TY - JOUR
T1 - Evidence of motor planning in infant reaching behavior
AU - Claxton, Laura J.
AU - Keen, Rachel
AU - McCarty, Michael E.
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank Neil Berthier for his help with the statistical analyses. This research was based on a master's thesis by Laura J. Claxton and was presented at the International Conference on Infant Studies in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, April 2002. This research was supported by National Institutes of Health Grant HD27714 and by a Research Scientist Award from the National Institute of Mental Health (MH00332) to R. Keen (formerly R.K. Clifton).
PY - 2003/7
Y1 - 2003/7
N2 - When adults reach for an object, kinematic measures of their approach movement are affected by what they intend to do after grasping it. We examined whether such future intended actions would be reflected in the approach-to-grasp phase of infant reaching. Twenty-one 10-month-old infants were encouraged to either throw a ball into a tub or fit it down a tube. Kinematic measures of the approach phase of the reach toward the ball were obtained using a motion analysis system. Infants, like adults, reached for the ball faster if they were going to subsequently throw it as opposed to using it in the precision action. The perceptual aspects of the ball were the same and cannot account for these kinematic differences. Infants appear to be planning both segments of their actions in advance. Our findings provide evidence for a level of sophistication in infant motor planning not reported before.
AB - When adults reach for an object, kinematic measures of their approach movement are affected by what they intend to do after grasping it. We examined whether such future intended actions would be reflected in the approach-to-grasp phase of infant reaching. Twenty-one 10-month-old infants were encouraged to either throw a ball into a tub or fit it down a tube. Kinematic measures of the approach phase of the reach toward the ball were obtained using a motion analysis system. Infants, like adults, reached for the ball faster if they were going to subsequently throw it as opposed to using it in the precision action. The perceptual aspects of the ball were the same and cannot account for these kinematic differences. Infants appear to be planning both segments of their actions in advance. Our findings provide evidence for a level of sophistication in infant motor planning not reported before.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0141463660&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/1467-9280.24421
DO - 10.1111/1467-9280.24421
M3 - Article
C2 - 12807409
AN - SCOPUS:0141463660
SN - 0956-7976
VL - 14
SP - 354
EP - 356
JO - Psychological Science
JF - Psychological Science
IS - 4
ER -