Change in action: How infants learn to walk down slopes

Simone V. Gill, Karen E. Adolph, Beatrix Vereijken

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

A critical aspect of perception-action coupling is the ability to modify ongoing actions in accordance with variations in the environment. Infants' ability to modify their gait patterns to walk down shallow and steep slopes was examined at three nested time scales. Across sessions, a microgenetic training design showed rapid improvements after the first session in infants receiving concentrated practice walking down slopes and in infants in a control group who were tested only at the beginning and end of the study. Within sessions, analyses across easy and challenging slope angles showed that infants used a 'braking strategy' to curb increases in walking speed across increasingly steeper slopes. Within trials, comparisons of infants' gait modifications before and after stepping over the brink of the slopes showed that the braking strategy was planned prospectively. Findings illustrate how observing change in action provides important insights into the process of skill acquisition.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)888-902
Number of pages15
JournalDevelopmental science
Volume12
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2009

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Cognitive Neuroscience

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