Le Boulch and Da Fonseca: Psychomotor Development Stages
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4. The Psychomotor Dimensions According to J. Le Boulch (Continued)
Physical activity must occupy a prominent place in children's education.
- Environmental scanning and contact with the problem to solve, overcoming inaccuracies to reach automatic stabilization so that these skills can be used unconsciously in new learning.
- Motor learning is the organism's initial positioning relative to the environment.
5. The Psychosociobiological Approximation of V. Da Fonseca
For Da Fonseca, the psychomotor element is essential for accessing higher thought processes.
5. Stages of Child Development According to V. Da Fonseca
The stages are presented below, mapping experiences, cognitive verification, and developmental phases:
| Age Range | Phase | Key Developments |
|---|---|---|
| Birth – 1 Year | Sensory-Motor Phase | Sensory stimulation modalities; Grasping, seeing, feeling, sucking, hearing, and sharing objects; Sequential manipulations; Acquisition of body image. |
| 1 – 2 Years | Pre-Verbal Experience | Mimicry, facial expressions, vocalizations (echolalias); Communication with the immediate environment; Satisfaction of needs through gestures and later words. |
| 2 – 4 Years | Perceptual-Motor Phase | Visuoperceptive acquisitions; Physiognomic integration; Emotional-mimetic expression; Acquisition of the bipedal position; Development of language; Symbolic domain (forms, sizes, directions). |
| 4 – 7.5 Years | Thinking Movement Phase | Perceptual categorization; Spatial and temporal relationships; Causal relationships; Holophrase; Social play; Imitation practice and verbal exploration. |
| 7.5 – 13 Years | Formal Operations | Systematic comparison and analysis; More abstract processes; Epigenesis of the world through magical experience without practice; Understanding the world through more precise and sequentialized observations and retention. |
Further Details on Da Fonseca's Theory
- The ontogenesis of movement begins with the maturational or innate dimension, dominated by Neuromotor Intelligence and tonic-emotional organization.
- This is followed by Sensory-Motor Intelligence (2–6 years), involving motor activities like locomotion, prehension, and suspension (rolling, crawling, walking, running, jumping, climbing, etc.).
- Perceptual-Motor Intelligence relates to the notion of the body, laterality, spatial, and temporal orientation.
- Psychomotor development culminates with intelligence that serves as the basis for General Systems Theory (Von Bertalanffy).