Motor control per se is a fundamental aspect of individual adaptive behaviour in the course of ontogeny. In the view of individual development as a multidetermined stochastic process, in which individual and environmental factors are in continuous reciprocal interaction, motor and sensorimotor organization are closely linked to social-interactive and cognitive development. With this knowledge as a starting point, motor development formed a natural theme for the European Science Foundation's Network on Longitudinal Studies on Individual Development (ENLS) when the Coordination Committee of the Network decided on its original programme for future activities.

Although the importance of motor development as a subfield of individual development is well established, there is still a conspicuous lack of systematic empirical studies and the sound knowledge that ensues from this type of research. As far as such studies have been carried out they concern mainly the earliest periods of pre- and postnatal development (up to approximately 2 years of age). Most longitudinal studies have concentrated on clinical follow-ups into preschool and school age of groups at risk (due to pre- or perinatal risk factors). This field of research is also characterized by lack of a theoretical framework to guide research on motor development over a wider age range.