Infants’ perception and production of crawling and walking movements

doi:10.1017/CBO9781139019484.017

12 - Infants’ perception and production of crawling and walking movements

from Part III - Bodily correspondences

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 October 2011

Petra Hauf and

Michelle Power

Edited by

Virginia Slaughter and

Celia A. Brownell

Show author details

Virginia Slaughter: Affiliation:
University of Queensland
Celia A. Brownell: Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh

Book contents

Get access

Summary

Learning to move from one place to another is a major milestone in infants’ development. First crawling and later walking, infants start to discover and explore the world around them from a new and independent perspective. Now they are able to crawl or walk to reach a desired toy without relying on help. Crawling and walking infants spend about half of their time during the day moving around, but most of the time that infants could move around, they do not (Adolph, 2002). Instead, they also spend time exploring and manipulating objects and watching others do the same. From early on, infants show a distinct preference for objects in motion. They enjoy watching the mobile moving above the crib, and enjoy even more moving the mobile by kicking it. The cat sneaking around or the dog running across the backyard catches their attention and often makes them squeal with glee. Long before infants are actually able to move on their own, they are attentive observers of motion in general and movements performed by others in particular.

Previous research in the area of motor development has focused on the question of when and how infants learn to crawl and walk (Adolph, 2008), while another branch of research has focused on how infants perceive motion (Bertenthal et al., 1984). It has been demonstrated that before six months of age infants discriminate between walking point-light displays (PLDs) and randomly moving dots (Bertenthal et al., 1984, 1987), indicating an early understanding of movements performed by others. Beyond that, it has been suggested that infants are born with a preference for biological motion (Simion et al., 2008). But, the question of whether perception and production of crawling and walking movements are interlinked has been neglected in infant research so far. This is surprising given the fact that a link between the onset of self-locomotion and developmental changes in perception and cognition has been suggested for decades (Gibson, 1988; Piaget, 1953; for a review, see Campos et al., 2000). This notion is further supported by recent research demonstrating that the ability to crawl enhances 9-month-old infants’ flexibility in memory retrieval (Herbert et al., 2007). The onset of crawling and walking also seems to correspond with major advances in social development as indicated by changes in social looking behaviour in relation to motor skills (Clearfield, 2011). In addition, infants need stimulating physical surroundings and warm care-giving to promote active exploration of the environment and proper attainment of developmental motor milestones (Bendersky and Lewis, 1994). But, the questions of how the perception and production of crawling and walking movements are linked to each other and how they influence each other remain open.

Type: Chapter
Information: Early Development of Body Representations , pp. 227 - 246

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139019484.017 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adolph, K. E. 1997 Learning in the development of infant locomotionMonographs of the Society for Research in Child Development 62Google Scholar

Adolph, K. E. 2000 Specificity of learning: Why infants fall over a veritable cliffPsychological Science 11 290Google Scholar

Adolph, K. E. 2002 Learning to keep balanceKail, R.Advances in Child Development and BehaviorAmsterdamElsevier Science

Adolph, K. E. 2005 Learning to learn in the development of actionLockman, J.Reiser, J.Nelson, C. A.Action as an Organizer of Perception and Cognition during Learning and Development: Minnesota Symposium on Child DevelopmentMahwah, NJLawrence Erlbaum Associates

Adolph, K. E. 2008 Learning to moveCurrent Directions in Psychological Science 17 213Google Scholar

Adolph, K. E.Berger, S. 2005 Physical and motor developmentBornstein, M. H.Lamb, M. E.Developmental Science: An Advanced TextbookHillsdale, NJLawrence Erlbaum Associates

Adolph, K. E.Joh, A. S. 2007 Motor development: How infants get into the actSlater, A.Lewis, M.Introduction to Infant DevelopmentNew YorkOxford University Press

Adolph, K. E.Eppler, M. A.Gibson, E. J. 1993 Crawling versus walking infants’ perception of affordances for locomotion over sloping surfacesChild Development: Special Issue on Biodynamics 64 158Google Scholar

Adolph, K. E.Vereijken, B.Denny, M. 1998 Learning to crawlChild Development 69 299Google Scholar

Adolph, K. E.Vereijken, B.Shrout, P. E. 2003 What changes in infant walking and whyChild Development 74 475Google Scholar

Agnetta, B.Rochat, P. 2004 Imitative games by 9-, 14-, and 18-month-old infantsInfancy 6 1Google Scholar

Bayley, N. 2006 Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler DevelopmentSan Antonio, TXHarcourt Assessment

Bendersky, M.Lewis, M. 1994 Environmental risk, biological risk, and developmental outcomeDevelopmental Psychology 30 484Google Scholar

Berger, S. E.Adolph, K. E. 2003 Infants use handrails as tools in a locomotor taskDevelopmental Psychology 39 594Google Scholar

Berger, S. E.Adolph, K. E.Lobo, S. A. 2005 Out of the toolbox: Toddlers differentiate wobbly and wooden handrailsChild Development 76 294Google Scholar

Bertenthal, B. I. 1993 Perception of biomechanical motions by infants: Intrinsic and knowledge-based constraintsGranrud, C.Carnegie Symposium on Cognition: Visual Perception and Cognition in InfancyHillsdale, NJLawrence Erlbaum Associates

Bertenthal, B. I.Proffitt, D. R.Cutting, J. 1984 Infant sensitivity to figural coherence in biomechanical motionsJournal of Experimental Child Psychology 3 213Google Scholar

Bertenthal, B. I.Proffitt, D. R.Kramer, S. J. 1987 The perception of biomechanical motions by infants: Implementation of various processing constraintsJournal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 13 577Google Scholar

Bly, L. 1994 Motor Skills Acquisition in the First YearSan Antonio, TXTherapy Skill Builders

Booth, A. E.Pinto, J.Bertenthal, B. I. 2002 Perception of the symmetrical patterning of human gait by infantsDevelopmental Psychology 38 554Google Scholar

Brass, M.Heyes, C. 2005 Imitation: Is cognitive neuroscience solving the corresponding problem?Trends in Cognitive Science 9 489Google Scholar

Bril, B.Breniere, Y. 1989 Steady-state velocity and temporal structure of gait during the first six months of autonomous walkingHuman Movement Sciences 8 99Google Scholar

Bril, B.Breniere, Y. 1993 Posture and independent locomotion in early childhood: Learning to walk or learning dynamic postural control?Savelsbergh, G. J. P.The Development of Coordination in InfancyAmsterdamElsevier/North Holland

Campos, J. J.Anderson, D. I.Barbu-Roth, M. A.Hubbard, E. M.Hertenstein, M. J.Witherington, D. 2000 Travel broadens the mindInfancy 1 149Google Scholar

Christie, T.Slaughter, V. 2009 Exploring links between sensorimotor and visuospatial body representations in infancyDevelopmental Neuropsychology 34 448Google Scholar

Clearfield, M. W. 2011 Learning to walk changes infants’ social interactionInfant Behavior and Development 34 15Google Scholar

Decety, J. 1996 Do imagined and executed actions share the same neural substrates?Cognitive Brain Research 3 87Google Scholar

Decety, J.Chaminade, T.Grèzes, J.Meltzoff, A. N. 2002 A PET exploration of the neural mechanisms involved in reciprocal imitationNeuroimage 15 265Google Scholar

Gallese, V. 2003 The manifold nature of interpersonal relations: The quest for a common mechanismPhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 358 517Google Scholar

Gibson, E. J. 1988 Exploratory behavior in the development of perceiving, acting and the acquiring of knowledgeAnnual Review of Psychology 39 1Google Scholar

Gibson, E. J.Pick, A. D. 2000 An Ecological Approach to Perceptual Learning and DevelopmentNew YorkOxford University Press

Hamilton, A.Wolpert, D.Frith, U. 2004 Your own action influences how you perceive another person’s actionCurrent Biology 14 493Google Scholar

Hauf, P. 2007 Infants’ perception and production of intentional actionsvon Hofsten, C.Rosander, K.Progress in Brain Research: From Action to CognitionAmsterdamElsevier Science

Hauf, P.Baby See – Baby Do! How Infants Learn from Other Persons’ ActionsSt. Francis Xavier University

Hauf, P.Prinz, W. 2005 The understanding of own and others’ actions during infancy: ‘You-like-me’ or ‘me-like-you’?Interaction Studies 6 429Google Scholar

Hauf, P.Aschersleben, G.Prinz, W. 2007 Baby do – baby see! How action production influences action perception in infantsCognitive Development 22 16Google Scholar

Hauf, P.Geangu, E.Williams, A.The Perception of Crawling and Walking Point-light Displays in Toddlers and AdultsSt. Francis Xavier University

Hauf, P.Giese, M.MacDonald, K. M.Are You Moving? How Motor Experience Influences Infants’ Perception of Crawling and Walking Point-light DisplaysSt. Francis Xavier University

Herbert, J.Gross, J.Hayne, H. 2007 Crawling is associated with more flexible memory retrieval by 9-month-old infantsDevelopmental Science 10 183Google Scholar

Heron, M.Slaughter, V. 2010 Infants’ responses to real humans and representations of humansInternational Journal of Behavioral Development 34 34Google Scholar

Hommel, B.Müsseler, J.Aschersleben, G.Prinz, W. 2001 The theory of event coding: A framework for perception and action planningBehavioral Brain Sciences 24 849Google Scholar

Iacoboni, M. 2005 Neural mechanisms of imitationCurrent Opinion in Neurobiology 15 632Google Scholar

Jacobs, A.Pinto, J.Shiffrar, M. 2004 Experience, context, and the visual perception of human movementJournal of Experimental Psychology 30 822Google Scholar

Joh, A. S.Adolph, K. E. 2006 Learning from fallingChild Development 77 89Google Scholar

Johansson, G. 1973 Visual perception of biological motion and a model for its analysisPerception and Psychophysics 14 201Google Scholar

Kuhlmeier, V. A.Troje, N. F.Lee, V. 2010 Young infants detect the direction of biological motion in point-light displaysInfancy 15 83Google Scholar

Longo, M. R.Bertenthal, B. I. 2006 Common coding of observation and execution of action in 9-month-old infantsInfancy 10 43Google Scholar

Meltzoff, A. N. 2002 Elements of a developmental theory of imitationMeltzoff, A. N.Prinz, W.The Imitative Mind: Development, Evolution, and Brain BasesCambridgeCambridge University Press

Meltzoff, A. N. 2007 ‘like me’ framework for recognizing and becoming an intentional agentActa Psychologia 124 26Google Scholar

Meltzoff, A. N.Moore, M. K. 1999 Persons and representation: Why infant imitation is important for theories of human developmentNadel, J.Imitation in Infancy: Cambridge Studies in Cognitive Perceptual DevelopmentNew YorkCambridge University Press

Moore, D. GGoodwin, J. E.George, R.Axelsson, E. L.Braddick, F. M. B. 2007 Infants perceive human point-light displays as solid formsCognition 104 377Google Scholar

Piaget, J. 1953 The Origins of Intelligence in the ChildLondonRoutledge and Kegan Paul

Prinz, W. 1990 A common coding approach to perception and actionNeumann, O.Prinz, W.Relationships Between Perception and Action: Current ApproachesBerlinSpringer

Prinz, W. 1997 Perception and action planningEuropean Journal of Cognitive Psychology 9 129Google Scholar

Prinz, W. 2002 Experimental approaches to imitationMeltzoff, A. N.Prinz, W.The Imitative Mind: Development, Evolution, and Brain BasesCambridgeCambridge University Press

Proffitt, D. R.Bertenthal, B. I. 1990 Converging operations revisited: Assessing what infants perceive using discrimination measuresPerception and Psychophysics 47 1Google Scholar

Reid, V. M.Belsky, J.Johnson, M. H. 2005 Infant perception of human action: Toward a developmental cognitive neuroscience of individual differencesCognition, Brain, and Behavior 9 35Google Scholar

Reid, V. M.Hoehl, S.Landt, J.Striano, T. 2008 Human infants dissociate structural and dynamic information in biological motion: Evidence from neural systemsSocial Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 3 161Google Scholar

Sanefuji, W.Ohgami, H.Hashiya, K. 2008 Detection of the relevant type of locomotion in infancy: Crawlers versus walkersInfant Behavior and Development 31 624Google Scholar

Simion, F.Regolin, L.Bulf, H. 2008 A predisposition for biological motion in the newborn babyProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 102 809Google Scholar

Slaughter, V.Heron, M. 2004 Origins and early development of human body knowledgeMonographs of the Society for Research in Child Development 69 1Google Scholar

Slaughter, V.Heron, M.Sim, S. 2002 Development of preferences for the human body shape in infancyCognition 85 B71Google Scholar

Sommerville, J. A.Woodward, A. L. 2005 Pulling out the intentional structure of action: The relation between action processing and action production in infancyCognition 95 1Google Scholar

Sommerville, J. A.Woodward, A. L.Needham, A. 2005 Action experience alters 3-month-old infants’ perception of others’ actionsCognition 96 B1Google Scholar

van Elk, M.van Scheie, H. T.Hunnius, S.Vesper, C.Bekkering, H. 2008 You’ll never crawl alone: Neurophysiological evidence for experience-dependent motor resonance in infancyNeuroimage 43 808Google Scholar

Vereijken, B.Adolph, K. E. 1999 Transitions in the development of locomotionSavelsbergh, G. J. P.van der Maas, H. L. J.van Geert, P. C. L.Non-linear Analyses of Developmental ProcessesAmsterdamElsevier

Book contents

12 - Infants’ perception and production of crawling and walking movements

Summary

Access options

References

Save book to Kindle

Save book to Dropbox

Save book to Google Drive