Abstract
Previous studies have shown that the way in which infants perceive and explore the world changes as they transition from crawling to walking. Infant walking onset generally precedes advances in cognitive development such as accelerated language growth. However, the underlying mechanism explaining this association between walking experience and cognition is largely unknown. Selective attention is a key factor underlying learning across multiple domains. We propose that the altered visual input that infants obtain as they transition to walking relates to selective attention development and that advances in selective attention may potentially explain previously reported advances in other cognitive domains. As a first step in testing this hypothesis, we investigated how walking experience relates to selective attention. In Study 1, performance of 14-month-old crawlers, novice walkers, and expert walkers was compared on a visual search eye-tracking task (N = 47), including feature and conjunction (effortful) items. Walkers outperformed crawlers on the task in general, and effortful search was enhanced in expert walkers as compared with novice walkers, after controlling for crawling onset and general developmental differences occurring before walking onset. In Study 2, earlier walking onset was related to better visual search performance in 2-year-olds (N = 913). The association appeared to be due to the difference between the 10% latest walkers and the early/average walkers. Taken together, the results of these studies show that walking experience relates to advances in selective attention. This association shows a specific timing in development; it is mainly seen relatively close to the age of walking onset.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 105425 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-22 |
| Journal | Journal of Experimental Child Psychology |
| Volume | 220 |
| Early online date | 8 Apr 2022 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Aug 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:For Study 1, we are most grateful to Professor Zsuzsa Kaldy (University of Massachusetts) for sharing the visual search task with us and to Dr Inge-Lot van Haastert (Wilhelmina Children's Hospital, University Medical Center Utrecht) for training RAs in administering the AIMS. We thank all parents and infants for their participation in this study. Study 1 was funded by an Utrecht University Educational and Learning Sciences Starting Grant. For Study 2, the pre-COOL study was carried out in collaboration with the former Institute for Applied Social Sciences at the Radboud University Nijmegen and the Kohnstamm Institute at the University of Amsterdam. We are grateful to all the children, families, and day-care centers who participated in the study. The pre-COOL study was funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) (411-20-442).
Funding Information:
For Study 1, we are most grateful to Professor Zsuzsa Kaldy (University of Massachusetts) for sharing the visual search task with us and to Dr Inge-Lot van Haastert (Wilhelmina Children's Hospital, University Medical Center Utrecht) for training RAs in administering the AIMS. We thank all parents and infants for their participation in this study. Study 1 was funded by an Utrecht University Educational and Learning Sciences Starting Grant. For Study 2, the pre-COOL study was carried out in collaboration with the former Institute for Applied Social Sciences at the Radboud University Nijmegen and the Kohnstamm Institute at the University of Amsterdam. We are grateful to all the children, families, and day-care centers who participated in the study. The pre-COOL study was funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) (411-20-442).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors
Keywords
- Self-locomotion
- Infancy
- Attention
- Walking
- Visual search
- Eye tracking