This paper summarizes the hypotheses originally preregistered in Fear of Falling Down: A Biomechanical and Developmental Preregistration Integrating the DOVE ACEs Framework (DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/NUQG9). The preregistration proposed that fear of falling, postural organization, gait mechanics, and fall risk may be linked through developmental adaptations established early in life. Rather than viewing falls solely as a consequence of aging, weakness, or balance impairment, the framework suggested that locomotor behavior may reflect long-term strategies developed in response to perceived instability. This paper provides a narrative overview of the original hypotheses, including the concept that fear of falling may function as a lifelong regulator of movement behavior and the introduction of the DOVE ACEs framework (Developmental Overwhelm, Vulnerability, and Exclusion). The paper also reviews how these ideas were subsequently expanded through theoretical work on movement as implicit memory, developmental biomechanics, biotensegrity, fall risk across the lifespan, and locomotor efficiency. Importantly, this paper does not present new experimental data. Rather, it serves as a scholarly summary of a publicly available preregistration and documents the evolution of a broader conceptual research program intended to generate future empirical investigation. Related foundational preregistration: Fear of Falling Down: A Biomechanical and Developmental Preregistration Integrating the DOVE ACEs FrameworkDOI: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/NUQG9 This manuscript is a conceptual and theoretical preprint that has not undergone formal peer review.
Austin Gontang (Mon,) studied this question.