaps because their experimental separations have been brief, perhaps because of species differences. Avoidance responses of the kind observed in the strange situation in relation to the mother-looking away, turning away-may be detachment in the making and so constitute a primitive kind of defense. The constellation of individual differences in the strange-situation sample supports this hypothesis, although it is impossible here to present detailed evidence.
It may be pertinent, however, to refer to a similar looking-away response found in two experiments on the conditioning and extinction of attachment behaviors. Brackbill (1958) worked with the smiling response. During the conditioning period she provided contingent reinforcement for smiling by responding socially to the baby each time he smiled-and smiling increased in frequency. During the extinction period she met the baby's smile with an impassive face. Not only did the frequency of smiling decrease, but when the experimenter failed to respond to a smile, the baby fussed and looked away. It became increasingly difficult to catch the baby's eye. He looked away from the person who had previously rein-forced his attachment behavior but who no longer did so. Similar results are reported for an experiment on babbling by Rheingold, Gewirtz, and Ross (1959). These findings highlight the fact that in extinction-as indeed learning theorists have often themselves emphasized-there is an active process of blocking the response by another, antithetical behavior, rather than or in addition to the weakening of the strength of smiling (or babbling) be-havior itself. This suggests that detached behavior may consist of responses, incompatible with attachment behavior, which have, often temporarily, gained the greater strength.
Mary D. Salter Ainsworth & Silvia M. Bell. (1970). Attachment, Exploration, and Separation: Illustrated by the Behavior of One-Year-Olds in a Strange Situation. Child Development, Vol. 41, No. 1. pp. 49-67
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mobiusorg/5214988913/
The following is an excerpt from a paper on attachment behaviors in one-year-old human infants by Ainsworth and Bell.
Proximity and interaction-avoiding behavior in relation to the mother is shown in striking form by some young children upon reunion after separations lasting for weeks or months. Robertson and Bowlby (1952) and Heinicke and Westheimer (1965) report that some children do not seem to recognize their mothers upon reunion, and that for a longer or shorter time they remain distant from her and treat her like a stranger.
Bowlby (1960) has termed this kind of distanciation "detachment." During a prolonged separation, detachment tends to succeed protest and despair reactions, and after reunion it may persist for a long time-even in-definitely in cases in which separations have been very long and depriving. Such behavior has not yet been reported in nonhuman primates-perhaps because their experimental separations have been brief, perhaps because of species differences. Avoidance responses of the kind observed in the strange situation in relation to the mother-looking away, turning away-may be detachment in the making and so constitute a primitive kind of defense. The constellation of individual differences in the strange-situation sample supports this hypothesis, although it is impossible here to present detailed evidence.
It may be pertinent, however, to refer to a similar looking-away response found in two experiments on the conditioning and extinction of attachment behaviors. Brackbill (1958) worked with the smiling response. During the conditioning period she provided contingent reinforcement for smiling by responding socially to the baby each time he smiled-and smiling increased in frequency. During the extinction period she met the baby's smile with an impassive face. Not only did the frequency of smiling decrease, but when the experimenter failed to respond to a smile, the baby fussed and looked away. It became increasingly difficult to catch the baby's eye. He looked away from the person who had previously rein-forced his attachment behavior but who no longer did so. Similar results are reported for an experiment on babbling by Rheingold, Gewirtz, and Ross (1959). These findings highlight the fact that in extinction-as indeed learning theorists have often themselves emphasized-there is an active process of blocking the response by another, antithetical behavior, rather than or in addition to the weakening of the strength of smiling (or babbling) be-havior itself. This suggests that detached behavior may consist of responses, incompatible with attachment behavior, which have, often temporarily, gained the greater strength.
Mary D. Salter Ainsworth & Silvia M. Bell. (1970). Attachment, Exploration, and Separation: Illustrated by the Behavior of One-Year-Olds in a Strange Situation. Child Development, Vol. 41, No. 1. pp. 49-67
These are no longer with you : sara june
Fri Nov 26, 2010
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EXTINCT - Bird Species of the Modern Era IV : sara june
Fri Nov 26, 2010
White-eyed River Martin, Pseudochelidon sirintarae (Thailand), Red Sea Swallow, Petrochelidon perdita (Red Sea area), Moorea Reed-warbler, Acrocephalus longirostris (Moorea, Society Islands), Rueck's Blue Flycatcher, Cyornis ruckii (Malaysia or Indochina), Chatham Islands Fernbird, Bowdleria rufescens (Chatham Islands, New Zealand), Tana River Cisticola, Cisticola restrictus (Kenya), Lord Howe White-eye, Zosterops strenuus (Lord Howe Island, Southwest Pacific),Black-browed Babbler, Malacocincla perspicillata (Borneo, Indonesia), Rodrigues Bulbul, Hypsipetes sp. (Rodrigues, Mascarenes), Aldabra Brush-warbler, Nesillas aldabrana (Aldabra, Indian Ocean), Rodrigues "Babbler" (Rodrigues, Mascarenes), Kosrae Island Starling, Aplonis corvina (Kosrae, Carolines), Mysterious Starling, Aplonis mavornata (Mauke, Cook Islands), Tasman Starling, Aplonis fusca (Norfolk Island & Lord Howe Island, Southwest Pacific), Pohnpei Starling, Aplonis pelzelni (Pohnpei, Micronesia), Bay Starling, Aplonis? ulietensis (Raiatea, Society Islands), Bourbon Crested Starling, Fregilupus varius (Réunion, Mascarenes), Rodrigues Starling, Necropsar rodericanus (Rodrigues, Mascarenes), Grand Cayman Thrush, Turdus ravidus (Grand Cayman, West Indies), Bonin Thrush, Zoothera terrestris (Chichi-jima, Ogasawara Islands), Āmaui, Myadestes woahensis (Oahu, Hawaiian Islands), Kāmao, Myadestes myadestinus (Kauai, Hawaiian Islands), Olomao, Myadestes lanaiensis (Hawaiian Islands), Cozumel Thrasher, Toxostoma guttatum (Cozumel, Caribbean), Black-lored Waxbill, Estrilda nigriloris (D.R. Congo, Africa), Slender-billed Grackle, Quiscalus palustris (Mexico), Bachman's Warbler, Vermivora bachmanii (Southern USA), Semper's Warbler, Leucopeza semperi (Saint Lucia, Caribbean), Réunion Fody, Foudia delloni (???), Tawny-headed Mountain Finch, Leucosticte sillemi (Xinjiang, China), Bonin Grosbeak, Chaunoproctus ferreorostris (Chichi-jima, Ogasawara Islands), Ōū, Psittirostra psittacea (Hawaiian Islands), Lanai Hookbill, Dysmorodrepanis munroi (Lanai, Hawaiian Islands), Pila's Palila, Loxioides kikuichi (Kauai, Hawaiian Islands), Lesser Koa Finch, Rhodacanthus flaviceps (Big Island, Hawaiian Islands),Greater Koa Finch, Rhodacanthus palmeri (Big Island, Hawaiian Islands), Kona Grosbeak, Psittirostra kona (Big Island, Hawaiian Islands), Greater Amakihi, Hemignathus sagittirostris (Big Island, Hawaiian Islands), Nukupuu, Hemignathus lucidus (Hawaiian Islands), Hawaii Akialoa or Lesser Akialoa, Hemignathus obscurus (Big Island, Greater Akialoa, Hemignathus ellisianus (Kauai, Oahu, Lanai and prehistorically probably Maui and Molokai, Hawaiian Islands), Kakawahie, Paroreomyza flammea (Molokai, Hawaiian Islands), Oahu Alauahio, Paroreomyza maculata (Oahu, Hawaiian Islands), Ula-ai-hawane, Ciridops anna (Big Island, Hawaiian Islands), Black Mamo, Drepanis funerea (Molokai, Hawaiian Islands) Hawaii Mamo, Drepanis pacifica (Big Island, Hawaiian Islands), Poo-uli, Melamprosops phaeosoma (Maui, Hawaiian Islands), Hooded Seedeater, Sporophila melanops (Brazil), Antioquia Brush-finch, Atlapetes blancae (Antioquia, Colombia)
White-eyed River Martin, Pseudochelidon sirintarae (Thailand), Red Sea Swallow, Petrochelidon perdita (Red Sea area), Moorea Reed-warbler, Acrocephalus longirostris (Moorea, Society Islands), Rueck's Blue Flycatcher, Cyornis ruckii (Malaysia or Indochina), Chatham Islands Fernbird, Bowdleria rufescens (Chatham Islands, New Zealand), Tana River Cisticola, Cisticola restrictus (Kenya), Lord Howe White-eye, Zosterops strenuus (Lord Howe Island, Southwest Pacific),Black-browed Babbler, Malacocincla perspicillata (Borneo, Indonesia), Rodrigues Bulbul, Hypsipetes sp. (Rodrigues, Mascarenes), Aldabra Brush-warbler, Nesillas aldabrana (Aldabra, Indian Ocean), Rodrigues "Babbler" (Rodrigues, Mascarenes), Kosrae Island Starling, Aplonis corvina (Kosrae, Carolines), Mysterious Starling, Aplonis mavornata (Mauke, Cook Islands), Tasman Starling, Aplonis fusca (Norfolk Island & Lord Howe Island, Southwest Pacific), Pohnpei Starling, Aplonis pelzelni (Pohnpei, Micronesia), Bay Starling, Aplonis? ulietensis (Raiatea, Society Islands), Bourbon Crested Starling, Fregilupus varius (Réunion, Mascarenes), Rodrigues Starling, Necropsar rodericanus (Rodrigues, Mascarenes), Grand Cayman Thrush, Turdus ravidus (Grand Cayman, West Indies), Bonin Thrush, Zoothera terrestris (Chichi-jima, Ogasawara Islands), Āmaui, Myadestes woahensis (Oahu, Hawaiian Islands), Kāmao, Myadestes myadestinus (Kauai, Hawaiian Islands), Olomao, Myadestes lanaiensis (Hawaiian Islands), Cozumel Thrasher, Toxostoma guttatum (Cozumel, Caribbean), Black-lored Waxbill, Estrilda nigriloris (D.R. Congo, Africa), Slender-billed Grackle, Quiscalus palustris (Mexico), Bachman's Warbler, Vermivora bachmanii (Southern USA), Semper's Warbler, Leucopeza semperi (Saint Lucia, Caribbean), Réunion Fody, Foudia delloni (???), Tawny-headed Mountain Finch, Leucosticte sillemi (Xinjiang, China), Bonin Grosbeak, Chaunoproctus ferreorostris (Chichi-jima, Ogasawara Islands), Ōū, Psittirostra psittacea (Hawaiian Islands), Lanai Hookbill, Dysmorodrepanis munroi (Lanai, Hawaiian Islands), Pila's Palila, Loxioides kikuichi (Kauai, Hawaiian Islands), Lesser Koa Finch, Rhodacanthus flaviceps (Big Island, Hawaiian Islands),Greater Koa Finch, Rhodacanthus palmeri (Big Island, Hawaiian Islands), Kona Grosbeak, Psittirostra kona (Big Island, Hawaiian Islands), Greater Amakihi, Hemignathus sagittirostris (Big Island, Hawaiian Islands), Nukupuu, Hemignathus lucidus (Hawaiian Islands), Hawaii Akialoa or Lesser Akialoa, Hemignathus obscurus (Big Island, Greater Akialoa, Hemignathus ellisianus (Kauai, Oahu, Lanai and prehistorically probably Maui and Molokai, Hawaiian Islands), Kakawahie, Paroreomyza flammea (Molokai, Hawaiian Islands), Oahu Alauahio, Paroreomyza maculata (Oahu, Hawaiian Islands), Ula-ai-hawane, Ciridops anna (Big Island, Hawaiian Islands), Black Mamo, Drepanis funerea (Molokai, Hawaiian Islands) Hawaii Mamo, Drepanis pacifica (Big Island, Hawaiian Islands), Poo-uli, Melamprosops phaeosoma (Maui, Hawaiian Islands), Hooded Seedeater, Sporophila melanops (Brazil), Antioquia Brush-finch, Atlapetes blancae (Antioquia, Colombia)
EXTINCT - Bird Species of the Modern Era III : sara june
Fri Nov 26, 2010
Seychelles Parakeet, Psittacula wardi (Seychelles, West Indian Ocean), Newton's Parakeet, Psittacula exsul (Rodrigues, Mascarenes), Thirioux's Grey Parrot, Psittacula bensoni (Mauritius, possible Réunion as Psittacula cf bensoni), Mascarene Parrot, Mascarinus mascarinus (Réunion & possibly Mauritius, Mascarenes), Broad-billed Parrot, Lophopsittacus mauritianus (Mauritius, Mascarenes), Rodrigues Parrot, Necropsittacus rodericanus (Rodrigues, Mascarenes), Glaucous Macaw, Anodorhynchus glaucus (North Argentina), Carolina Parakeet, Conuropsis carolinensis (SE North America), Guadeloupe Parakeet, Aratinga labati (Guadeloupe, West Indies), Martinique Amazon, Amazona martinica (Martinique, West Indies), Guadeloupe Amazon, Amazona violacea (Guadeloupe, West Indies), Delalande's Coua, Coua delalandei (Madagascar), Saint Helena Cuckoo, Nannococcyx psix (Saint Helena, Atlantic), Guadalupe Caracara, Polyborus lutosus (Guadelupe, East Pacific), Réunion Owl, Mascarenotus grucheti (Réunion, Mascarenes), Mauritius Owl, Mascarenotus sauzieri (Mauritus, Mascarenes), Rodrigues Owl, Mascarenotus murivorus (Rodrigues, Mascarenes), New Caledonian Boobook, Ninox cf. novaeseelandiae (New Caledonia, Melanesia), Norfolk Island Boobook, Ninox novaeseelandiae undulata (Norfolk Island, Australasia),Laughing Owl, Sceloglaux albifacies (New Zealand), The Puerto Rican Barn-owl, Tyto cavatica, (Puerto Rico, West Indies), The Bahaman Barn-owl, Tyto pollens, Andros (Bahamas), Siau Scops-owl Otus siaoensis (???), Jamaican Pauraque, Siphonorhis americana (Jamaica, West Indies), Cuban Pauraque, Siphonorhis daiquiri (Cuba, West Indies), Vaurie's Nightjar (Caprimulgus centralasicus) (Xinjiang, China), Coppery Thorntail, Discosura letitiae (Bolivia), Brace's Emerald, Chlorostilbon bracei (New Providence, Bahamas), Gould's Emerald, Chlorostilbon elegans (Jamaica or northern Bahamas, West Indies Bogota Sunangel, Heliangelus zusii (Colombia), Turquoise-throated Puffleg, Eriocnemis godini (Ecuador), Ryūkyū Kingfisher, Todiramphus (cinnamominus) miyakoensis (Miyako-jima, Ryukyu Islands), Giant Hoopoe, Upupa antaois (Saint Helena, Atlantic), Imperial Woodpecker, Campephilus imperialis (Mexico), Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis principalis) (White River National Wildlife Refuge, Arkansas), The Cuban Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis bairdii) (Cuba),Stephens Island Wren, Xenicus lyalli (New Zealand) The species famously (but erroneously) claimed to have been made extinct by a single cat named "Tibbles". Bush Wren, Xenicus longipes (New Zealand), X. l. stokesi (North Island, extinct),X. l. longipes (South Island), X. l. variabilis (Stewart Island),Táchira Antpitta, Grallaria chthonia (Venezuela), Kioea, Chaetoptila angustipluma (Big Island, Hawaiian Islands, 1860s), Hawaii Ōahō, Moho nobilis (Big Island, Hawaiian Islands, 1930s), Oahu ʻŌʻō, Moho apicalis (Oʻahu, Hawaiian Islands), Molokaʻi ʻŌʻō, Moho bishopi (Molokaʻi and probably Maui, Hawaiian Islands), Kauaʻi ʻŌʻō, Moho braccatus (Kauaʻi, Hawaiian Islands), Chatham Island Bellbird, Anthornis melanocephala (Chatham Islands, Pacific), Lord Howe Gerygone, Gerygone insularis (Lord Howe Island, Southwest Pacific), Mangarevan Whistler, Pachycephala gambierana (Mangareva, Gambier Islands, late Maupiti Monarch, Pomarea pomarea (Maupiti, Society Islands) Eiao Monarch, Pomarea fluxa (Eiao, Marquesas), Nuku Hiva Monarch, Pomarea nukuhivae (Nuku Hiva, Marquesas), Ua Pou Monarch, Pomarea mira (Ua Pou, Marquesas), Guam Flycatcher, Myiagra freycineti (Guam, Marianas), Short-toed Nuthatch Vanga, Hypositta perdita (Madagascar), North Island Piopio, Turnagra tanagra (North Island, New Zealand), South Island Piopio, Turnagra capensis (South Island, New Zealand), Huia, Heteralocha acutirostris (North Island, New Zealand)
Seychelles Parakeet, Psittacula wardi (Seychelles, West Indian Ocean), Newton's Parakeet, Psittacula exsul (Rodrigues, Mascarenes), Thirioux's Grey Parrot, Psittacula bensoni (Mauritius, possible Réunion as Psittacula cf bensoni), Mascarene Parrot, Mascarinus mascarinus (Réunion & possibly Mauritius, Mascarenes), Broad-billed Parrot, Lophopsittacus mauritianus (Mauritius, Mascarenes), Rodrigues Parrot, Necropsittacus rodericanus (Rodrigues, Mascarenes), Glaucous Macaw, Anodorhynchus glaucus (North Argentina), Carolina Parakeet, Conuropsis carolinensis (SE North America), Guadeloupe Parakeet, Aratinga labati (Guadeloupe, West Indies), Martinique Amazon, Amazona martinica (Martinique, West Indies), Guadeloupe Amazon, Amazona violacea (Guadeloupe, West Indies), Delalande's Coua, Coua delalandei (Madagascar), Saint Helena Cuckoo, Nannococcyx psix (Saint Helena, Atlantic), Guadalupe Caracara, Polyborus lutosus (Guadelupe, East Pacific), Réunion Owl, Mascarenotus grucheti (Réunion, Mascarenes), Mauritius Owl, Mascarenotus sauzieri (Mauritus, Mascarenes), Rodrigues Owl, Mascarenotus murivorus (Rodrigues, Mascarenes), New Caledonian Boobook, Ninox cf. novaeseelandiae (New Caledonia, Melanesia), Norfolk Island Boobook, Ninox novaeseelandiae undulata (Norfolk Island, Australasia),Laughing Owl, Sceloglaux albifacies (New Zealand), The Puerto Rican Barn-owl, Tyto cavatica, (Puerto Rico, West Indies), The Bahaman Barn-owl, Tyto pollens, Andros (Bahamas), Siau Scops-owl Otus siaoensis (???), Jamaican Pauraque, Siphonorhis americana (Jamaica, West Indies), Cuban Pauraque, Siphonorhis daiquiri (Cuba, West Indies), Vaurie's Nightjar (Caprimulgus centralasicus) (Xinjiang, China), Coppery Thorntail, Discosura letitiae (Bolivia), Brace's Emerald, Chlorostilbon bracei (New Providence, Bahamas), Gould's Emerald, Chlorostilbon elegans (Jamaica or northern Bahamas, West Indies Bogota Sunangel, Heliangelus zusii (Colombia), Turquoise-throated Puffleg, Eriocnemis godini (Ecuador), Ryūkyū Kingfisher, Todiramphus (cinnamominus) miyakoensis (Miyako-jima, Ryukyu Islands), Giant Hoopoe, Upupa antaois (Saint Helena, Atlantic), Imperial Woodpecker, Campephilus imperialis (Mexico), Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis principalis) (White River National Wildlife Refuge, Arkansas), The Cuban Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis bairdii) (Cuba),Stephens Island Wren, Xenicus lyalli (New Zealand) The species famously (but erroneously) claimed to have been made extinct by a single cat named "Tibbles". Bush Wren, Xenicus longipes (New Zealand), X. l. stokesi (North Island, extinct),X. l. longipes (South Island), X. l. variabilis (Stewart Island),Táchira Antpitta, Grallaria chthonia (Venezuela), Kioea, Chaetoptila angustipluma (Big Island, Hawaiian Islands, 1860s), Hawaii Ōahō, Moho nobilis (Big Island, Hawaiian Islands, 1930s), Oahu ʻŌʻō, Moho apicalis (Oʻahu, Hawaiian Islands), Molokaʻi ʻŌʻō, Moho bishopi (Molokaʻi and probably Maui, Hawaiian Islands), Kauaʻi ʻŌʻō, Moho braccatus (Kauaʻi, Hawaiian Islands), Chatham Island Bellbird, Anthornis melanocephala (Chatham Islands, Pacific), Lord Howe Gerygone, Gerygone insularis (Lord Howe Island, Southwest Pacific), Mangarevan Whistler, Pachycephala gambierana (Mangareva, Gambier Islands, late Maupiti Monarch, Pomarea pomarea (Maupiti, Society Islands) Eiao Monarch, Pomarea fluxa (Eiao, Marquesas), Nuku Hiva Monarch, Pomarea nukuhivae (Nuku Hiva, Marquesas), Ua Pou Monarch, Pomarea mira (Ua Pou, Marquesas), Guam Flycatcher, Myiagra freycineti (Guam, Marianas), Short-toed Nuthatch Vanga, Hypositta perdita (Madagascar), North Island Piopio, Turnagra tanagra (North Island, New Zealand), South Island Piopio, Turnagra capensis (South Island, New Zealand), Huia, Heteralocha acutirostris (North Island, New Zealand)
EXTINCT - Bird Species of the Modern Era II : sara june
Fri Nov 26, 2010
Makira Wood Rail, Gallinula silvestris (Makira, Solomon Islands),Tristan Moorhen, Gallinula nesiotis (Tristan da Cunha, Atlantic), Mascarene Coot, Fulica newtoni (Mauritius and Réunion, Mascarenes), Fernando de Noronha Rail, Rallidae gen. et sp. indet. (Fernando de Noronha, W. Atlantic), Tahitian "Goose", Rallidae gen. et sp. indet. (Tahiti), Bokaak ‘Bustard,’ Rallidae? gen. et sp. indet. (Bokaak), Rallidae gen. et sp. Indet (Amsterdam Island), Colombian Grebe, Podiceps andinus (Bogotá area, Colombia), Alaotra Grebe, Tachybaptus rufolavatus (Lake Alaotra, Madagascar) Disappeared from only known location in the 1980s. Atitlán Grebe, Podilymbus gigas (Lake Atitlán, Guatemala), Painted Vulture, (Sarcorhamphus sacra) (Florida), Bermuda Night Heron, Nyctanassa carcinocatactes (Bermuda, West Atlantic), Réunion Night Heron, Nycticorax duboisi (Réunion, Mascarenes), Mauritius Night Heron, Nycticorax mauritianus (Mauritius, Mascarenes), Rodrigues Night Heron, Nycticorax megacephalus (Rodrigues, Mascarenes), Ascension Night Heron, Nycticorax olsoni (Ascension Island, Atlantic), New Zealand Little Bittern, Ixobrychus novaezelandiae (New Zealand), Réunion Sacred Ibis, Threskiornis solitarius (Réunion, Mascarenes), Spectacled Cormorant, Phalacrocorax perspicillatus (Komandorski Islands, North Pacific), Small Saint Helena Petrel, Bulweria bifax (Saint Helena, Atlantic), Bermuda Shearwater, Puffinus parvus (Bermuda, West Atlantic), Large Saint Helena Petrel, Pseudobulweria rupinarum (Saint Helena, Atlantic), Jamaica Petrel, Pterodroma caribbaea (Jamaica, Caribbean), Pterodroma cf. leucoptera (Mangareva, Gambier Islands), Guadalupe Storm-petrel, Oceanodroma macrodacyla (Guadalupe, East Pacific), Saint Helena Dove, Dysmoropelia dekarchiskos, (???), Passenger Pigeon, Ectopistes migratorius (Eastern North America, 1914). The passenger pigeon was once probably the most common bird in the world, a single flock numbering up to 2.2 billion birds. It was hunted close to extinction for food and sport in the late 19th century. The last individual died in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914. Bonin Woodpigeon, Columba versicolor (Nakodo-jima and Chichi-jima, Ogasawara Islands), Ryukyu Woodpigeon, Columba jouyi (Okinawa and Daito Islands, Northwest Pacific), Réunion Pink Pigeon, Nesoenas duboisi (Réunion, Mascarenes),Rodrigues Turtle-dove, Nesoenas rodericana (Rodrigues, Mascarenes), Liverpool Pigeon, "Caloenas" maculata (???)Sulu Bleeding-heart, Gallicolumba menagei (Tawitawi, Philippines, late 1990s?) Norfolk Island Ground-dove, Gallicolumba norfolciensis (Norfolk Island, Southwest Pacific), Tanna Ground-dove, Gallicolumba ferruginea (Tanna, Vanuatu), Thick-billed Ground-dove, Gallicolumba salamonis (Makira and Ramos, Solomon Islands), Declared extinct in 2005, Choiseul Crested Pigeon, Microgoura meeki (Choiseul, Solomon Islands), Red-moustached Fruit-dove, Ptilinopus mercierii (Nuku Hiva and Hiva Oa, Marquesas, mid-20th century), Two subspecies, the little-known P. m. mercierii (Nuku Hiva) and P. m. tristrami of (Hiva Oa), Negros Fruit-dove, Ptilinopus arcanus (Negros, Philippines), Mauritius Blue Pigeon, Alectroenas nitidissima (Mauritius, Mascarenes), Farquhar Blue Pigeon, Alectroenas sp. (Farquhar Group, Seychelles), Rodrigues Grey Pigeon, "Alectroenas" rodericana (Rodrigues, Mascarenes), Dodo, Raphus cucullatus (Mauritius, Mascarenes), Rodrigues Solitaire, Pezophaps solitaria (Rodrigues, Mascarenes), New Caledonian Lorikeet, Charmosyna diadema (New Caledonia, Melanesia), Norfolk Island Kākā, Nestor productus (Norfolk and Philip Islands), Society Parakeet, Cyanoramphus ulietanus (Raiatea, Society Islands), Black-fronted Parakeet, Cyanoramphus zealandicus (Tahiti, Society Islands), Paradise Parrot, Psephotus pulcherrimus (Rockhampton area, Australia)
Makira Wood Rail, Gallinula silvestris (Makira, Solomon Islands),Tristan Moorhen, Gallinula nesiotis (Tristan da Cunha, Atlantic), Mascarene Coot, Fulica newtoni (Mauritius and Réunion, Mascarenes), Fernando de Noronha Rail, Rallidae gen. et sp. indet. (Fernando de Noronha, W. Atlantic), Tahitian "Goose", Rallidae gen. et sp. indet. (Tahiti), Bokaak ‘Bustard,’ Rallidae? gen. et sp. indet. (Bokaak), Rallidae gen. et sp. Indet (Amsterdam Island), Colombian Grebe, Podiceps andinus (Bogotá area, Colombia), Alaotra Grebe, Tachybaptus rufolavatus (Lake Alaotra, Madagascar) Disappeared from only known location in the 1980s. Atitlán Grebe, Podilymbus gigas (Lake Atitlán, Guatemala), Painted Vulture, (Sarcorhamphus sacra) (Florida), Bermuda Night Heron, Nyctanassa carcinocatactes (Bermuda, West Atlantic), Réunion Night Heron, Nycticorax duboisi (Réunion, Mascarenes), Mauritius Night Heron, Nycticorax mauritianus (Mauritius, Mascarenes), Rodrigues Night Heron, Nycticorax megacephalus (Rodrigues, Mascarenes), Ascension Night Heron, Nycticorax olsoni (Ascension Island, Atlantic), New Zealand Little Bittern, Ixobrychus novaezelandiae (New Zealand), Réunion Sacred Ibis, Threskiornis solitarius (Réunion, Mascarenes), Spectacled Cormorant, Phalacrocorax perspicillatus (Komandorski Islands, North Pacific), Small Saint Helena Petrel, Bulweria bifax (Saint Helena, Atlantic), Bermuda Shearwater, Puffinus parvus (Bermuda, West Atlantic), Large Saint Helena Petrel, Pseudobulweria rupinarum (Saint Helena, Atlantic), Jamaica Petrel, Pterodroma caribbaea (Jamaica, Caribbean), Pterodroma cf. leucoptera (Mangareva, Gambier Islands), Guadalupe Storm-petrel, Oceanodroma macrodacyla (Guadalupe, East Pacific), Saint Helena Dove, Dysmoropelia dekarchiskos, (???), Passenger Pigeon, Ectopistes migratorius (Eastern North America, 1914). The passenger pigeon was once probably the most common bird in the world, a single flock numbering up to 2.2 billion birds. It was hunted close to extinction for food and sport in the late 19th century. The last individual died in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914. Bonin Woodpigeon, Columba versicolor (Nakodo-jima and Chichi-jima, Ogasawara Islands), Ryukyu Woodpigeon, Columba jouyi (Okinawa and Daito Islands, Northwest Pacific), Réunion Pink Pigeon, Nesoenas duboisi (Réunion, Mascarenes),Rodrigues Turtle-dove, Nesoenas rodericana (Rodrigues, Mascarenes), Liverpool Pigeon, "Caloenas" maculata (???)Sulu Bleeding-heart, Gallicolumba menagei (Tawitawi, Philippines, late 1990s?) Norfolk Island Ground-dove, Gallicolumba norfolciensis (Norfolk Island, Southwest Pacific), Tanna Ground-dove, Gallicolumba ferruginea (Tanna, Vanuatu), Thick-billed Ground-dove, Gallicolumba salamonis (Makira and Ramos, Solomon Islands), Declared extinct in 2005, Choiseul Crested Pigeon, Microgoura meeki (Choiseul, Solomon Islands), Red-moustached Fruit-dove, Ptilinopus mercierii (Nuku Hiva and Hiva Oa, Marquesas, mid-20th century), Two subspecies, the little-known P. m. mercierii (Nuku Hiva) and P. m. tristrami of (Hiva Oa), Negros Fruit-dove, Ptilinopus arcanus (Negros, Philippines), Mauritius Blue Pigeon, Alectroenas nitidissima (Mauritius, Mascarenes), Farquhar Blue Pigeon, Alectroenas sp. (Farquhar Group, Seychelles), Rodrigues Grey Pigeon, "Alectroenas" rodericana (Rodrigues, Mascarenes), Dodo, Raphus cucullatus (Mauritius, Mascarenes), Rodrigues Solitaire, Pezophaps solitaria (Rodrigues, Mascarenes), New Caledonian Lorikeet, Charmosyna diadema (New Caledonia, Melanesia), Norfolk Island Kākā, Nestor productus (Norfolk and Philip Islands), Society Parakeet, Cyanoramphus ulietanus (Raiatea, Society Islands), Black-fronted Parakeet, Cyanoramphus zealandicus (Tahiti, Society Islands), Paradise Parrot, Psephotus pulcherrimus (Rockhampton area, Australia)
EXTINCT - Bird Species of the Modern Era I : sara june
Fri Nov 26, 2010
Elephant Bird, Aepyornis maximus and/or A. medius (Madagascar) Upland Moa, Megalapteryx didinus (South Island, New Zealand), King Island Emu, Dromaius ater (King Island, Australia), Kangaroo Island Emu, Dromaius baudinianus (Kangaroo Island, Australia), West Coast Spotted Kiwi, Apteryx occidentalis (South Island, New Zealand) Korean Crested Shelduck, Tadorna cristata (Northeast Asia), Réunion Shelduck, Alopochen kervazoi (Réunion, Mascarenes), Mauritian Shelduck, Alopochen mauritianus (Mauritius, Mascarenes), Amsterdam Island Duck, Anas marecula (Amsterdam Island, South Indian Ocean), Saint Paul Island Duck, Anas sp. (Saint Paul Island, South Indian Ocean), Mauritian Duck, Anas theodori (Mauritius and Réunion, Mascarenes), Mariana Mallard, Anas oustaleti (Marianas, West Pacific), Finsch's Duck, Chenonetta finschi from New Zealand), Pink-headed Duck, Rhodonessa caryophyllacea (East India, Bangladesh, North Myanmar), Réunion Pochard, Aythya cf. innotata (Réunion, Mascarenes), Labrador Duck, Camptorhynchus labradorius (Northeast North America), Auckland Islands Merganser, Mergus australis (Auckland Islands, Southwest Pacific), The Pile-builder Megapode, Megapodius molistructor (New Zealand), The Viti Levu Scrubfowl, Megapodius amissus (Viti Levu and possibly Kadavu, Fiji), Raoul Island Scrubfowl, Megapodius sp. (Raoul, Kermadec Islands), New Zealand Quail, Coturnix novaezelandiae (New Zealand), Himalayan Quail, Ophrysia superciliosa (North India), Javanese Lapwing, Vanellus macropterus (Java, Indonesia), Tahitian Sandpiper, Prosobonia leucoptera (Tahiti, Society Islands), White-winged Sandpiper, Prosobonia ellisi (Moorea, Society Islands), North Island Snipe, Coenocorypha barrierensis (North Island, New Zealand), South Island Snipe, Coenocorypha iredalei (South and Stewart Islands, New Zealand), Eskimo Curlew, Numenius borealis (Northern North America), Slender-billed Curlew, Numenius tenuirostris (Western Siberia), Great Auk, Pinguinus impennis (North Atlantic) – last one eaten by an Icelandic human, Canarian Black Oystercatcher, Haematopus meadewaldoi (Eastern Canary Islands, E Atlantic) Tahitian Red-billed Rail (??????),Hawkins' Rail, Diaphorapteryx hawkinsi (Chatham Islands, SW Pacific), Red Rail, Aphanapteryx bonasia (Mauritius, Mascarenes), Rodrigues Rail, Aphanapteryx leguati (Rodrigues, Mascarenes), Bar-winged Rail, Nesoclopeus poecilopterus (Fiji, Polynesia), New Caledonian Rail, Gallirallus lafresnayanus (New Caledonia, Melanesia), Wake Island Rail, Gallirallus wakensis (Wake Island, Micronesia), Tahiti Rail, Gallirallus pacificus (Tahiti, Society Islands), Dieffenbach's Rail, Gallirallus dieffenbachii (Chatham Islands, SW Pacific), Vava'u Rail, Gallirallus cf. vekamatolu (Vava'u, Tonga), Hawaiian Rail, Chatham Rail, Cabalus modestus (Chatham Islands, SW Pacific), Réunion Rail or Dubois's Wood-rail, Dryolimnas augusti (Réunion, Mascarenes) Ascension Flightless Crake, Mundia elpenor (Ascension, Island, Atlantic), Saint Helena Crake, Porzana astrictocarpus (Saint Helena, Atlantic), Laysan Rail, Porzana palmeri (Laysan Island, Hawaiian Islands), Hawaiian Rail, Porzana sandwichensis (Big Island, Hawaiian Islands), Kosrae Island Crake, Porzana monasa (Kosrae, Carolines), Miller's Rail, Porzana nigra (Tahiti, Society Islands), The Laysan Rail was an omnivore, Saint Helena Swamphen, Aphanocrex podarces (Saint Helena, Atlantic), Lord Howe Swamphen, Porphyrio albus (Lord Howe Island, SW Pacific), Réunion Swamphen or Oiseau bleu, Porphyrio coerulescens (Réunion, Mascarenes), Marquesas Swamphen, Porphyrio paepae (Hiva Oa and Tahuata, Marquesas), The North Island Takahē, Porphyrio mantelli (known from subfossil bones found on North Island, New Zealand),Samoan Wood Rail, Gallinula pacifica (Savai'i, Samoa), Lord Howe Swamphen
Elephant Bird, Aepyornis maximus and/or A. medius (Madagascar) Upland Moa, Megalapteryx didinus (South Island, New Zealand), King Island Emu, Dromaius ater (King Island, Australia), Kangaroo Island Emu, Dromaius baudinianus (Kangaroo Island, Australia), West Coast Spotted Kiwi, Apteryx occidentalis (South Island, New Zealand) Korean Crested Shelduck, Tadorna cristata (Northeast Asia), Réunion Shelduck, Alopochen kervazoi (Réunion, Mascarenes), Mauritian Shelduck, Alopochen mauritianus (Mauritius, Mascarenes), Amsterdam Island Duck, Anas marecula (Amsterdam Island, South Indian Ocean), Saint Paul Island Duck, Anas sp. (Saint Paul Island, South Indian Ocean), Mauritian Duck, Anas theodori (Mauritius and Réunion, Mascarenes), Mariana Mallard, Anas oustaleti (Marianas, West Pacific), Finsch's Duck, Chenonetta finschi from New Zealand), Pink-headed Duck, Rhodonessa caryophyllacea (East India, Bangladesh, North Myanmar), Réunion Pochard, Aythya cf. innotata (Réunion, Mascarenes), Labrador Duck, Camptorhynchus labradorius (Northeast North America), Auckland Islands Merganser, Mergus australis (Auckland Islands, Southwest Pacific), The Pile-builder Megapode, Megapodius molistructor (New Zealand), The Viti Levu Scrubfowl, Megapodius amissus (Viti Levu and possibly Kadavu, Fiji), Raoul Island Scrubfowl, Megapodius sp. (Raoul, Kermadec Islands), New Zealand Quail, Coturnix novaezelandiae (New Zealand), Himalayan Quail, Ophrysia superciliosa (North India), Javanese Lapwing, Vanellus macropterus (Java, Indonesia), Tahitian Sandpiper, Prosobonia leucoptera (Tahiti, Society Islands), White-winged Sandpiper, Prosobonia ellisi (Moorea, Society Islands), North Island Snipe, Coenocorypha barrierensis (North Island, New Zealand), South Island Snipe, Coenocorypha iredalei (South and Stewart Islands, New Zealand), Eskimo Curlew, Numenius borealis (Northern North America), Slender-billed Curlew, Numenius tenuirostris (Western Siberia), Great Auk, Pinguinus impennis (North Atlantic) – last one eaten by an Icelandic human, Canarian Black Oystercatcher, Haematopus meadewaldoi (Eastern Canary Islands, E Atlantic) Tahitian Red-billed Rail (??????),Hawkins' Rail, Diaphorapteryx hawkinsi (Chatham Islands, SW Pacific), Red Rail, Aphanapteryx bonasia (Mauritius, Mascarenes), Rodrigues Rail, Aphanapteryx leguati (Rodrigues, Mascarenes), Bar-winged Rail, Nesoclopeus poecilopterus (Fiji, Polynesia), New Caledonian Rail, Gallirallus lafresnayanus (New Caledonia, Melanesia), Wake Island Rail, Gallirallus wakensis (Wake Island, Micronesia), Tahiti Rail, Gallirallus pacificus (Tahiti, Society Islands), Dieffenbach's Rail, Gallirallus dieffenbachii (Chatham Islands, SW Pacific), Vava'u Rail, Gallirallus cf. vekamatolu (Vava'u, Tonga), Hawaiian Rail, Chatham Rail, Cabalus modestus (Chatham Islands, SW Pacific), Réunion Rail or Dubois's Wood-rail, Dryolimnas augusti (Réunion, Mascarenes) Ascension Flightless Crake, Mundia elpenor (Ascension, Island, Atlantic), Saint Helena Crake, Porzana astrictocarpus (Saint Helena, Atlantic), Laysan Rail, Porzana palmeri (Laysan Island, Hawaiian Islands), Hawaiian Rail, Porzana sandwichensis (Big Island, Hawaiian Islands), Kosrae Island Crake, Porzana monasa (Kosrae, Carolines), Miller's Rail, Porzana nigra (Tahiti, Society Islands), The Laysan Rail was an omnivore, Saint Helena Swamphen, Aphanocrex podarces (Saint Helena, Atlantic), Lord Howe Swamphen, Porphyrio albus (Lord Howe Island, SW Pacific), Réunion Swamphen or Oiseau bleu, Porphyrio coerulescens (Réunion, Mascarenes), Marquesas Swamphen, Porphyrio paepae (Hiva Oa and Tahuata, Marquesas), The North Island Takahē, Porphyrio mantelli (known from subfossil bones found on North Island, New Zealand),Samoan Wood Rail, Gallinula pacifica (Savai'i, Samoa), Lord Howe Swamphen
Today's Dinosaur Notes : sara june
Wed May 19, 2010
"The outdated image of dinosaurs as maladapted extinct monsters has led to the word "dinosaur" entering the vernacular to describe anything that is impractically large, slow-moving, obsolete, or bound for extinction" -wikipedia
"The outdated image of dinosaurs as maladapted extinct monsters has led to the word "dinosaur" entering the vernacular to describe anything that is impractically large, slow-moving, obsolete, or bound for extinction" -wikipedia
Why Children Hate Dinosaurs : sara june
Fri May 07, 2010
I am currently fascinated with the pleo as a small loveable version of the terrible reptiles of our past. dinosaurs have been fetishized by our culture as icons of power and fantasy. As a 'mothering' figure, what is the meaning of my mothering this icon in this particular form? What does my ambivalence mean? Take a look at this book excerpt, Why Children Hate Dinosaurs, from W.J.T Mitchell's book, 'The Last Dinosaur,' published by the University of Chicago Press:
http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/532046.html
It is quite an interesting exposition of the dinosaur as child fantasy, or not.
I am currently fascinated with the pleo as a small loveable version of the terrible reptiles of our past. dinosaurs have been fetishized by our culture as icons of power and fantasy. As a 'mothering' figure, what is the meaning of my mothering this icon in this particular form? What does my ambivalence mean? Take a look at this book excerpt, Why Children Hate Dinosaurs, from W.J.T Mitchell's book, 'The Last Dinosaur,' published by the University of Chicago Press:
http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/532046.html
It is quite an interesting exposition of the dinosaur as child fantasy, or not.
Comments
Scale...
Prior to identifying giant bones found underground as
"dinosaurs", I believe one hypothesis identified these remains as
belonging to "giants" who once roamed the earth (the bones were
re-assembled in some vaguely plausible human resemblance). I wonder
about the notion of scale: most often, dinosaur images are compared to
scale with modern humans (or buildings, monuments, etc.). If scale is
not exaggerated, then other characteristics become larger-than-life: for
example, velociraptors are often portrayed as merciless and ferocious,
yet small in size. The message seems clear: if these animals roamed the
earth now, they would have complete control, humanity would be
insignificant by comparison.
Pleo contains the scale, brings it down to less-than human size... definitively controllable, certainly not threatening. It would be interesting to understand how Pleo's various behavioral responses were chosen... I would assume there are no threatening or aggressive behaviors in its repertoire... This toy gives one control over the uncontrollable, elicits meek responses from a ferocious stereotype.
Pleo contains the scale, brings it down to less-than human size... definitively controllable, certainly not threatening. It would be interesting to understand how Pleo's various behavioral responses were chosen... I would assume there are no threatening or aggressive behaviors in its repertoire... This toy gives one control over the uncontrollable, elicits meek responses from a ferocious stereotype.
Saturday, July 18, 2015
Pleo Robot : sara june
Thu Feb 11, 2010
MY NEW SUBJECT! or part of my new subject anyway...The pleo dinosaur robot is an autonomous entity with over 40 sensors embedded in its body that aid it in sensing its world. The robot 'develops' from hatchling to infant to juvenile in about a week based on the interactions it receives from its external environment. You can see the pleo in action (with full sound) here at the ugobe website for the pleo:
http://www.pleoworld.com/pleo_rb/eng/index.php
MY NEW SUBJECT! or part of my new subject anyway...The pleo dinosaur robot is an autonomous entity with over 40 sensors embedded in its body that aid it in sensing its world. The robot 'develops' from hatchling to infant to juvenile in about a week based on the interactions it receives from its external environment. You can see the pleo in action (with full sound) here at the ugobe website for the pleo:
http://www.pleoworld.com/pleo_rb/eng/index.php
In Utero Movement - sara june
Thu Feb 11, 2010
An article by David Chamberlain that I've been reading is cut and pasted below. I am in the early early stages of developing some movement work based on fetal stages of movement (in-utero movements). This is part of a new piece I am working on that will incorporate responses to a robotic entity (dinosaur toy) called the Pleo. I just ordered a Pleo from Ugobe, a robotics company that makes them.
I have been thinking a lot about breathing (air and water). Seeking light and warmth. The replacement of the in-utero environment by the out of utero environment. The connections between the internal warmth of the mother's body and the external behavioral exchanges between mother and child.
The Fetal Senses: A Classical View
By David B. Chamberlain, Ph.D.
Sensitivity to Touch
The maternal womb is an optimal, stimulating, interactive environment for human development. Activity never ceases and a fetus is never isolated. Touch, the first sense, is the cornerstone of human experience and communication, beginning in the womb (Montagu, 1978).
Just before 8 weeks gestational age (g.a.), the first sensitivity to touch manifests in a set of protective movements to avoid a mere hair stroke on the cheek. From this early date, experiments with a hair stroke on various parts of the embryonic body show that skin sensitivity quickly extends to the genital area (10 weeks), palms (11 weeks), and soles (12 weeks). These areas of first sensitivity are the ones which will have the greatest number and variety of sensory receptors in adults. By 17 weeks, all parts of the abdomen and buttocks are sensitive. Skin is marvellously complex, containing a hundred varieties of cells which seem especially sensitive to heat, cold, pressure and pain. By 32 weeks, nearly every part of the body is sensitive to the same light stroke of a single hair.
The Fetus In Motion
The first dramatic motion, one that has come to symbolize life itself, is the first heartbeat at about three weeks after conception. This rhythmic activity continues while valves, chambers, and all other parts and connections are under construction--illustrating an important fact about development: parts are pressed into service as they become available. Furthermore, use is necessary for development.
Between week six and ten, fetal bodies burst into motion, achieving graceful, stretching, and rotational movements of the head, arms and legs. Hand to head, hand to face, hand to mouth movements, mouth opening, closing, and swallowing are all present at 10 weeks (Tajani and Ianniruberto, 1990). By 14 weeks, the complete repertoire of fetal movements seen throughout gestation are already in evidence (deVries, Visser, and Prechtl, 1985). Movement is spontaneous, endogenous, and typically cycles between activity and rest. Breathing movements and jaw movements have begun. Hands are busy interacting with other parts of the body and with the umbilical cord.
From this early stage onward, movement is a primary activity, sometimes begun spontaneously, sometimes provoked by events. Spontaneous movement occurs earliest, probably expressing purely individual interests and needs. Evoked movement reflects sensitivity to the environment. For example, between 10 and 15 weeks g.a., when a mother laughs or coughs, her fetus moves within seconds.
The vestibular system, designed to register head and body motion as well as the pull of gravity begins developing at about 8 weeks. This requires construction of six semicircular canals, fluid-filled structures in the ears, which are sensitive to angular acceleration and deceleration, and help maintain balance.
Tasting and Smelling
The structures for tasting are available at about 14 weeks g.a. and experts believe that tasting begins at that time. Tests show that swallowing increases with sweet tastes and decreases with bitter and sour tastes. In the liquid womb space, a range of tastes are presented including lactic, pyruvic, and citric acids, creatinine, urea, amino acids, proteins and salts. Tests made at birth reveal exquisite taste discrimination and definite preferences.
Until recently, no serious consideration was given to the possibilities for olfaction in utero, since researchers assumed smelling depended on air and breathing. However, the latest research has opened up a new world of possibilities. The nasal chemoreceptive system is more complex than previously understood, and is made up of no less than four subsystems: the main olfactory, the trigeminal, the vomeronasal, and the terminal system, which provide complex olfactory input to the fetus.
The nose develops between 11 and 15 weeks. Many chemical compounds can cross the placenta to join the amniotic fluid, providing the fetus with tastes and odors. The amniotic fluid surrounding the fetus bathes the oral, nasal, and pharyngeal cavities, and babies breathe it and swallow it, permitting direct access to receptors of several chemosensory systems: taste buds in three locations, olfactory epithelia, vomeronasal system, and trigeminal system (Smotherman and Robinson, 1995).
Associations formed in utero can alter subsequent fetal behavior and are retained into postnatal life. The evidence for direct and indirect learning of odors in utero has been reviewed by Schaal, Orgeur, and Rogan (1995). They point to an extraordinary range of available odiferous compounds, an average of 120 in individual samples of amniotic fluid! In addition, products of the mother's diet reach the baby via the placenta and the blood flowing in the capillaries of the nasal mucosa. Thus, prenatal experience with odorants from both sources probably prepare this sensory system to search for certain odors or classes of odors. In one experiment, babies registered changes in fetal breathing and heart rate when mothers drank coffee, whether it was caffeinated or decaffeinated. Newborns are drawn to the odor of breastmilk, although they have no previous experience with it. Researchers think this may come from cues they have learned in prenatal life.
Listening and Hearing
Although a concentric series of barriers buffer the fetus from the outside world--amniotic fluid, embryonic membranes, uterus, and the maternal abdomen--the fetus lives in a stimulating matrix of sound, vibration, and motion. Many studies now confirm that voices reach the womb, rather than being overwhelmed by the background noise created by the mother and placenta. Intonation patterns of pitch, stress, and rhythm, as well as music, reach the fetus without significant distortion. A mother's voice is particularly powerful because it is transmitted to the womb through her own body reaching the fetus in a stronger form than outside sounds. For a comprehensive review of fetal audition, see Busnel, Granier-Deferre, and Lecanuet 1992.
Sounds have a surprising impact upon the fetal heart rate: a five second stimulus can cause changes in heart rate and movement which last up to an hour. Some musical sounds can cause changes in metabolism. "Brahm's Lullabye," for example, played six times a day for five minutes in a premature baby nursery produced faster weight gain than voice sounds played on the same schedule (Chapman, 1975).
Researchers in Belfast have demonstrated that reactive listening begins at 16 weeks g.a., two months sooner than other types of measurements indicated. Working with 400 fetuses, researchers in Belfast beamed a pure pulse sound at 250-500 Hz and found behavioral responses at 16 weeks g.a.--clearly seen via ultrasound (Shahidullah and Hepper, 1992). This is especially significant because reactive listening begins eight weeks before the ear is structurally complete at about 24 weeks.
These findings indicate the complexity of hearing, lending support to the idea that receptive hearing begins with the skin and skeletal framework, skin being a multireceptor organ integrating input from vibrations, thermo receptors, and pain receptors. This primal listening system is then amplified with vestibular and cochlear information as it becomes available. With responsive listening proven at 16 weeks, hearing is clearly a major information channel operating for about 24 weeks before birth.
Development of Vision
Vision, probably our most predominant sense after birth, evolves steadily during gestation, but in ways which are difficult to study. However, at the time of birth, vision is perfectly focused from 8 to 12 inches, the distance to a mother's face when feeding at the breast. Technical reviews reveal how extraordinary vision is in the first few months of life (Salapatek and Cohen, 1987).
Although testing eyesight in the womb has not been feasible, we can learn from testing premature babies. When tested from 28 to 34 weeks g.a. for visual focus and horizontal and vertical tracking, they usually show these abilities by 31-32 weeks g.a. Abilities increase rapidly with experience so that by 33-34 weeks g.a., both tracking in all directions as well as visual attention equals that of babies of 40 weeks g.a. Full-term newborns have impressive visual resources including acuity and contrast sensitivity, refraction and accommodation, spacial vision, binocular function, distance and depth perception, color vision, and sensitivity to flicker and motion patterns (Atkinson and Braddick, 1982). Their eyes search the environment day and night, showing curiosity and basic form perception without needing much time for practice (Slater, Mattock, Brown, and Gavin, 1991).
In utero, eyelids remain closed until about the 26th week. However, the fetus is sensitive to light, responding to light with heart rate accelerations to projections of light on the abdomen. This can even serve as a test of well-being before birth. Although it cannot be explained easily, prenates with their eyelids still fused seem to be using some aspect of "vision" to detect the location of needles entering the womb, either shrinking away from them or turning to attack the needle barrel with a fist (Birnholz, Stephens, and Faria, 1978). Similarly, at 20 weeks g.a., twins in utero have no trouble locating each other and touching faces or holding hands!
The Senses in Action
Sense modalities are not isolated, but exist within an interconnecting, intermodal network. We close this section about fetal sensory resources by citing a few examples of how fetal senses work in tandem. We have already indicated how closely allied the gustatory and olfactory systems are, how skin and bones contribute to hearing, and how vision seems functional even with fused eyelids. When prenates experience pain, they do not have the air necessary to make sound, but they do respond with vigorous body and breathing movements as well as hormonal rushes. Within ten minutes of needling a fetus's intrahapatic vein for a transfusion, a fetus shows a 590% rise in beta endorphin and a 183% rise in cortosol--chemical evidence of pain (Giannakoulopoulos, 1994).
Ultrasonographers have recorded fetal erections as early as 16 weeks g.a., often in conjunction with finger sucking, suggesting that pleasurable self-stimulation is already possible. In the third trimester, when prenates are monitored during parental intercouse, their hearts fluctuate wildly in accelerations and decelerations greater than 30 beats per minute, or show a rare loss of beat-to-beat variability, accompanied by a sharp increase in fetal movement (Chayen et al, 1986). This heart activity is directly associated with paternal and maternal orgasms! Other experiments measuring fetal reactions to mothers' drinking one ounce of vodka in a glass of diet ginger ale show that breathing movements stop within 3 to 30 minutes. This hiatus in breathing lasts more than a half hour. Although the blood alcohol level of the mothers was low, as their blood alcohol level declined, the percentage of fetal breathing movements increased (Fox et al, 1978).
Babies have been known to react to the experience of amniocentesis (usually done around 16 weeks g.a.) by shrinking away from the needle, or, if a needle nicks them, they may turn and attack it. Mothers and doctors who have watched this under ultrasound have been unnerved. Following amniocentesis, heart rates gyrate. Some babies remain motionless, and their breathing motions may not return to normal for several days.
Finally, researchers have discovered that babies are dreaming as early as 23 weeks g.a.when rapid eye movement sleep is first observed (Birnholz, 1981). Studies of premature babies have revealed intense dreaming activity, occupying 100% of sleep time at 30 weeks g.a., and gradually diminishing to around 50% by term. Dreaming is a vigorous activity involving apparently coherent movements of the face and extremities in synchrony with the dream itself, manifested in markedly pleasant or unpleasant expressions. Dreaming is also an endogenous activity, neither reactive or evoked, expressing inner mental or emotional conditions. Observers say babies behave like adults do when they are dreaming (Roffwarg, Muzio, and Dement 1966).
References
Atkinson, J. and Braddick, O. (1982). Sensory and Perceptual Capacities of the Neonate. In Psychobiology of the Human Newborn. Paul Stratton (Ed.), pp. 191-220. London: John Wiley.
Birnholz, J., Stephens, J. C. and Faria, M. (1978). Fetal Movement Patterns: A Possible Means of Defining Neurologic Developmental Milestones in Utero. American J. Roentology 130: 537-540.
Birnholz, Jason C. (1981). The Development of Human Fetal Eye Movement Patterns. Science 213: 679-681. Busnel, Marie-Claire, Granier-Deberre, C. and Lecanuet, J. P.(1992). Fetal Audition. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 662:118-134.
Chapman, J. S. (1975). The Relation Between Auditory Stimulation of Short Gestation Infants and Their Gross Motor Limb Activity. Doctoral Dissertation, New York University.
Chayen, B., Tejani, N., Verma, U. L. and Gordon, G.(1986). Fetal Heart Rate Changes and Uterine Activity During Coitus. Acta Obstetrica Gynecologica Scandinavica 65: 853-855.
deVries, J. I. P., Visser, G. H. A., and Prechtl, H. F. R.(1985). The Emergence of Fetal Behavior. II. Quantitative Aspects. Early Human Development 12: 99-120.
Fox, H. E., Steinbrecher, M., Pessel, D., Inglis, J., and Angel, E.(1978) Maternal Ethanol Ingestion and the Occurrence of Human Fetal Breathing Movements. American J. of Obstetrics/Gynecology 132: 354-358.
Giannakoulopoulos, X., Sepulveda, W., Kourtis, P., Glover, V. and Fisk, N. M.(1994). Fetal Plasma Cortisol and B-endorphin Response to Intrauterine Needling. The Lancet 344: 77-81.
Montagu, Ashley (1978). Touching: The Human Significance of the Skin. New York: Harper & Row.
Roffwarg, Howard A., Muzio, Joseph N. and Dement, William C. (1966). Ontogenetic Development of the Human Sleep-Dream Cycle. Science 152: 604-619.
Salapatek, P. and Cohen, L.(1987). Handbook of Infant Perception. Vol. I. New York: Academic Press.
Schaal, B., Orgeur, P., and Rognon, C. (1995). Odor Sensing in the Human Fetus: Anatomical, Functional, and Chemeo-ecological Bases. In: Fetal Development: A Psychobiological Perspective, J-P. Lecanuet, W. P. Fifer, N. A., Krasnegor, and W. P. Smotherman (Eds.) pp. 205-237. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Shahidullah, S. and Hepper, P. G. (1992). Hearing in the Fetus: Prenatal Detection of Deafness. International J. of Prenatal and Perinatal Studies 4(3/4): 235-240.
Slater, A., Mattock, A., Brown, E., and Bremner, J. G. (1991). Form Perception at Birth: Cohen and Younger (1984) Revisited. J. of Experimental Child Psychology 51(3): 395- 406.
Smotherman, W. P. and Robinson, S. R.(1995). Tracing Developmental Trajectories Into the Prenatal Period. In: Fetal Development, J-P. Lecanuet, W. P. Fifer, N. A. Krasnegor, and W. P. Smotherman (Eds.), pp. 15-32. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Tajani, E. and Ianniruberto, A. (1990). The Uncovering of Fetal Competence. In: Development Handicap and Rehabilitation: Practice and Theory, M. Papini, A. Pasquinelli and E. A. Gidoni (Eds.), pp. 3-8. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishers.
An article by David Chamberlain that I've been reading is cut and pasted below. I am in the early early stages of developing some movement work based on fetal stages of movement (in-utero movements). This is part of a new piece I am working on that will incorporate responses to a robotic entity (dinosaur toy) called the Pleo. I just ordered a Pleo from Ugobe, a robotics company that makes them.
I have been thinking a lot about breathing (air and water). Seeking light and warmth. The replacement of the in-utero environment by the out of utero environment. The connections between the internal warmth of the mother's body and the external behavioral exchanges between mother and child.
The Fetal Senses: A Classical View
By David B. Chamberlain, Ph.D.
Sensitivity to Touch
The maternal womb is an optimal, stimulating, interactive environment for human development. Activity never ceases and a fetus is never isolated. Touch, the first sense, is the cornerstone of human experience and communication, beginning in the womb (Montagu, 1978).
Just before 8 weeks gestational age (g.a.), the first sensitivity to touch manifests in a set of protective movements to avoid a mere hair stroke on the cheek. From this early date, experiments with a hair stroke on various parts of the embryonic body show that skin sensitivity quickly extends to the genital area (10 weeks), palms (11 weeks), and soles (12 weeks). These areas of first sensitivity are the ones which will have the greatest number and variety of sensory receptors in adults. By 17 weeks, all parts of the abdomen and buttocks are sensitive. Skin is marvellously complex, containing a hundred varieties of cells which seem especially sensitive to heat, cold, pressure and pain. By 32 weeks, nearly every part of the body is sensitive to the same light stroke of a single hair.
The Fetus In Motion
The first dramatic motion, one that has come to symbolize life itself, is the first heartbeat at about three weeks after conception. This rhythmic activity continues while valves, chambers, and all other parts and connections are under construction--illustrating an important fact about development: parts are pressed into service as they become available. Furthermore, use is necessary for development.
Between week six and ten, fetal bodies burst into motion, achieving graceful, stretching, and rotational movements of the head, arms and legs. Hand to head, hand to face, hand to mouth movements, mouth opening, closing, and swallowing are all present at 10 weeks (Tajani and Ianniruberto, 1990). By 14 weeks, the complete repertoire of fetal movements seen throughout gestation are already in evidence (deVries, Visser, and Prechtl, 1985). Movement is spontaneous, endogenous, and typically cycles between activity and rest. Breathing movements and jaw movements have begun. Hands are busy interacting with other parts of the body and with the umbilical cord.
From this early stage onward, movement is a primary activity, sometimes begun spontaneously, sometimes provoked by events. Spontaneous movement occurs earliest, probably expressing purely individual interests and needs. Evoked movement reflects sensitivity to the environment. For example, between 10 and 15 weeks g.a., when a mother laughs or coughs, her fetus moves within seconds.
The vestibular system, designed to register head and body motion as well as the pull of gravity begins developing at about 8 weeks. This requires construction of six semicircular canals, fluid-filled structures in the ears, which are sensitive to angular acceleration and deceleration, and help maintain balance.
Tasting and Smelling
The structures for tasting are available at about 14 weeks g.a. and experts believe that tasting begins at that time. Tests show that swallowing increases with sweet tastes and decreases with bitter and sour tastes. In the liquid womb space, a range of tastes are presented including lactic, pyruvic, and citric acids, creatinine, urea, amino acids, proteins and salts. Tests made at birth reveal exquisite taste discrimination and definite preferences.
Until recently, no serious consideration was given to the possibilities for olfaction in utero, since researchers assumed smelling depended on air and breathing. However, the latest research has opened up a new world of possibilities. The nasal chemoreceptive system is more complex than previously understood, and is made up of no less than four subsystems: the main olfactory, the trigeminal, the vomeronasal, and the terminal system, which provide complex olfactory input to the fetus.
The nose develops between 11 and 15 weeks. Many chemical compounds can cross the placenta to join the amniotic fluid, providing the fetus with tastes and odors. The amniotic fluid surrounding the fetus bathes the oral, nasal, and pharyngeal cavities, and babies breathe it and swallow it, permitting direct access to receptors of several chemosensory systems: taste buds in three locations, olfactory epithelia, vomeronasal system, and trigeminal system (Smotherman and Robinson, 1995).
Associations formed in utero can alter subsequent fetal behavior and are retained into postnatal life. The evidence for direct and indirect learning of odors in utero has been reviewed by Schaal, Orgeur, and Rogan (1995). They point to an extraordinary range of available odiferous compounds, an average of 120 in individual samples of amniotic fluid! In addition, products of the mother's diet reach the baby via the placenta and the blood flowing in the capillaries of the nasal mucosa. Thus, prenatal experience with odorants from both sources probably prepare this sensory system to search for certain odors or classes of odors. In one experiment, babies registered changes in fetal breathing and heart rate when mothers drank coffee, whether it was caffeinated or decaffeinated. Newborns are drawn to the odor of breastmilk, although they have no previous experience with it. Researchers think this may come from cues they have learned in prenatal life.
Listening and Hearing
Although a concentric series of barriers buffer the fetus from the outside world--amniotic fluid, embryonic membranes, uterus, and the maternal abdomen--the fetus lives in a stimulating matrix of sound, vibration, and motion. Many studies now confirm that voices reach the womb, rather than being overwhelmed by the background noise created by the mother and placenta. Intonation patterns of pitch, stress, and rhythm, as well as music, reach the fetus without significant distortion. A mother's voice is particularly powerful because it is transmitted to the womb through her own body reaching the fetus in a stronger form than outside sounds. For a comprehensive review of fetal audition, see Busnel, Granier-Deferre, and Lecanuet 1992.
Sounds have a surprising impact upon the fetal heart rate: a five second stimulus can cause changes in heart rate and movement which last up to an hour. Some musical sounds can cause changes in metabolism. "Brahm's Lullabye," for example, played six times a day for five minutes in a premature baby nursery produced faster weight gain than voice sounds played on the same schedule (Chapman, 1975).
Researchers in Belfast have demonstrated that reactive listening begins at 16 weeks g.a., two months sooner than other types of measurements indicated. Working with 400 fetuses, researchers in Belfast beamed a pure pulse sound at 250-500 Hz and found behavioral responses at 16 weeks g.a.--clearly seen via ultrasound (Shahidullah and Hepper, 1992). This is especially significant because reactive listening begins eight weeks before the ear is structurally complete at about 24 weeks.
These findings indicate the complexity of hearing, lending support to the idea that receptive hearing begins with the skin and skeletal framework, skin being a multireceptor organ integrating input from vibrations, thermo receptors, and pain receptors. This primal listening system is then amplified with vestibular and cochlear information as it becomes available. With responsive listening proven at 16 weeks, hearing is clearly a major information channel operating for about 24 weeks before birth.
Development of Vision
Vision, probably our most predominant sense after birth, evolves steadily during gestation, but in ways which are difficult to study. However, at the time of birth, vision is perfectly focused from 8 to 12 inches, the distance to a mother's face when feeding at the breast. Technical reviews reveal how extraordinary vision is in the first few months of life (Salapatek and Cohen, 1987).
Although testing eyesight in the womb has not been feasible, we can learn from testing premature babies. When tested from 28 to 34 weeks g.a. for visual focus and horizontal and vertical tracking, they usually show these abilities by 31-32 weeks g.a. Abilities increase rapidly with experience so that by 33-34 weeks g.a., both tracking in all directions as well as visual attention equals that of babies of 40 weeks g.a. Full-term newborns have impressive visual resources including acuity and contrast sensitivity, refraction and accommodation, spacial vision, binocular function, distance and depth perception, color vision, and sensitivity to flicker and motion patterns (Atkinson and Braddick, 1982). Their eyes search the environment day and night, showing curiosity and basic form perception without needing much time for practice (Slater, Mattock, Brown, and Gavin, 1991).
In utero, eyelids remain closed until about the 26th week. However, the fetus is sensitive to light, responding to light with heart rate accelerations to projections of light on the abdomen. This can even serve as a test of well-being before birth. Although it cannot be explained easily, prenates with their eyelids still fused seem to be using some aspect of "vision" to detect the location of needles entering the womb, either shrinking away from them or turning to attack the needle barrel with a fist (Birnholz, Stephens, and Faria, 1978). Similarly, at 20 weeks g.a., twins in utero have no trouble locating each other and touching faces or holding hands!
The Senses in Action
Sense modalities are not isolated, but exist within an interconnecting, intermodal network. We close this section about fetal sensory resources by citing a few examples of how fetal senses work in tandem. We have already indicated how closely allied the gustatory and olfactory systems are, how skin and bones contribute to hearing, and how vision seems functional even with fused eyelids. When prenates experience pain, they do not have the air necessary to make sound, but they do respond with vigorous body and breathing movements as well as hormonal rushes. Within ten minutes of needling a fetus's intrahapatic vein for a transfusion, a fetus shows a 590% rise in beta endorphin and a 183% rise in cortosol--chemical evidence of pain (Giannakoulopoulos, 1994).
Ultrasonographers have recorded fetal erections as early as 16 weeks g.a., often in conjunction with finger sucking, suggesting that pleasurable self-stimulation is already possible. In the third trimester, when prenates are monitored during parental intercouse, their hearts fluctuate wildly in accelerations and decelerations greater than 30 beats per minute, or show a rare loss of beat-to-beat variability, accompanied by a sharp increase in fetal movement (Chayen et al, 1986). This heart activity is directly associated with paternal and maternal orgasms! Other experiments measuring fetal reactions to mothers' drinking one ounce of vodka in a glass of diet ginger ale show that breathing movements stop within 3 to 30 minutes. This hiatus in breathing lasts more than a half hour. Although the blood alcohol level of the mothers was low, as their blood alcohol level declined, the percentage of fetal breathing movements increased (Fox et al, 1978).
Babies have been known to react to the experience of amniocentesis (usually done around 16 weeks g.a.) by shrinking away from the needle, or, if a needle nicks them, they may turn and attack it. Mothers and doctors who have watched this under ultrasound have been unnerved. Following amniocentesis, heart rates gyrate. Some babies remain motionless, and their breathing motions may not return to normal for several days.
Finally, researchers have discovered that babies are dreaming as early as 23 weeks g.a.when rapid eye movement sleep is first observed (Birnholz, 1981). Studies of premature babies have revealed intense dreaming activity, occupying 100% of sleep time at 30 weeks g.a., and gradually diminishing to around 50% by term. Dreaming is a vigorous activity involving apparently coherent movements of the face and extremities in synchrony with the dream itself, manifested in markedly pleasant or unpleasant expressions. Dreaming is also an endogenous activity, neither reactive or evoked, expressing inner mental or emotional conditions. Observers say babies behave like adults do when they are dreaming (Roffwarg, Muzio, and Dement 1966).
References
Atkinson, J. and Braddick, O. (1982). Sensory and Perceptual Capacities of the Neonate. In Psychobiology of the Human Newborn. Paul Stratton (Ed.), pp. 191-220. London: John Wiley.
Birnholz, J., Stephens, J. C. and Faria, M. (1978). Fetal Movement Patterns: A Possible Means of Defining Neurologic Developmental Milestones in Utero. American J. Roentology 130: 537-540.
Birnholz, Jason C. (1981). The Development of Human Fetal Eye Movement Patterns. Science 213: 679-681. Busnel, Marie-Claire, Granier-Deberre, C. and Lecanuet, J. P.(1992). Fetal Audition. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 662:118-134.
Chapman, J. S. (1975). The Relation Between Auditory Stimulation of Short Gestation Infants and Their Gross Motor Limb Activity. Doctoral Dissertation, New York University.
Chayen, B., Tejani, N., Verma, U. L. and Gordon, G.(1986). Fetal Heart Rate Changes and Uterine Activity During Coitus. Acta Obstetrica Gynecologica Scandinavica 65: 853-855.
deVries, J. I. P., Visser, G. H. A., and Prechtl, H. F. R.(1985). The Emergence of Fetal Behavior. II. Quantitative Aspects. Early Human Development 12: 99-120.
Fox, H. E., Steinbrecher, M., Pessel, D., Inglis, J., and Angel, E.(1978) Maternal Ethanol Ingestion and the Occurrence of Human Fetal Breathing Movements. American J. of Obstetrics/Gynecology 132: 354-358.
Giannakoulopoulos, X., Sepulveda, W., Kourtis, P., Glover, V. and Fisk, N. M.(1994). Fetal Plasma Cortisol and B-endorphin Response to Intrauterine Needling. The Lancet 344: 77-81.
Montagu, Ashley (1978). Touching: The Human Significance of the Skin. New York: Harper & Row.
Roffwarg, Howard A., Muzio, Joseph N. and Dement, William C. (1966). Ontogenetic Development of the Human Sleep-Dream Cycle. Science 152: 604-619.
Salapatek, P. and Cohen, L.(1987). Handbook of Infant Perception. Vol. I. New York: Academic Press.
Schaal, B., Orgeur, P., and Rognon, C. (1995). Odor Sensing in the Human Fetus: Anatomical, Functional, and Chemeo-ecological Bases. In: Fetal Development: A Psychobiological Perspective, J-P. Lecanuet, W. P. Fifer, N. A., Krasnegor, and W. P. Smotherman (Eds.) pp. 205-237. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Shahidullah, S. and Hepper, P. G. (1992). Hearing in the Fetus: Prenatal Detection of Deafness. International J. of Prenatal and Perinatal Studies 4(3/4): 235-240.
Slater, A., Mattock, A., Brown, E., and Bremner, J. G. (1991). Form Perception at Birth: Cohen and Younger (1984) Revisited. J. of Experimental Child Psychology 51(3): 395- 406.
Smotherman, W. P. and Robinson, S. R.(1995). Tracing Developmental Trajectories Into the Prenatal Period. In: Fetal Development, J-P. Lecanuet, W. P. Fifer, N. A. Krasnegor, and W. P. Smotherman (Eds.), pp. 15-32. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Tajani, E. and Ianniruberto, A. (1990). The Uncovering of Fetal Competence. In: Development Handicap and Rehabilitation: Practice and Theory, M. Papini, A. Pasquinelli and E. A. Gidoni (Eds.), pp. 3-8. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishers.
Human Movement - thoughts on the development of motor response : sara june
Tue Dec 29, 2009
This is the first of a three-part blog on
developmental movement. My next entry will be on robot movement. The
third on robot-human movement interaction...
Human Movement
Earthly organisms are highly relational; each
animal and plant species has evolved complex systems of communication
through movement and language, to assist in its survival. These systems
are often interdependent; in many cases multiple species share similar
vocabularies for interpreting environmental cues at basic levels.
Nowhere is this truer than in the fight-flight-freeze systems that all
species use to respond to potential and real threats. The ability to
respond to danger cues in the environment through these systems has in
part determined the survivability of every organism living today. Some
animal species have evolved systems of intercommunication that feature
more sophisticated responses to social and environmental cues. This is
particularly (though not exclusively) true of humans.
Human learning through relationships has been described as sociogenic.
The complex theory of sociogenesis is described well in this paper
published by the Max Planck Institute. Entitled ‘Sociogenesis and
Cooperation’ it outlines thoughts on collective intentionality of groups
of humans and animals and how these arise from social environments. The
article does a far better job than I could in defining the features of
this phenomenon:
The ability to interpret and respond to
environmental cues is automatic in most species through hard-wired
reflexes (involuntary spontaneous movements in response to a stimulus).
Examples of these in human infants are grasping and sucking. The
development of a more sophisticated system of movement language,
however, depends on a lengthy developmental process in humans. Human
movement ‘programming-language’ has evolved over hundreds of thousands
of years and contains within it patterns of learning from other animals,
insects, and less complex organisms from which we are descended. This
programming-language (genetics), is not a blueprint for later behavior,
but requires a complex and stable series of environmental cues
(feedback) in order to express a full range of behavioral outcomes over
time. This is the gene-environment system.
The human nervous system facilitates the
development of complex social communication via its central nervous
system (CNS) and specifically, its brain architecture. A recently
discovered feature of human brain architecture that has received
widespread scientific attention are ‘mirror neurons.’ Mirror neurons are
brain cells that facilitate human social development through
brain-environment interactions beginning in infancy. When an infant
looks into its mother’s face and smiles and the mother smiles back,
mirror neurons are activated. This ‘mirror interaction’ encourages the
baby to smile more in order to receive a warm positive response from its
caregiver on whom it is dependant for its survival.
Adult human social interactions are often marked by
smooth, nuanced movements that are often employed largely unconsciously
to communicate mood states, messages, and stances that are not
expressed through verbal language. Mastery of the range of such
movements (which are required to communicate effectively with other
humans throughout life) can be thwarted early in life by abusive or
dysfunctional nurturing patterns, certain early environmental
conditions, and organic brain conditions such as autism. Severe, chronic
and early abuse can produce delayed and frustrated motor development in
otherwise ‘normally’ developing children (I use the quotes because so
much of this information is new and under-tested--also scientific bias
and labels used to describe what is 'normal' and 'normal functioning').
Psychiatrist Bruce Perry who works with severely traumatized children
suffering from early neglect, relates the difficulty of trying to teach
nuanced social skills to those whose brains were not properly stimulated
by caregivers in his book, The Boy Who was Raised as a Dog. Helping one
child, ‘Connor’ who was trying to learn how to relate to his adolescent
peers” Dr Perry relates:
“Body language and social cues were
unintelligible to Connor: they simply didn’t register. Working with
Connor, it hit me over and over again how sophisticated and subtle much
of human communication is. I told him for example, that people find eye
contact engaging during a social interaction, so it is important to look
at people when you listen to them and when you talk to them. He agreed
to try it, but this resulted in him staring fixedly at me, just as he’d
formerly fixed his gaze on the floor. I said, “Well, you don’t want to
look at people all the time.” “Well, when do I look at them?” He wanted
to know exactly how long to look.”
Fear responses, reflexes, and other less subtle
movement patterns, are examples of motor structures we share with lower
animals, insects, and less complex organisms. These are triggered by
responses from much older parts of our brain such as the brain stem and
lower and midbrain regions. Hyper vigilance, startle response, and other
primitive responses to danger and stressors are those we share with
many beings. They represent some of the foundations of movement itself.
Body-Mind Centering, a therapeutic practice that
focuses on developmental movement, draws its theory from the study of
motor development. Here is an article from the organization's website.
You can find articles on reflexes, age-appropriate movement patterns,
touch-therapy, etc...here:
In my next blog entry I will chat about how the
first animatronic robots, and how their programming resulted in movement
that resembled our insect ancestors...
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