The developing cognitive substrate of sequential action control in 9- to 12-month-olds: evidence for concurrent...

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Infant Motor Control

Background:

• Nine-month-old infants begin performing sequential actions.
• Understanding the acquisition and control of these sequential actions in infants is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how infants acquire and control sequential actions.
• To differentiate between chaining, concurrent, and integrated models of sequential action control.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a novel gaze-contingent eye-tracking paradigm.
• Infants performed two-element occulo-motor action sequences.
• Selective activation of secondary actions assessed interactions with primary actions.

Main Results:

• Twelve-month-olds acquire sequential action through exploration, without complex strategies.
• Behavioral and pupillometric data indicate developing inhibitory mechanisms for ordered performance.
• Concurrent models best explain the observed sequential-action control.

Conclusions:

• Inhibitory mechanisms for ordered action performance emerge between 9 and 12 months of age.
• Infant sequential action control is acquired via exploration and refined by inhibitory processes.
• Concurrent models provide the most accurate framework for understanding infant sequential action control development.