title: The developing cognitive substrate of sequential action control in 9- to 12-month-olds: evidence for concurrent activation models.
abstract: Nine-month-olds start to perform sequential actions. Yet, it remains largely unknown how they acquire and control such actions. We studied infants' sequential-action control by employing a novel gaze-contingent eye tracking paradigm. Infants experienced occulo-motor action sequences comprising two elementary actions. To contrast chaining, concurrent and integrated models of sequential-action control, we then selectively activated secondary actions to assess interactions with the primary actions. Behavioral and pupillometric results suggest 12-month-olds acquire sequential action without elaborate strategy through exploration. Furthermore, the inhibitory mechanisms ensuring ordered performance develop between 9 and 12 months of age, and are best captured by concurrent models.
authors.affiliation: Developmental Psychology Unit, LMU München, Germany; Leiden University Institute for Psychological Research & Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Netherlands. Electronic address: VerschoorSA@gmail.com.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Verschoor
authors.affiliation: Developmental Psychology Unit, LMU München, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Paulus
authors.affiliation: Helsinki Institute for Information Technology, Finland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Spapé
authors.affiliation: Leiden University Institute for Psychological Research & Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Netherlands; Center for Child and Family Studies, Leiden University, Netherlands.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Biro
authors.affiliation: Leiden University Institute for Psychological Research & Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Netherlands.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hommel
mesh_terms: D002657:Child Development; D003071:Cognition; D053483:Eye Movement Measurements; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement; D011597:Psychomotor Performance
keywords: Action control; Cognitive development; Eye tracking; Ideomotor action; Pupillometry; Sequential action