| 1. |
- Cowie, Dorothy, et al.
(författare)
-
The role of hand size in body representation : a developmental investigation
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Scientific Reports. - : Springer Nature. - 2045-2322. ; 12:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Knowledge of one's own body size is a crucial facet of body representation, both for acting on the environment and perhaps also for constraining body ownership. However, representations of body size may be somewhat plastic, particularly to allow for physical growth in childhood. Here we report a developmental investigation into the role of hand size in body representation (the sense of body ownership, perception of hand position, and perception of own-hand size). Using the rubber hand illusion paradigm, this study used different fake hand sizes (60%, 80%, 100%, 120% or 140% of typical size) in three age groups (6- to 7-year-olds, 12- to 13-year-olds, and adults; N = 229). We found no evidence that hand size constrains ownership or position: participants embodied hands which were both larger and smaller than their own, and indeed judged their own hands to have changed size following the illusion. Children and adolescents embodied the fake hands more than adults, with a greater tendency to feel their own hand had changed size. Adolescents were particularly sensitive to multisensory information. In sum, we found substantial plasticity in the representation of own-body size, with partial support for the hypothesis that children have looser representations than adults.
|
|
| 2. |
- Dewe, Hayley, et al.
(författare)
-
My Virtual Self : The Role of Movement in Children's Sense of Embodiment
- 2022
-
Ingår i: IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics. - : Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). - 1077-2626 .- 1941-0506. ; 28:12, s. 4061-4072
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There are vast potential applications for children's entertainment and education with modern virtual reality (VR) experiences, yet we know very little about how the movement or form of such a virtual body can influence children's feelings of control (agency) or the sensation that they own the virtual body (ownership). In two experiments, we gave a total of 197 children aged 4-14 years a virtual hand which moved synchronously or asynchronously with their own movements and had them interact with a VR environment. We found that movement synchrony influenced feelings of control and ownership at all ages. In Experiment 1 only, participants additionally felt haptic feedback either congruently, delayed or not at all - this did not influence feelings of control or ownership. In Experiment 2 only, participants used either a virtual hand or non-human virtual block. Participants embodied both forms to some degree, provided visuomotor signals were synchronous (as indicated by ownership, agency, and location ratings). Yet, only the hand in the synchronous movement condition was described as feeling like part of the body, rather than like a tool (e.g., a mouse or controller). Collectively, these findings highlight the overall dominance of visuomotor synchrony for children's own-body representation; that children can embody non-human forms to some degree; and that embodiment is also somewhat constrained by prior expectations of body form.
|
|
| 3. |
|
|
| 4. |
- Forssman, Linda, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
-
The impact of interactive book sharing on child cognitive and socio-cognitive development (the REaL trial) : study protocol for a randomized controlled trial
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Trials. - : Springer Nature. - 1745-6215. ; 23
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The quality of children's early home learning environment has an influence on their cognitive development, preliteracy skills, and subsequent educational outcomes. Early intervention programs that promote positive parenting behaviors and child cognition have great potential to positively influence children's school readiness and thereby support social equality. One often advocated parental practice for promoting child language and cognition is interactive book sharing.Methods: We have conducted a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effects of a parent-child interactive book sharing intervention on early child language, cognition, and parental behaviors. Participating caregivers and their 10-month-old child were randomized to an interactive book sharing intervention group (n = 59) or to an active control group (n = 56). The intervention was delivered by a facilitator to small groups of parent-child dyads on a weekly basis over 5 weeks. The primary outcomes were child language and socio-cognition; secondary outcomes were child executive function and parental scaffolding, sensitivity and reciprocity during book sharing, and problem-solving tasks. Data were collected at baseline, post-intervention, and at 6 and 12 months post-intervention.Discussion: The Roadmap to Executive function and Language (REaL) trial aims to evaluate the impact of a brief early parenting intervention on key factors for child development, including child cognition and parental behaviors. If this intervention is beneficial for child outcomes, that would be of significance for the development of early interventions to promote child development.
|
|
| 5. |
- Gottwald, Janna, Dr, 1983-
(författare)
-
Infants in Control : Prospective Motor Control and Executive Functions in Action Development
- 2016
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis assesses the link between action and cognition early in development. Thus the notion of an embodied cognition is investigated by tying together two levels of action control in the context of reaching in infancy: prospective motor control and executive functions.The ability to plan our actions is the inevitable foundation of reaching our goals. Thus actions can be stratified on different levels of control. There is the relatively low level of prospective motor control and the comparatively high level of cognitive control. Prospective motor control is concerned with goal-directed actions on the level of single movements and movement combinations of our body and ensures purposeful, coordinated movements, such as reaching for a cup of coffee. Cognitive control, in the context of this thesis more precisely referred to as executive functions, deals with goal-directed actions on the level of whole actions and action combinations and facilitates directedness towards mid- and long-term goals, such as finishing a doctoral thesis. Whereas prospective motor control and executive functions are well studied in adulthood, the early development of both is not sufficiently understood.This thesis comprises three empirical motion-tracking studies that shed light on prospective motor control and executive functions in infancy. Study I investigated the prospective motor control of current actions by having 14-month-olds lift objects of varying weights. In doing so, multi-cue integration was addressed by comparing the use of visual and non-visual information to non-visual information only. Study II examined the prospective motor control of future actions in action sequences by investigating reach-to-place actions in 14-month-olds. Thus the extent to which Fitts’ law can explain movement duration in infancy was addressed. Study III lifted prospective motor control to a higher that is cognitive level, by investigating it relative to executive functions in 18-months-olds.Main results were that 14-month-olds are able to prospectively control their manual actions based on object weight. In this action planning process, infants use different sources of information. Beyond this ability to prospectively control their current action, 14-month-olds also take future actions into account and plan their actions based on the difficulty of the subsequent action in action sequences. In 18-month-olds, prospective motor control in manual actions, such as reaching, is related to early executive functions, as demonstrated for behavioral prohibition and working memory. These findings are consistent with the idea that executive functions derive from prospective motor control. I suggest that executive functions could be grounded in the development of motor control. In other words, early executive functions should be seen as embodied.
|
|
| 6. |
- Gottwald, Janna M., Dr, 1983-, et al.
(författare)
-
The Developing Bodily Self : How Posture Constrains Body Representation in Childhood
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Child Development. - : Wiley. - 0009-3920 .- 1467-8624. ; 92:1, s. 351-366
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Adults’ body representation is constrained by multisensory information and knowledge of the body such as its possible postures. This study (N = 180) tested for similar constraints in children. Using the rubber hand illusion with adults and 6‐ to 7‐year olds, we measured proprioceptive drift (an index of hand localization) and ratings of felt hand ownership. The fake hand was either congruent or incongruent with the participant’s own. Across ages, congruency of posture and visual–tactile congruency yielded greater drift toward the fake hand. Ownership ratings were higher with congruent visual–tactile information, but unaffected by posture. Posture constrains body representation similarly in children and adults, suggesting that children have sensitive, robust mechanisms for maintaining a sense of bodily self.
|
|
| 7. |
- Gottwald, Janna, Dr, 1983-, et al.
(författare)
-
The developing bodily self: Posture constrains embodiment in children and adults
- 2024
-
Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- For adults, the feeling of inhabiting a body (a sense of embodiment) is constrained by bottom-up multisensory information such as spatiotemporal correlations between visual and tactile sensations, and by top-down knowledge of the body such as its possible postures. However, to date it is unknown what kinds of body models children have. Here we asked whether common factors constrain embodiment in children and adults. In two experiments, we compared 6- to 7-year-olds’ and adults’ embodiment of a fake hand in the rubber hand illusion, measuring illusion-induced proprioceptive drift and questionnaire responses. In Experiment 1 (N = 120), the fake hand was either congruent with the participant’s own hand, or incongruent by 90° and, as a result, in an impossible posture with respect to the current position of their body. In Experiment 2 (N = 60), the fake hand was incongruent with the participant’s own hand by 20°, but still in a possible posture. Across both experiments, and in both children and adults, visual-proprioceptive congruency of posture, and visual-tactile spatiotemporal congruency in stroking independently yielded greater proprioceptive drift towards the rubber hand. Subjective ratings of embodiment were also higher when visual-tactile information was congruent, but were not affected by posture. Top-down knowledge of body posture therefore partially constrains embodiment in middle childhood, as in adulthood. This shows that, although childhood is a period of significant change in both bodily dimensions and sensory capabilities, 6- to 7-year-olds have sensitive, robust mechanisms for maintaining a sense of bodily self.
|
|
| 8. |
- Gottwald, Janna, Dr, 1983-, et al.
(författare)
-
Two-step actions in infancy—the TWAIN model
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Experimental Brain Research. - : Springer. - 0014-4819 .- 1432-1106. ; 237, s. 2495-2503
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper, we propose a novel model—the TWAIN model—to describe the durations of two-step actions in a reach-to-place task in human infants. Previous research demonstrates that infants and adults plan their actions across multiple steps. They adjust, for instance, the velocity of a reaching action depending on what they intend to do with the object once it is grasped. Despite these findings and irrespective of the larger context in which the action occurs, current models (e.g., Fitts’ law) target single, isolated actions, as, for example, pointing to a goal. In the current paper, we develop and empirically test a more ecologically valid model of two-step action planning. More specifically, 61 18-month olds took part in a reach-to-place task and their reaching and placing durations were measured with a motion-capture system. Our model explained the highest amount of variance in placing duration and outperformed six previously suggested models, when using model comparison. We show that including parameters of the first action step, here the duration of the reaching action, can improve the description of the second action step, here the duration of the placing action. This move towards more ecologically valid models of action planning contributes knowledge as well as a framework for assessing human machine interactions. The TWAIN model provides an updated way to quantify motor learning by the time these abilities develop, which might help to assess performance in typically developing human children.
|
|
| 9. |
- Mowbray, Rachel, et al.
(författare)
-
The development of visually guided stepping
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Experimental Brain Research. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0014-4819 .- 1432-1106. ; 237:11, s. 2875-2883
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Adults use vision during stepping and walking to fine-tune foot placement. However, the developmental profile of visually guided stepping is unclear. We asked (1) whether children use online vision to fine-tune precise steps and (2) whether preci- sion stepping develops as part of broader visuomotor development, alongside other fundamental motor skills like reaching. With 6-(N = 11), 7-(N = 11), 8-(N = 11)-year-olds and adults (N = 15), we manipulated visual input during steps and reaches. Using motion capture, we measured step and reach error, and postural stability. We expected (1) both steps and reaches would be visually guided (2) with similar developmental profiles (3) foot placement biases that promote stability, and (4) correlations between postural stability and step error. Children used vision to fine-tune both steps and reaches. At all ages, foot placement was biased (albeit not in the predicted directions). Contrary to our predictions, step error was not correlated with postural stability. By 8 years, children’s step and reach error were adult-like. Despite similar visual control mechanisms, stepping and reaching had different developmental profiles: step error reduced with age whilst reach error was lower and stable with age. We argue that the development of both visually guided and non-visually guided action is limb-specific.
|
|
| 10. |
- van den Berg, Linda, et al.
(författare)
-
A Pre-registered Sticky Mittens Study : Active Training does not Increase Reaching and Grasping in a Swedish Context
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Child Development. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0009-3920 .- 1467-8624. ; 93:6
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Several studies have previously investigated the effects of sticky mittens training on reaching and grasping development. However, recent critique casted doubts on the robustness of the motor effect of this training. The current study presents a pre-registered report that aimed to generalize these effects to Swedish infants. Three-month-old infants N = 96, 51 females, mostly White middle class in Uppsala, received daily, parent-led sticky mittens or observational training for 2 weeks or no training in 2019. Reaching and grasping abilities were assessed before and after training, using motion tracking and a 4-step reaching task. Sticky mittens training did not facilitate successful reaching. These results indicate that beneficial motor effects of sticky mittens training did not generalize to this sample.
|
|
