Department of Psychology, New York University, New York City, New York.
Dev Sci. 2019 Mar;22(2):e12740. doi: 10.1111/desc.12740. Epub 2018 Oct 8.
What incites infant locomotion? Recent research suggests that locomotor exploration is not primarily directed toward distant people, places, or things. However, this question has not been addressed experimentally. In the current study, we asked whether a room filled with toys designed to encourage locomotion (stroller, ball, etc.) elicits different quantities or patterns of exploration than a room with no toys. Caregivers were present but did not interact with infants. Although most walking bouts in the toy-filled room involved toys, to our surprise, 15-month-olds in both rooms produced the same quantity of locomotion. This finding suggests that mere space to move is sufficient to elicit locomotion. However, infants' patterns of locomotor exploration differed: Infants in the toy-filled room spent a smaller percent of the session within arms' reach of their caregiver and explored more locations in the room. Real-time analyses show that infants in the toy-filled room took an increasing number of steps per bout and covered more area as the session continued, whereas infants in the no-toy room took fewer and fewer steps per bout and traveled repeatedly over the same ground. Although not required to elicit locomotion, moving with toys encouraged infants to travel farther from their caregivers and to explore new areas.
是什么激发了婴儿的运动？最近的研究表明，运动探索主要不是针对远方的人、地方或事物。然而，这个问题尚未在实验中得到解决。在当前的研究中，我们想知道一个充满鼓励运动的玩具（婴儿车、球等）的房间是否会引起与没有玩具的房间不同数量或模式的探索。看护人在场但不与婴儿互动。尽管玩具室中的大多数步行都是涉及玩具的，但令我们惊讶的是，15 个月大的婴儿在两个房间中产生的运动量相同。这一发现表明，仅仅是移动的空间就足以引起运动。然而，婴儿的运动探索模式有所不同：在充满玩具的房间中，婴儿在看护人臂展范围内的停留时间比例较小，在房间内探索的地点也更多。实时分析显示，随着时间的推移，充满玩具的房间中的婴儿每一次的步伐数增加，覆盖的面积也增加，而没有玩具的房间中的婴儿每一次的步伐数越来越少，并且在同一地面上重复行走。虽然不需要引起运动，但带着玩具移动鼓励婴儿离看护人更远，并探索新的区域。
