Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 6, 2026

Frame-by-Frame Video Analysis of Idiosyncratic Reach-to-Grasp Movements in Humans
10:51

Frame-by-Frame Video Analysis of Idiosyncratic Reach-to-Grasp Movements in Humans

Published on: January 15, 2018

The development of grasping comprehension in infancy: covert shifts of attention caused by referential actions

Moritz M Daum1, Gustaf Gredebäck

  • 1Department of Psychology, Research Group "Infant Cognition and Action", Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstrasse 1A, 04103 Leipzig, Germany. moritz.daum@cbs.mpg.de

Experimental Brain Research
|November 18, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Infants aged 5 months and older can shift their attention based on observed hand grasping actions. This ability to follow goal-directed movements develops alongside the infant

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Infant Perception

Background:

  • Understanding how infants perceive and react to goal-directed actions is crucial for developmental studies.
  • The development of attention and its modulation by observed actions in early infancy remains an active area of research.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the onset of infants' attention shifts in response to observed goal-directed manual grasping actions.
  • To determine the age at which infants' attention is modulated by the direction of observed grasping.
  • To differentiate between attention shifts triggered by biological grasping versus mechanical actions.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized an eye-tracking paradigm to record infants' gaze shifts.
  • Presented 3-, 5-, and 7-month-old infants with static images of a grasping hand and a subsequent target.
  • Compared gaze shift latency between congruent and incongruent target locations relative to the grasping direction.
  • Introduced a mechanical claw as a control in a second experiment.

Main Results:

  • A significant congruency effect, indicating attention modulation, was observed in infants from 5 months of age.
  • Infants' gaze shifts were faster when the target location was congruent with the grasping direction.
  • The observed congruency effect was specific to the biological grasping hand and did not extend to a mechanical claw.

Conclusions:

  • The study identifies the emergence of covert attention shifts in response to manual actions around 5 months of age.
  • Findings suggest that infants' attention is modulated by the goal-directed nature of observed grasping actions.
  • The results link the development of attention to observed manual actions with the onset of infant manual grasping capabilities.

More Related Videos

Defining the Role Of Language in Infants' Object Categorization with Eye-tracking Paradigms07:31

Defining the Role Of Language in Infants' Object Categorization with Eye-tracking Paradigms

Published on: February 8, 2019

Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization05:35

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

Related Concept Videos

Piaget's Stage 1 of Cognitive Development01:14

Piaget's Stage 1 of Cognitive Development

The sensorimotor stage, the initial phase of Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, spans the first two years of a child's life. During this period, infants actively engage with their surroundings, building cognitive awareness through direct interaction with the world. This interaction is primarily based on sensory perception and motor actions, allowing infants to gradually understand basic physical properties and predict how objects interact within their environment.
Exploration...
Language Development01:22

Language Development

Children master language quickly and with relative ease, supported by both biological predisposition and reinforcement. B. F. Skinner (1957) proposed that language is learned through reinforcement, while Noam Chomsky (1965) argued that language acquisition mechanisms are biologically determined.
The critical period for language acquisition suggests that the ability to acquire language is at its peak early in life. As people age, this proficiency decreases. Language development begins very...
The Nativist Approach01:21

The Nativist Approach

The nativist approach to infant cognitive development proposes that infants are born with inherent knowledge structures that allow them to interpret the world almost immediately. This perspective contrasts with earlier developmental theories, such as those proposed by Jean Piaget, which emphasized a more gradual acquisition of cognitive abilities through interaction with the environment. One key concept in this approach is object permanence — the understanding that objects continue to exist...
Socioemotional Development during Infancy01:30

Socioemotional Development during Infancy

Socio-emotional development in infancy is primarily shaped by early emotional responses and social connections, with temperament playing a central role. Temperament refers to the consistent patterns in an individual's emotional and behavioral responses, observable even in infancy. By examining temperament, researchers can better understand an infant's unique ways of interacting with the world, influencing subsequent personality and socio-emotional growth.
Primary Temperament Types
Stella Chess...
Piaget's Stage 3 of Cognitive Development01:17

Piaget's Stage 3 of Cognitive Development

During Piaget's concrete operational stage, from ages 7 to 11, children exhibit a marked increase in logical thinking skills, specifically in relation to tangible, real-world events. This stage is characterized by the development of several essential cognitive concepts, including conservation, reversibility, and classification, all of which support the child's evolving capacity for structured thought.
Conservation and Constancy of Quantity
A significant cognitive milestone in the concrete...
Piaget's Stage 2 of Cognitive Development01:14

Piaget's Stage 2 of Cognitive Development

The preoperational stage, the second of Jean Piaget's four stages of cognitive development, spans approximately ages 2 to 7 and is characterized by the emergence of symbolic thinking. During this stage, children use language, images, and symbols to represent objects and concepts, enabling them to engage in imaginative and pretend play. This symbolic thinking supports children's ability to perform make-believe actions, such as imagining a broom as a horse or their hand as a phone, blending...