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Telling Apart Motor Noise and Exploratory Behavior, in Early Development
1School of Psychology, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom.
Frontiers in Psychology
|October 30, 2018
Summary
Infants
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Motor Control
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Infants exhibit babbling and reaching behaviors that suggest active exploration.
- Distinguishing exploration from immature motor control is challenging.
- Movement variability may be key to understanding early learning.
Purpose of the Study:
- To differentiate active infant exploration from immature motor system activity.
- To propose increased motor activity and variability as indicators of information gathering.
- To explore the role of movement variability in early learning.
Main Methods:
- Focus on evidence of increased motor activity and variability in infants when seeking new information.
- Analyzing mechanisms that generate movement variability.
- Investigating how variability in motor acts contributes to learning.
Main Results:
- Infants increase motor activity and variability when presented with opportunities to gather new information.
- Movement variability, in various forms, can be exploited for learning.
- Contextual factors modulate movement variability in infants.
Conclusions:
- Increased motor activity and variability in infants signal active exploration and information gathering.
- Movement variability is a crucial, yet understudied, component of early learning.
- Further research is needed to fully understand the mechanisms and contextual influences on infant motor variability.
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