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Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization
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The onset of reaching significantly impacts how infants explore both objects and their bodies

Michele A Lobo1, James C Galloway

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

Infant Behavior & Development
|December 25, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Infant reaching development enhances object exploration. Post-reaching onset, babies explore objects and their bodies more, combining familiar actions in novel ways.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental psychology
  • Infant motor development
  • Perceptual-motor integration

Background:

  • Infant exploration is crucial for cognitive development.
  • Understanding the transition from pre-reaching to reaching behaviors is key to understanding early object interaction.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of reaching onset on infant object and body exploration.
  • To describe changes in exploratory behaviors before and after the emergence of reaching.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study of typically developing infants from 2 to 5 months.
  • Behavioral coding of infant hand interactions with objects versus bare hands.
  • Analysis of exploratory behaviors and their frequency and combinations.

Main Results:

  • Significant increases in most exploratory behaviors were observed after reaching onset.
  • Exploratory behaviors increased for both object interaction and self-exploration (bare hands).
  • Infants adapted self-exploration behaviors for object interaction, increasing frequency and unique combinations.

Conclusions:

  • Object exploration begins early, with infants selectively performing behaviors on bodies and objects.
  • Reaching onset significantly boosts exploration of both objects and the infant's own body.
  • Infants modify and amplify self-exploration behaviors for novel object interactions.

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