The confluence of intrinsic and extrinsic constraints on 3- to 9-month-old infants’ catching behavior

Abstract

The present study sought to uncover what constraints shape the early development of the perceptual-motor skill of catching, and how intrinsic (i.e., movement possibilities) and extrinsic constraints (i.e., object speed imposes temporal precision) impinge on the perception of whether or not a moving object affords catching. Thirty-five infants (with different preferred catching tendencies) between 3 and 9 months of age were presented with balls approaching from the side with different speeds. Video recordings were used to determine how each infant reached for the ball (with the right hand, the left hand or with both hands) and whether these catching attempts were successful (resulting in ball-hand contact). The lower the proportion of failing catching attempts the more accurate the infant perceived the ball's catchability. This accuracy is also reflected in the discrepancy between boundary and success speed (i.e., the difference between the ball speed that still was perceived as catchable and the highest ball speed that was actually successfully managed). The findings indicate that the interaction between infants' intrinsic constraints (which gave rise to, e.g., the preference for two-handed catching and inclination to reach) and the extrinsic constraints (imposed by object speed) induces age-related differences in catching performance and age-related differences in the perception of what action a moving object affords.

Reaching and grasping a moving object in 6-, 8-, and 10-month-old infants: Laterality and performance

“…The fact that manual strategies when grasping a moving object change in a non-linear way during the first year of life is in line with other findings (van Hof et al, 2005). …”

“…Contralateral grasping appears to be a common strategy which increases with the speed of the object (von Hofsten, 1980, 1983; von Hofsten & Lindhagen, 1979; van Hof, van der Kamp, Caljou, & Savelsbergh, 2005). In addition to switching hands after an ipsilateral reaching, using the contralateral hand to grasp a moving object can be the result of a contralateral reaching from the start.…”

Spatio-temporal parameters in infant's reaching movements are influenced by body orientation

“…doi:10. 1016/j.infbeh.2006.07.006 in motion (Van Hof, Van der Kamp, Caljouw, & Savelsbergh, 2005) and different body orientations (Out, Van Soest, Savelsbergh, & Hopkins, 1998;Rochat, 1992;Savelsbergh & Van der Kamp, 1994).…”

Immediate Effect of Training at the Onset of Reaching in Preterm Infants: Randomized Clinical Trial

“…Intrinsic factors are considered to be: the child's age (Rocha, Silva, & Tudella, 2006a), experience in performing the task , the level of postural control (Fallang, Saugstad, & Hadders-Algra, 2000;Thelen & Spencer, 1998), and the presence of risk factors, such as prematurity (Plantinga, Perdok, & De Groot, 1997;Tudella & Toledo, 2008), and low birth weight (Chaudhari et al, 1999;Drummond & Colver, 2002;Martin et al, 2005). The extrinsic factors are considered to be body posture (Carvalho, Tudella, & Savelsbergh, 2007;Out, Van Soest, & Hopkins, 1998;Rochat, 1992;Savelsbergh & van der Kamp, 1994), the physical properties of the object (Rocha et al, 2006a;van Hof, van der Kamp, & Savelsbergh, 2006), the spatial orientation of the object (Lee, Liu, & Newell, 2006;van Hof, van der Kamp, Caljouw, & Savelsbergh, 2005), the additional weight on the child's upper limb (Out, Savelsbergh, Van Soest, & Hopkins, 1997;Toledo, Soares, & Tudella, 2012), as well as exposure to spontaneous (Carvalho, Gonçalves, & Tudella, 2008) and induced practice (training; Cunha, Woollacott, & Tudella, 2013;Heathcock et al, 2008;Lobo, Galloway, & Savelsbergh, 2004).…”