Visual information and object size in infant reaching
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Published on: May 15, 2019
Neil E Berthier1, Renee L Carrico
1University of Massachusetts Amherst, Saint Michael's College, MA, USA. berthier@psych.umass.edu
Insights
Infants use vision to guide their reaching. By 6 months, they rely on vision for corrections, and by 1 year, they reach faster with visual feedback.
Area of Science:
- Developmental psychology
- Motor control
- Infant research
Background:
- The role of vision in infant reaching is debated.
- Previous studies found no effect of visual feedback on reaching in infants under 6 months.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how infants use visual feedback for reaching.
- To determine the age at which visual guidance of reaching emerges.
- To examine the development of reach and grasp planning based on object properties.
Main Methods:
- Tested 6-, 9-, and 12-month-old infants reaching for objects.
- Compared reaching performance in light (with vision) and dark (without vision).
- Analyzed reaching speed, movement time, and effects of target object size.
Main Results:
- Infants reached faster in the dark at 6 months, but faster in the light at 1 year.
- Movement times showed parallel changes to reaching speed.
- Object size influenced reaching speed consistently at 12 months.
Conclusions:
- Vision becomes important for guiding reaching around 6 months of age.
- Reach and grasp planning differentiate based on object size by 9-12 months.
- Younger infants primarily use proprioception and target vision for reach correction.
Abstract:
It has been suggested that the onset of successful reaching in infants is mediated by the onset of an ability to use sight of the hand to make corrective reaches. However, removing vision of the hand in infants younger than 6 months has not been shown to have an effect on reaching onset or kinematics. We investigated the use of vision of the hand by testing 6-, 9-, and 12-month-old infants reaching for objects in the light and in the dark. We found that infants reached faster in the dark at 6 months, and faster in the light at 1 year. Parallel effects were observed in the movement times. Consistent effects of altering target object size on average speed were seen at 12 months. The data support the hypothesis that vision is used by older infants around 6 months-of-age, and that reach and grasp planning differentiate with object size at about 9 and 12 months-of-age. At younger ages reaches are corrected on the basis of proprioceptive information and sight of the target object.
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