Author: Daniela Corbetta and Kathryn E. Bojczyk
Source: Journal of Motor Behavior, 2002, Volume 34, Number 1, pp 83-95
Nine infants were observed in a laboratory setting before during and after their transition to independent walking. Each week from about 8 months through 12 to 14 months, the infants were rated on their progress in standing posture and walking activity and for reaching and hand coordination tasks including reaching for small and large objects and retrieving an object from a box with a lid. The authors reported a marked increase in the use of two hands for reaching and less coordination for object retrieval just prior to and during the period when the children were leaning to walk. When the infants started to show improved balance and coordination in walking they returned to their previous use of one hand for reaching and coordination of two hands to remove the lid and retrieve the object from the box. This return to the use of two hands around one year of age has been recorded by other researchers and has been observed by clinicians. These authors attribute this return to the use of two hands to changes in the brain related to the child?s learning to walk.
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