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Published on: March 4, 2014
Effect of Short-Term Training on Reaching Behavior in Infants: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial
Andréa Baraldi Cunha1, Michele A Lobo2, Elena Kokkoni2
1a Department of Physical Therapy , Federal University of São Carlos , Brazil.
Insights
Short-term reaching training rapidly improved infant reaching skills, increasing object contacts and hand-eye coordination. This highlights the potential for timely early interventions to enhance motor development in babies.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Motor Learning
- Pediatric Physical Therapy
Background:
- Infant reaching is a crucial developmental milestone.
- Understanding the plasticity of early motor behaviors is essential for optimizing interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of brief, targeted training on the reaching behavior of infants.
- To determine if short-term intervention can accelerate the refinement of reaching skills.
Main Methods:
- A randomized controlled trial involving 30 healthy infants at the onset of reaching.
- Infants were assigned to either a reaching training group or a social control group.
- Behavioral assessments were conducted pre-training, and after 1 and 3 training sessions over 2 days.
Main Results:
- The training group showed a significant increase in object contact frequency.
- Reaches became shorter, smoother, and hand positioning improved post-training.
- These adaptive changes occurred rapidly after minimal training sessions.
Conclusions:
- Short-term training can quickly enhance infant reaching skills by facilitating the exploration of existing movement repertoires.
- Early interventions can be effective when timed appropriately to capitalize on rapid adaptive changes in infant behavior.
- Further research is needed to optimize the timing and delivery of early developmental interventions.
Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to test the effect of short-term training on reaching behavior in infants at the onset of reaching. The study was a single-blind, parallel group design, randomized controlled clinical trial. Thirty healthy infants were randomly assigned to a social control group (n = 15) or a reaching training group (n = 15). Infants began the study up to 3 days after the onset of reaching and were assessed three times across 2 days: pretraining (before training), posttraining 1 (after 1 session of training), and posttraining 2 (after 3 sessions of training). The reaching training group received 3 sessions of training by a physical therapist while the control group received a similar amount of time sitting in the therapist's lap. The data were analyzed using repeated-measures analyses of variance, and independent-samples tests with Bonferroni adjustments. Short-term training resulted in increased frequency of object contacts, shorter and smoother reaches, and improved hand positioning. The few short training sessions likely provided opportunities for infants to explore and learn to select movements from their existing movement repertoire. These results demonstrate that adaptive changes in infants' novel behaviors can emerge rapidly, and highlight the need for increased understanding of how to most effectively time early interventions.
