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Infants return to two-handed reaching when they are learning to walk

Daniela Corbetta1, Kathryn E Bojczyk

  • 1Department of Health and Kinesiology, Purdue University, 1362 Lambert, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA. dcorbetta@sla.purdue.edu

Journal of Motor Behavior
|March 7, 2002
PubMed

Insights

Infants temporarily increase two-handed reaching after learning to walk independently. This reaching pattern shifts as their balance improves, indicating motor skill development is experience-dependent.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Motor Control
  • Infant Motor Development

Background:

  • Infants transition to independent walking around one year of age.
  • This transition involves significant changes in motor control and interlimb coordination.
  • Previous research has explored reaching behaviors before and after walking onset.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if infants revert to two-handed reaching upon initiating independent walking.
  • To examine the longitudinal changes in reaching patterns and interlimb coordination during the walking transition.
  • To understand the relationship between developing locomotion and reaching behavior.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study of 9 infants during their transition to upright locomotion.
  • Weekly screening of reaching responses and interlimb coordination in three adaptive tasks.
  • Observation of motor behaviors before, during, and after the onset of independent walking.

Main Results:

  • Infants exhibited adaptive reaching responses before walking onset.
  • A significant increase in two-handed reaching responses was observed after walking onset.
  • Two-handed reaching declined as infants developed better balance control.

Conclusions:

  • The return to two-handed reaching in infants is dependent on their walking experience.
  • This phenomenon highlights the integration of new motor skills with existing cognitive and motor repertoires.
  • Motor skill acquisition, like walking, influences and modifies earlier behaviors such as reaching.

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