Independent development of the reach and the grasp in spontaneous self-touching by human infants in the first 6 months

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorThomas, Brittany L.
dc.contributor.authorKarl, Jenni M.
dc.contributor.authorWhishaw, Ian Q.
dc.date.accessioned2017-10-16T22:08:42Z
dc.date.available2017-10-16T22:08:42Z
dc.date.issued2015
dc.descriptionSherpa Romeo green journal: open accessen_US
dc.description.abstractThe Dual Visuomotor Channel Theory proposes that visually guided reaching is a composite of movements, a Reach that advances the hand to contact the target and a Grasp that shapes the digits for target purchase. The theory is supported by biometric analyses of adult reaching, evolutionary contrasts, and differential developmental patterns for the Reach and the Grasp in visually guided reaching in human infants. The present ethological study asked whether there is evidence for a dissociated development for the Reach and the Grasp in nonvisual hand use in very early infancy. The study documents a rich array of spontaneous self-touching behavior in infants during the first 6 months of life and subjected the Reach movements to an analysis in relation to body target, contact type, and Grasp. Video recordings were made of resting alert infants biweekly from birth to 6 months. In younger infants,self-touching targets included the head and trunk. As infants aged, targets became more caudal and included the hips, then legs, and eventually the feet. In younger infants hand contact was mainly made with the dorsum of the hand, but as infants aged, contacts included palmar contacts and eventually grasp and manipulation contacts with the body and clothes. The relative incidence of caudal contacts and palmar contacts increased concurrently and were significantly correlated throughout the period of study. Developmental increases in self-grasping contacts occurred a few weeks after the increase in caudal and palmar contacts. The behavioral and temporal pattern of these spontaneous self-touching movements suggest that the Reach, in which the hand extends to make a palmar self-contact, and the Grasp, in which the digits close and make manipulatory movements, have partially independent developmental profiles. The results additionally suggest that self-touching behavior is an important developmental phase that allows the coordination of the Reach and the Grasp prior to and concurrent with their use under visual guidance.en_US
dc.description.peer-reviewYesen_US
dc.identifier.citationThomas, B. L., Karl, J. M., & Whishaw, I. Q. (2015). Independent development of the reach and the grasp in spontaneous self-touching by human infants in the first 6 months. Frontiers in Psychology, 5:1526. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01526en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10133/4935
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherFrontiers Research Foundationen_US
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Neuroscienceen_US
dc.publisher.facultyArts and Scienceen_US
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Lethbridgeen_US
dc.subjectReachen_US
dc.subjectGraspen_US
dc.subjectPrehensionen_US
dc.subjectSelf-touchen_US
dc.subjectSensorimotor developmenten_US
dc.subjectDevelopment of reachingen_US
dc.subjectDeveloping of graspingen_US
dc.subjectHand-to-body contacten_US
dc.subjectHand touchingen_US
dc.subjectSelf-graspingen_US
dc.subjectVisually guided reachingen_US
dc.subject.lcshInfants--Development
dc.subject.lcshInfants--Research
dc.titleIndependent development of the reach and the grasp in spontaneous self-touching by human infants in the first 6 monthsen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Whishaw independent development of the reach.pdf
Size:
1.39 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.75 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download
Collections
Whishaw, Ian