The cephalocaudal principle refers to the general pattern of physical and motoric development followed from infancy into toddlerhood and even early childhood whereby development follows a head-to-toe progression.
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Cephalocaudal means head to toe. As such, the cephalocaudal principle refers to the general pattern of development seen in the earliest years of postnatal development specifically ranging from infancy into toddlerhood. The cephalocaudal principle applies to both physical and functional development. Regarding the prior (i.e., physical development), physical growth in size, weight, and feature differentiation follows this pattern of development [1]. The result of this is best seen in a comparison of the physical features of an infant compared to a toddler. In the case of the latter, the head is generally disproportionately large in comparison to the rest of the body. By the end of the preschool years most children have lost this top heavy appearance as...
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Santrock, J. W. (2005). A topical approach to life-span development (2nd ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill. Google Scholar Download referencesReferences
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Department of Psychiatry, SIU School of Medicine, 901 W. Jefferson St, Springfield, IL, 62702, USA
Edalmarys Santos
Department of Psychiatry, SIU School of Medicine, 901 W. Jefferson St, Springfield, IL, 62702, USA
Chad A. Noggle
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- Edalmarys Santos
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Correspondence to Edalmarys Santos .
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Neurology, Learning and Behavior Center, 230 South 500 East, Suite 100, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84102, USA
Sam Goldstein Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychology MS 2C6, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, 22030, USA
Jack A. Naglieri Ph.D.
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Santos, E., Noggle, C.A. (2011). Cephalocaudal Principle. In: Goldstein, S., Naglieri, J.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Child Behavior and Development. Springer, Boston, MA. //doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-79061-9_494