Crawling is associated with more flexible memory retrieval by 9-month-old infants.
In the present experiment, we used a deferred imitation paradigm to explore the effect of crawling on memory retrieval by 9-month-old human infants. Infants observed an experimenter demonstrate a single target action with a novel object and their ability to reproduce that action was assessed after a 24-hr delay. Some infants were tested with the demonstration stimulus in the demonstration context and some infants were tested with a different stimulus in a different context. Half of the infants in each test condition were crawling at the time of participation and half were not. Both crawling and non-crawling infants exhibited retention when tested with the demonstration stimulus in the demonstration context, but only infants who were crawling by 9 months of age exhibited retention when tested with a different stimulus in a different context. These findings demonstrate that the onset of independent locomotion is associated with more flexible memory retrieval during the first year of life.
Herbert
Jane
J
Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, UK. J.S.Herbert@sheffield.ac.uk
Gross
Julien
J
Hayne
Harlene
H
D002657:Child Development; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007100:Imitative Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D007223:Infant; D008124:Locomotion / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D013997:Time Factors