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Specialization of the Motor System in Infancy: From Broad Tuning to Selectively Specialized Purposeful Actions
- Source :
-
Developmental Science . Jul 2017 20(4). - Publication Year :
- 2017
-
Abstract
- In executing purposeful actions, adults select sufficient and necessary limbs. But infants often move goal-irrelevant limbs, suggesting a developmental process of motor specialization. Two experiments with 9- and 12-month-olds revealed gradual decreases in extraneous movements in non-acting limbs during unimanual actions. In Experiment 1, 9-month-olds produced more extraneous movements in the non-acting hand/arm and feet/legs than 12-month-olds. In Experiment 2, analysis of the spatiotemporal dynamics of infants' movements revealed developmental declines in the spatiotemporal coupling of movements between acting and non-acting arms. We also showed that the degree of specialization in infants' unimanual actions is associated with individual differences in motor experience and visual attention, indicating the experience-dependent and broad functional nature of these developmental changes. Our study provides important new insights into motor development: as in cognitive domains, motor behaviours are initially broadly tuned to their goal, becoming progressively specialized during the first year of life.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1467-7687
- Volume :
- 20
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- ERIC
- Journal :
- Developmental Science
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- EJ1143837
- Document Type :
- Journal Articles<br />Reports - Research
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12409