FAU Advanced Health Assessment Practice Test

The term that describes the developmental pattern of gross motor skills from head to tail is cephalocaudal. This concept illustrates the progression of motor development beginning from the head down through the body. In infants, for instance, they first gain control of head movements before developing strength and coordination in the neck and upper body, which further leads to control of the trunk and eventually the legs. This pattern signifies that development occurs in a descending order, where skills closer to the head (such as reaching and grasping) are exhibited before those associated with the lower body (like sitting up and walking).

Proximodistal refers to development that occurs from the center of the body outward to the extremities, indicating that the trunk develops before the arms and legs. Mesodistal and cephaloproximal are not standard terms used in developmental psychology and do not accurately describe recognized patterns of motor skill development. Understanding these concepts is crucial for recognizing the typical progression of motor skills in children, which aids in assessing their developmental milestones.