They use gestures to accompany what they say and to express their emotions. Little is known about how children learn to use their gestural and postural abilities to express concepts and ideas through movement. Traditionally, the body and the mind are considered two separate entities, and intelligence and thought have been thought of as only relating to properties of the mind. However, research in the neuroscience field suggests a different view. The brain does not simply direct the body to do something and the body follows, but there is an interaction between the two.
Cognition is an interaction between the body and mind.
In the past, we have observed children naturalistically in dance movement classes. We are beginning a videotape study of dance movement to better understand how children's kinesthetic abilities develop from the early to the middle years of childhood. This year, we will also be looking at the cognitive basis of movement including motor logic and organization as well as kinesthetic memory and awareness. Method Subjects Five different classes and three schools participated in our initial, naturalistic study. One class consisted of children ages 3 and 4, and the other class consisted of children of age 6.