The Three Consecutive Groups of Reflexesand their relationship to normal child development :-

1. Intra-uterine reflexes

Duration: throughout the development in the womb approximately six weeks after conception until a short period after birth.

Action: curling and uncurling movements of limbs and spine.

Purpose: a primitive (animal based) defence mechanism instigating withdrawal from noxious and unsafe stimuli.

Source: governed by nerve cells in the spinal cord.

1. Primitive reflexes

Duration:  from the last stage of pregnancy just before the birth [in a full term baby], dissipating between the age of 6 – 12 months.

Purpose: assists the baby in the process of being born and early survival.

Source:  the brain stem

Action: suckling, breathing, gripping, blinking etc.

• Postural reflexes

Duration:  these reflexes develop between birth to 3 ½ years and should remain for life.

Purpose: automated systems of balance and movement.

Source: sub/pre-conscious memory systems in midbrain and cerebellum with the exception of eye movements, which are controlled from the cortex.

Action:  rolling, sitting, and crawling, walking, running, dancing,

vocalising and talking. (Goddard, 2004:24)

The new born baby is thought to be exclusively controlled by automatic reflexes associated with issues of birth and early survival.  ThesePrimitive Reflexes provide basic motor movements that activate the baby’s sensory motor-neurons and initiate subconscious muscular movements associated with survival. Some examples of this are: the breathing reflex, the light reflex, the suckling reflex for feeding, the Palmar (grasp ) reflex. 

Primitive Reflexes:–

The Breathing Reflex

The tradition of holding the new born baby upside down and slapping him/her on the back probably triggers the baby’s ‘moro’ startle reflex.  This reflex makes the baby’s arms and legs open out and the lungs expand with a rapid intake of breath.  After a moment of freeze the newborn baby will usually cry out and try to return to a more natural curved foetal position.  In the past it would seem midwives have been comforted to see the newborn baby’s strong illustration of life.  However, Doman’s (1974) research illustrated that the human body has a breathing reflex which is stimulated by certain levels of carbon dioxide in the lungs.  Carbon dioxide levels can only be high if the oxygen levels drop dramatically and create a risk of damage to brain cells due to lack of oxygen. Doman discovered that the breathing reflex could be triggered when a person was asked to breathe in and out of a small bag.  He used this breathing reflex to successfully exercise respiratory movements in polio victims; re-training their body to develop normal muscular breathing movements that had previously been paralysed. He then went on to use this masking technique ‘to improve the chest capacity and breathing of the brain injured children. More recently this process has been successfully used to help asthma patients. Doman’s research also appears to support the more recent attitude within midwifery, that the baby will take its first breath naturally and if help is needed, this will automatically be provided by the breathing reflex. (Doman,1974:97-98,101)

Example. A few years ago the author was involved in an accident that damaged the bones, organs and lungs in the thoracic cavity.  The damage was so severe that my normal breathing movements were no longer invoked either consciously or subconsciously, thinking that her life was about to end, she tried to chant her spiritual mantras and found that all the while she was chanting she could gain enough breath to sustain her life. Thus, it was that the author invoked the breathing reflex at a time when the lungs were damaged and unable to function normally. The pro-longed gentle out-breaths needed for sustained chanting, probably created additional oxygen deprivation and thereby stimulated the breathing reflex. On this occasion it was several hours before natural breathing was able to establish a minimum oxygen level.  Subsequently, in hospital she used an oxygen mask for ten day’s whilst the lung tissue repaired enough to sustain an adequate absorption of oxygen through normal breathing.

The light reflex

This protects the newborn baby’s delicate eyes from bright lights, the pupils dilates almost instantaneously.  When this reflex is retained beyond the appropriate developmental stage, the young child may show the following signs, wanting to sleep with the light on to avoid the inability to adjust from dark to light and light to dark, appropriately. The child may also illustrate high levels of anxiety for no obvious reason. (Downing J Institute Undated) 

The suckling reflex

This directs the strong muscular movements within the mouth cavity which ensures successful suckling on the mother’s nipple.  When a child is born with malformed physical structures associated with the mouth, this reflex may not bring about a successful suckling action.

When this reflex is retained beyond the time of its appropriate use, a child may illustrate excessive and inappropriate suckling activities; such as sucking hair and clothing or small soft items. It has been found that consciously chosen sucking activities such as drinking through a straw (a crazy straw provides good motivation for required conscious development of mouth movements), and blowing activities (blowing up balloons etc.) helps to release an abnormal retention of this reflex. It has also been found that a retained sucking reflex is often associated with difficulties relating to speech development and toilet training. Therefore, sucking and blowing activities have also been seen to help children develop continence as well as the fine motor skills required for good speech and pronunciation. (Handle Institute)

The Palma ‘grasp’ reflex

This enables the newborn to grasp so tightly that the baby can hold onto a washing line without falling (please do not try this!).  This reflex should be inhibited by the age of three months.  The baby’s first signs of consciously organized movement can be seen when they experiment with ‘grasp – hold – release’ themes of play.  The child is learning to inhibit the Palma ‘grasp’ reflex and thereby control his hand movements. The initial ‘grasp – hold – release’ process is fundamental to all future exploration and experimentation. It facilitates the process ‘stimulus – organism – response’ described by E. Stones, who cites the work of ‘Skinner’.

Skinner describes reflexes as ‘stimulus-response’ reactions and ‘stimulus-organism-response’ as learning activities, where ‘organism’ means the person and his behaviour are ‘viewed as one single system’(Stones E. 1966: 63) that incorporates an element of conscious will.

Gardner cites that Piaget describes the ‘organism’ aspect of the sensory-motor period of exploration as ‘assimilation and accommodation’ (Gardner H. 1996: 105). In relation to children’s learning ‘organism‘ describes the complex brain activity that ultimately directs the ‘response’. Thus, ‘stimulus-organism-response’, is far more personalised and more complex than the primitive ‘stimulus-response’ reflexes.

The Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex (ATNR)

This reflex is thought to help the baby make any required rotational movements during the birth. After the baby is born this reflex will turn the head to the side and the corresponding arm will stretch outward. This reflex helps ensure that the baby’s airways are not obstructed when placed on his/her tummy. It also encourages awareness and exploration through touch within the field of the baby’s reach and exercises the neck and arm muscles.

Tonic Labyrinth Reflex (TLR)

At birth this reflex is a whole body straightening or curling up activity. It enables the baby to tighten and relax muscles. This develops the baby’s first muscular movements that are working against gravity and thereby helps to develop muscular strength.  This reflex develops the muscles in the neck which aid the baby’s control of the head. After the age of six weeks the baby begins to use the neck muscles to hold the head up, without associated arm and leg movements. ’This mastery of head control is fundamental to later balance, posture and coordination’ (Goddard, 2004: 35)

Eye contact, musical sounds and sweet melodious verbal communication and singing encourage the young baby to take control of his head, so as to gain better focus on the auditory source of stimulation.

By the age of 3 ½ the TLR should be recessive due to the higher neurological development related to automated controls of balance and posture.

‘….if for any reason later reflexes do not develop properly, traces of the TLR can remain active in the older child and have an adverse effect upon basic motor abilities .’ (Goddard, 2004: 39)

When this reflex is retained beyond the developmentally appropriate age a child may have irregular muscle tone (too tight or too floppy) and may be seen holding its head with its hand/s, and adopt strange sitting and standing postures.

1. Moro reflex

The Moro reflex is an instantaneous arousal mechanism, also called the ‘startle’ reflex, which activates adrenalin into the blood and the primitive ‘fight and flight’ reactions.  In the very young child it organises body position and balance until more advanced automated systems have been established.  In emergency situations it initiates crying and/or screaming in order to get attention and assistance.

When playing musical instruments the young child gains the opportunity to create sudden and loud sounds by his own actions.  In this way a child can explore the creation of sounds similar to those that might otherwise cause the moro reflex reaction.  By creating his/her own ‘startling stimulus’ s/he has a pre-warning of the event and is thereby creating the opportunity to consciously override this reflex.  A child is thus highly motivated to retain control of his/her responses (‘stop-start-pause’ exploration) and thereby suppress the fight and flight impulsive behaviour with the desire to control the sounds, e.g. bashing and crashing with spoons, pots and pans, the playing of cymbals, and making sounds as extreme opposites such as the softest and loudest, or the lowest to the highest production of sound. These activities may be very noisy and disturbing to others and especially disturbing for those whose startle response (a retained aspect of the Moro reflex) has been stimulated.

Children who have a retained Moro reflex are likely to illustrate the following dispositions: general impatience and irritability, avoidance of intimate physical contact, lack of focus and concentration, desire to control, hyper-anxiety associated with new situations and high stress levels when in situations of transition.  For the older child a retained Moro Reflex may be illustrated by the following dispositions:-

• Over reactive, disturbed and/or distracted by environmental stimuli that is unpredictable and/or not related to their own situation and activity.
• Extreme forms of physical avoidance and withdrawal, for example: under the table, inside the curtains, under bedding, or up a tree.
• High sensitivity to smell and strong fixations related to food.
• An inability to relate appropriately to non-verbal and/or spoken communication.
• They may only remember the last words spoken and have exceptional difficulty focusing when others are talking nearby.
• Their own language may be strongly echolalic and/or stereotyped.

Releasing Primitive Reflexes & the Development of Postural Reflexes

By the age of 3 ½ the earliest primitive reflexes should be recessive due to higher neurological development related to automated movement and associated balance and posture.

If for any reason later reflexes do not develop properly, traces of the earlier primitive reflexes can remain active in the older child and thereby have an adverse effect upon normal development of basic motor abilities. (Goddard, 2004: 39)

When a reflex is retained beyond the developmentally appropriate age a child may have irregular muscle tone (too tight or too floppy) and may be seen holding its head with its hand/s, and to develop strange sitting and standing postures.

The Moro reflex

The Moro reflex is an instantaneous arousal mechanism, also called the ‘startle’ reflex, which activates adrenalin into the blood and the primitive ‘fight and flight’ reactions.  In the very young child it organises body position and balance until more advanced automated systems have been established.  In emergency situations it initiates crying and/or screaming in order to get attention and assistance.

When playing musical instruments the young child gains the opportunity to create sudden and loud sounds by his own actions.  In this way a child can explore the creation of sounds similar to those that might otherwise cause the moro reflex reaction.  By creating his/her own ‘startling stimulus’ s/he has a pre-warning of the event and is thereby creating the opportunity to consciously override this reflex.  A child is thus highly motivated to retain control of his/her responses (‘stop-start-pause’ exploration) and thereby suppress the fight and flight impulsive behaviour with the desire to control the sounds, e.g. bashing and crashing with spoons, pots and pans, the playing of cymbals, and making sounds as extreme opposites such as the softest and loudest, or the lowest to the highest production of sound. These activities may be very noisy and disturbing to others and especially disturbing for those whose startle response (a retained aspect of the Moro reflex) has been stimulated.

Children who have a retained Moro reflex are likely to illustrate the following dispositions: general impatience and irritability, avoidance of intimate physical contact, lack of focus and concentration, desire to control, hyper-anxiety associated with new situations and high stress levels when in situations of transition.  For the older child a retained Moro Reflex may be illustrated by the following dispositions:-

Over reactive, disturbed and/or distracted by environmental stimuli that is unpredictable and/or not related to their own situation and activity.

Extreme forms of physical avoidance and withdrawal, for example: under the table, inside the curtains, under bedding, or up a tree.

High sensitivity to smell and strong fixations related to food.

An inability to relate appropriately to non-verbal and/or spoken communication.

They may only remember the last words spoken and have exceptional difficulty focusing when others are talking nearby.

Their own language may be strongly echolalic and/or stereotyped.

By the age of 3 ½ years all the Primitive Reflexes would normally be superseded by more advanced reflexes, which relate to normal development of posture and balance,

Children who have retained Primitive Reflexes beyond the appropriate stages of development and learning, can be helped to develop voluntary control and more advanced postural reflexes. Successful curative approaches have been associated with: the INPP exercise programme, Eurhythmy, the Alexander technique, the Bowen technique, and the Simple Rocking Method. Some children have been seen to improve through activities associated with sports such as horse riding, swimming and canoeing. There have been many studies illustrating that musical activities improve children’s physical skills of balance and co-ordination and intellectual achievements.

The INPP exercise programme is set to music and songs. It has been very successful, results have shown considerable improvement in children’s subsequent development and learning. (Goddard, 2004: 161)

Child’s development through natural play and learning, is presented by the author as the following simple sequence :-

Sensory reception of stimulus —— movement —— balance ——- motor coordination ——- reaction or consciously directed action ——manipulation of the environment (will) ——- expressive presentations through play (creativity).

Informal musical activities seem to have a natural aptitude to embrace a wide criteria and often create very special qualities of focus, joyful enthusiasm and aesthetic pleasure Direct association with live musical activities provides children with the following environmental enrichment and development of skills:-

• Stimulates creative and expressive dance movement, encouraging physical balance, gross motor and fine motor control.
• Gives reflective feedback to movement; musical instruments give accurate ‘sound’ reflections to movement. Even the baby’s rattle in the reflex grasp of the very young baby continually and accurately describes every aspect of the baby’s random movements.
• Intimate 1 to 1 sharing, authentic expression of mood and personality through musical conversation.
• Motivates discipline and coordination of breath and vocal sounds.
• Language development through the art of singing.
• Auditory discrimination across a wide spectrum of sound frequencies.
• Auditory awareness and integration of patterns and sequencing.
• Self-directed expression of mood and personality.
• The motor development of postural reflexes through balance and coordination skills associated with dance.
• Proprioceptive learning; this is the knowledge of body movements from an inner kinaesthetic awareness and a knowledge of the body’s physical relationship with the environment. For example, with eyes closed there is an awareness of where an outstretched arm is in relation to the rest of the body and the surrounding environment and how far the outstretched arm will reach beyond the body; and how to bring two parts of the body to meet together accurately, e.g. touching one’s nose and clapping.

An environment that supports children’s natural play and learning would need to provide appropriate facilitates to accommodate each individual child’s:-

• Physical and emotional safety
• Imitative play
• Repetition of schema
• Expression of creativity
• Exploration and experimentation
• Social interaction
• Self-directed learning
• Authentic personal choices.

Chris Athey suggests that when an adult identifies a theme of activity (the schema the child is working with) and then enriches the child’s opportunities within this learning style, this will enhance the child’s cognitive development.

The quality of musical activity available to a child or children is intrinsically dependent upon the adult carer’s ability to create suitably equipped, supportive and safe environments. The aspects of sound production may, in busy/confined and/or closely populated living spaces, demand a special effort of organisation and co-operation. One must hope therefore that adult carers can establish spaces that encourage a child to enjoy musical experience without the need to compete with noisy background noises and other forms of external interference. The quality of a musical experience is more important than the quantity of sound produced.

Children who have been encouraged to perform musical activities in a suitably supportive environment are noted for their general ability to focus and persevere when presented with new areas of learning.

The chart below illustrates how music can be an intrinsic part of everyday learning and communication when integrated appropriately with a young child’s multi-sensory learning environment.

In conclusion the author would like to propose the hypothesis that music is a child’s first language. That musical activities and interactions are especially important during the early years because they provide the earliest foundations for learning, memory and comprehension. Giving young children direct association with real (live) musical activities provides an enriched multisensory environment. Thus, musical activities support and encourage natural play and learning in a way that cannot be provided within non-musical environments or electronic production or recordings.