Role of Early Childhood Reflexes in the Psychomotor Development of a Child, and in Learning

Background:

The aim of this paper is to present the occurrence of primitive reflexes in children with learning difficulties, and, in particular, to establish whether these are the vestigial forms of primitive reflexes occurring in the case of children at school age suffering from learning difficulties.

Material/Methods:

The research group included 27 school children, including 11 male attendees and 16 female children (the average age: between 7.0 and 18.2 years) from the Complex of Educational and Care Facilities in Cracow suffering from learning difficulties and with different intelligence quotient levels. In the investigation, applied was the diagnosing program developed by S. Goddard and intended to be used with children above the age of 7 years; this being composed of large muscle coordination tests and tests of balance, ones investigating the reflexes, and also of the Tansley Test and the Bender-Gestalt Test.

Results:

It was found that the vestigial primitive reflexes occur in the case of school-age children suffering from academic difficulties. Those reflexes do not decrease simultaneously with the passage of time, but rather become more intensified. In children with low IQ, the vestigial form of preserved primitive reflexes occurs more frequently, and are more intensified. The number of primitive reflexes is not on the decrease simultaneously with the passage of time in the two studied groups. In the case of children whose intelligence quotient is at a lower level, the vestigial form of primitive reflexes occurs more frequently and is more intensified.

Conclusions:

In school-age children with learning difficulties, primitive reflexes occur in their vestigial form. Those reflexes do not decrease simultaneously with the passage of time, and it rather seems that they have become more intensified.