title: Object use affects motor planning in infant prehension.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors underlying the ability to plan object-oriented grasping movements in the first two years of life. In particular, we were interested in evaluating the relationship between manual motor planning, object use and infant-parent interaction. In order to achieve this aim, grasping behaviors of nineteen healthy infants, aged nine to 25 months, were examined during naturalistic play sessions with a standard set of toys. Our main finding was that, regardless of age, infants perform a better manual planning when they use an object in a functional rather than non-functional way, suggesting that the planning of an action also depends on knowing the functional properties of an object. In addition, we found that the ability to use objects in a functional way was strongly affected by infant-parent interaction. Thus, level of object use and environmental role must be taken into account in order to understand the development of manual motor planning.
authors.affiliation: Neurorehabilitation Unit, Department of Neuroscience, University of Pisa, 67, Via Roma, 56126 Pisa, Italy. annarita.contaldo@inpe.unipi.it
authors.forename: Annarita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Contaldo
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cola
authors.forename: Fabrizio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Minichilli
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Crecchi
authors.forename: Maria Chiara
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Carboncini
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bonfiglio
mesh_terms: D001364:Awareness; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D005260:Female; D018737:Hand Strength; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010988:Play and Playthings; D011340:Problem Solving; D002666:Psychology, Child; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012931:Social Environment; D053001:Tool Use Behavior