The Cultural Context of Motor Development: Postural Manipulations in the Daily Life of Bambara Babies (Mali)

Abstract

The present study is the first exploratory step of a larger investigation focusing on the influence of culturally-related caretaking practices on motor development. Four Bambara infants between 4 and 23 weeks of age were observed for two full days with a paper-and-pencil event-recording technique and with video films. We took down the infant's 'postural time-table', i.e., the different spatial positions experienced during everyday life (prone, supine, sitting, standing...) and the different postural adjustments required by maternal manipulations during caretaking and transportation.