Preliminary evidence of an association between spontaneous kicking and learning in infants between 3-4 months of age

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Updated: Dec 5, 2025

Quantifying Learning in Young Infants: Tracking Leg Actions During a Discovery-learning Task
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Quantifying Learning in Young Infants: Tracking Leg Actions During a Discovery-learning Task

Published on: June 1, 2015

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Chao-Ying Chen1, Toni Harrison2, Mike McNally3

  • 1Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong.

Brazilian Journal of Physical Therapy
|October 20, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Infant kicking patterns, like unilateral kicking, correlate with learning abilities. Early movement experiences and feedback are vital for infant motor development and cognitive growth.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental neuroscience
  • Motor control in infants
  • Infant learning and cognition

Background:

  • Infant kicking timing and coordination may support learning and cognitive development.
  • Understanding spontaneous kicking is key to infant motor skill acquisition.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine spontaneous infant kicking.
  • To associate kicking changes during a learning task with spontaneous kicking in typically developing infants.

Main Methods:

  • 3D motion capture analyzed infant kicking parameters (inter-limb, intra-limb, spatiotemporal).
  • A mobile paradigm assessed learning via kicking-induced reinforcement.
  • Statistical analyses included Friedman tests and Spearman's rank correlation.

Main Results:

  • A negative correlation was found between unilateral kicking and kicking rate during extinction.
  • A trend suggested a positive correlation between hip-ankle joint dissociation and learning acquisition.

Conclusions:

  • Exploratory kicking behaviors linked to visual/auditory feedback may reflect lower extremity movement control.
  • External feedback can enhance infant motor development and learning.
  • Further research is needed on motor behaviors' role in broader infant development.
Abstract

Keywords:
3D motion captureChildrenDevelopmentExplorativeKinematics

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