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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 27, 2026

Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization

Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization

Published on: April 19, 2017

Postural and object-oriented experiences advance early reaching, object exploration, and means-end behavior.

Michele A Lobo¹, James C Galloway

¹Motor Behavior Laboratory, Department of Physical Therapy, 329 McKinly Lab Building, The University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA. malobo@udel.edu

Child Development

|November 29, 2008

Summary

Infants

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Area of Science:

Developmental Psychology
Infant Motor Development
Cognitive Development

Background:

Early infant development involves complex interactions between motor skills and cognitive abilities.
Understanding how different experiences influence infant behavior is crucial for developmental research.
Reaching, exploration, and means-end behaviors are key indicators of early cognitive and motor progress.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the impact of distinct experiential contexts on infant motor and cognitive development.
To compare the effects of social, postural, and object-oriented experiences on infant behaviors.
To determine which type of experience most effectively promotes the development of reaching, exploration, and means-end behaviors.

Main Methods:

Assessed 9- to 21-week-old infants (N=42) over 3 weeks using social, postural, or object-oriented experiences.
Utilized video analysis to meticulously record object contacts, mouthing, fingering, attention, and affect.
Employed trained coders to ensure reliable and objective behavioral assessments.

Main Results:

Both postural and object-oriented experiences significantly advanced infant reaching and haptic object exploration compared to social experiences.
Object-oriented experiences demonstrated the greatest positive effect on the development of means-end behavior.
Infants in the postural and object-oriented groups showed enhanced development in key behavioral domains.

Conclusions:

Infant behavioral development is a multifactorial process influenced by various experiential subsystems.
Targeting different developmental subsystems can similarly advance novel behavior acquisition in infants.
Prior active object exploration experiences can enhance early information processing and knowledge development.