André Bullinger

SPACE, ORGANISM AND OBJECTS, A PIAGETIAN APPROACH

For the adult a physical object is usually defined by its boundaries, its unity, and its solidity as well as by its spatio-temporal continuity. This definition implies that not only the object is represented, but also space, and that a representation of the own body is situated in this space.

Place et rôle de l’équilibre sensoritonique chez l’enfant d’âge scolaire

Resume L’activite graphomotrice requiert une maitrise tonicoposturale et des habiletes praxiques. L’analyse des conditions d’un equilibre sensoritonique met en evidence d’une part le role des flux sensoriels et d’autre part l’appui necessaire sur le milieu humain. Les representations relatives a l’organisme permettent la gestion des points d’appuis et des mouvements utiles a l’activite d’ecriture.

Recording system of infant oral response during regular feeding session

The sucking response is often used as a dependent variable in the study of infant behavior. Nevertheless, few attempts have been made to systematically investigate sucking within the context in which this response gets its original significance and adaptive function: nutrition. This might come partially from a lack of technical devices to make this kind of investigation feasible, without interfering with the bonding atmosphere that usually takes place between baby and caretaker during feeding sessions. A system has been designed to record the oral response of the infant during bottle-feeding. The system consists of a portable and otherwise convenient device mounted on a standard bottle that allows study of this type of response within the familiar environment of the bottle-fed baby, avoiding the usual laboratory constraints (Figure 1). The device is constructed as follows: Four strain gauges are connected to form a Wheatstone bridge and are glued on both sides of a rubber restraint which is tightened around the circular base of the bottle’s rubber nipple (Figure 2A). The rubber restraint is made of a normal rubber nipple that has been truncated at 10 mm from its base. The connecting order of the strain gauges is indicated in Figure 2B. Figure 2C shows the assembly of the device on a regular bottle. When no pressure is applied upon the nipple, the signal output of the resistance bridge has a null value, thus changing when a positive pressure is applied commensurate with the amount applied. The resulting signal output is amplified, and can be recorded on an FM tape recorder or can drive a graphic chart display. Two output signals can be recorded via the amplifier: (a) the AC conzponent (Figure 3A), which corresponds to the signal one can obtain by using

The Sensorimotor Nature of the Infant Visual System

For almost a century, oculomotor activity has been a privileged area of experimentation for the psychologist. Technical advances over the past few decades have alleviated many of the previous constraints, allowing access to younger and younger subjects in much less uncomfortable situations. The technology surrounding the recording and analysis of eye movements has often been the primary motivation for much of this research, and the theoretical framework within which these studies are carried out, and which allows the results to be interpreted, may often be deceptive. We will attempt, in this discussion, to identify some of the cognitive problems underlying oculomotor activity.