Evidence of Early Strategies in Learning to Walk

Infancy : the Official Journal of the International Society on Infant Studies
Winona Snapp-Childs, Daniela Corbetta

Abstract

Learning to walk is a dynamic process requiring the fine coordination, assembly, and balancing of many body segments at once. For the young walker, coordinating all these behavioral levels may be quite daunting. In this study, we examine the whole-body strategies to which infants resort to produce their first independent steps and progress over the first months of walking experience. Six infants were followed weekly from the onset of independent upright locomotion for 8 weeks, and then every other week until 4 months of walking experience. The walking kinematics from the infants' earliest steps were cluster-analyzed and the infants were classified into 3 groups. Follow-up comparisons with kinematics recordings were used to quantify the infants' strategies more precisely and track how these early forms of walking evolved over time. Results revealed that in the first weeks of independent walking, 3 infants used a stepping strategy, 1 used a twisting strategy, and 2 used a falling strategy to move their body forward and perform their first unsupported steps. As the infants gained walking experience, their walking patterns became more similar. These findings indicate that infants discover different solutions to use their body and c...Continue Reading

References

Jul 1, 1988·Developmental Psychobiology·J E ClarkS J Phillips
Oct 7, 1995·Journal of Theoretical Biology·G McCollumA M Castelfranco
Mar 7, 2002·Journal of Motor Behavior·Daniela Corbetta, Kathryn E Bojczyk
Mar 1, 1992·Journal of Motor Behavior·B Bril, Y Breniere
Oct 27, 2004·Journal of Experimental Child Psychology·M W Clearfield
May 20, 2006·Journal of Motor Behavior·Masayoshi Kubo, Beverly D Ulrich
Dec 2, 2006·Infant Behavior & Development·Masayoshi Kubo, Beverly Ulrich

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Citations

Dec 3, 2016·Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews. Cognitive Science·Karen E Adolph, John M Franchak
Sep 27, 2018·Annual Review of Psychology·Karen E Adolph, Justine E Hoch
May 11, 2021·PloS One·Cylie WilliamsKade Paterson

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