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Righetto Greco AL, Sato NTDS, Moreira RDFC, Cavalcante Neto JL, Tudella E. Sticky Mittens Training to Improve Reaching Skills and Manual Exploration of Full-Term and At-Risk Infants: A Systematic Review. Phys Occup Ther Pediatr 2023; 43:182-195. [PMID: 36195977 DOI: 10.1080/01942638.2022.2128973] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
AIM To systematically review evidence of the effectiveness of sticky mittens training to improve reaching skills and manual exploration of full-term and at-risk infants and optimal training dosage. METHODS The Cochrane Collaboration and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guided this systematic review. The electronic search was performed from September 2017 to August 2021 on PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, and Cochrane databases. Eligibility criteria followed PICO terms: clinical trials investigating the effects of sticky mittens training on reaching skills and manual exploration of full-term and at-risk infants. PEDro scale and GRADE assessed methodological quality and quality of evidence, respectively. RESULTS Eight studies (313 children) were included. Five studies found statistically significant differences between experimental and control groups (62.6%). One study presented high methodological quality. Evidence synthesis showed very low and low evidence of the beneficial effects of sticky mittens training in full-term and at-risk infants, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Findings suggest that sticky mittens training facilitates reaching skills and manual exploration. However, results should interpretation with caution because studies targeted full-term infants. Future research should focus on infants at risk or with motor impairments since sticky mittens training seems to show positive effects and is easy to apply.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Eloisa Tudella
- Department of Physiotherapy, Federal University of São Carlos, São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil
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van den Berg L, Gredebäck G. The sticky mittens paradigm: A critical appraisal of current results and explanations. Dev Sci 2020; 24:e13036. [PMID: 32931065 PMCID: PMC8518992 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2019] [Revised: 08/06/2020] [Accepted: 08/20/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Almost two decades ago, the sticky mittens paradigm was demonstrated as a way to train reaching and grasping behaviors in pre‐reaching infants, and consequently improve visual attentional abilities. In that first study, Needham and colleagues fitted 3‐month‐old infants with Velcro loop‐covered mittens and allowed them to interact with Velcro hook‐covered toys over the course of 2 weeks. In this review, we scrutinize the 17 studies that have followed those first sticky mittens results in regards to the motor, social perception, and visual attentional domains. Furthermore, we discuss the proposed mechanisms of the sticky mittens training. Current evidence strongly suggests that sticky mittens training facilitates social perception, which is consistent with prior correlational work showing links between action production and action perception. However, studies targeting motor and visual attentional abilities have too diverse results to warrant firm conclusions. We conclude that future research should focus on uncovering if there is a connection between sticky mittens training and motor behavior.
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Juvrud J, Gredebäck G. The teleological stance: Past, present, and future. Dev Sci 2020; 23:e12970. [PMID: 32304172 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12970] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2018] [Revised: 11/05/2018] [Accepted: 11/27/2018] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
We review the support for, and criticisms of, the teleological stance theory, often described as a foundation for goal-directed action understanding early in life. A major point of contention in the literature has been how teleological processes and assumptions of rationality are represented and understood in infancy, and this debate has been largely centered on three paradigms. Visual habituation studies assess infant's abilities to retrospectively assess teleological processes; the presence of such processes is supported by the literature. Rational imitation is a phenomenon that has been questioned both theoretically and empirically, and there is currently little support for this concept in the literature. The involvement of teleological processes in action prediction is unclear. To date, the ontology of teleological processes remains unspecified. To remedy this, we present a new action-based theory of teleological processes (here referred to as the embodied account of teleological processes), based on the development of goal-directed reaching with its origin during the fetal period and continuous development over the first few months of life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua Juvrud
- Department of Psychology, Uppsala Child and Baby Lab, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Gustaf Gredebäck
- Department of Psychology, Uppsala Child and Baby Lab, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
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Nonaka T, Stoffregen TA. Social interaction in the emergence of toddler's mealtime spoon use. Dev Psychobiol 2020; 62:1124-1133. [PMID: 32383216 DOI: 10.1002/dev.21978] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2020] [Revised: 03/21/2020] [Accepted: 04/01/2020] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
The use of a spoon for eating is among the important daily skills in early development. The article provides an analysis of how caregiver-toddler interactions guides the attention of toddlers who were first learning how to use a spoon to spoon-related action opportunities that were relevant to the mealtime context. Our analysis revealed several related results. First, caregivers often manipulated objects on the table (i.e., food and dishes), and toddlers were more likely than chance to use their spoon to contact food immediately after watching these caregiver manipulations. Second, toddlers looked more often at the caregiver's hand than at their face. Third, toddlers tended to look at the caregiver's hand when the caregiver was manipulating objects on the table, and after these looks, toddlers were more likely than chance to contact food with their spoon. Finally, the toddlers' choices about when to look at the caregiver were influenced by their own behavior, as if they wanted to know how the caregiver would react to what they had done. We discuss these results in terms of the learning of socially promoted action opportunities for meal-related spoon use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tetsushi Nonaka
- Graduate School of Human Development and Environment, Kobe University, Kobe, Japan
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Karl JM, Slack BM, Wilson AM, Wilson CA, Bertoli ME. Increasing task precision demands reveals that the reach and grasp remain subject to different perception-action constraints in 12-month-old human infants. Infant Behav Dev 2019; 57:101382. [PMID: 31580995 DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2019.101382] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2018] [Revised: 07/29/2019] [Accepted: 09/16/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
The reach and grasp follow different developmental trajectories, but are often considered to have achieved nearly adult-like precision and integration by 12 months of age. This study used frame-by-frame video analysis to investigate whether increasing precision demands, by placing small reaching targets on a narrow pedestal rather than on a flat table, would influence the reach and grasp movements of 12-month-old infants in a complementary or differential fashion. The results reveal that placing the target atop a pedestal impaired the infants's ability to direct an appropriate digit towards the small target, but did not produce a corresponding decrease in the frequency with which they used an index-thumb pincer grip to grasp the target. This was due to the fact that, although infants were more likely to contact the target with a suboptimal part of the hand in the pedestal condition, a greater proportion of these suboptimal contacts ultimately transitioned to a successful index-thumb pincer grip. Thus, increasing task precision demands impaired reach accuracy, but facilitated index-thumb grip formation, in 12-month-old infants. The differential response of the reach and grasp to the increased precision demands of the pedestal condition suggests that the two movements are not fully integrated and, when precision demands are great, remain sensitive to different perception-action constraints in 12-month-old infants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jenni M Karl
- Department of Psychology, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, BC, Canada.
| | - Braydon M Slack
- Department of Psychology, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, BC, Canada
| | - Alexis M Wilson
- Department of Psychology, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, BC, Canada
| | | | - Marisa E Bertoli
- Department of Psychology, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, BC, Canada
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Kubicek C, Gehb G, Jovanovic B, Schwarzer G. Training of 7-month-old infants' manual object exploration skills: Effects of active and observational experience. Infant Behav Dev 2019; 57:101353. [PMID: 31499397 DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2019.101353] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2019] [Revised: 06/21/2019] [Accepted: 08/12/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
In the present study, a fine motor training was developed and evaluated in which infants were trained to manually explore objects in an advanced manner. Fifty 7-month-old infants were randomly assigned to three different training conditions: (1) to an active manual exploration training, in which they learned to explore objects efficiently, (2) to an observational manual exploration training, in which they observed how an adult performed sophisticated actions on objects, or (3) to a control group receiving no training. The results impressively indicate that infants with a low level of object exploration skill prior to the training showed the most training effects as compared to infants with proficient object exploratory actions. Interestingly, this differential training effect was true for both the active and observational training, highlighting the role of social learning in infancy. Importantly, our study shows for the first time the impact of normal individual variation in infants' manual object exploration skills on the effects of a fine motor training.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Kubicek
- Developmental Psychology, Justus-Liebig-University, Giessen, Germany.
| | - Gloria Gehb
- Developmental Psychology, Justus-Liebig-University, Giessen, Germany
| | - Bianca Jovanovic
- Developmental Psychology, Justus-Liebig-University, Giessen, Germany
| | - Gudrun Schwarzer
- Developmental Psychology, Justus-Liebig-University, Giessen, Germany
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Nascimento AL, Toledo AM, Merey LF, Tudella E, Soares-Marangoni DDA. Brief reaching training with "sticky mittens" in preterm infants: Randomized controlled trial. Hum Mov Sci 2018; 63:138-147. [PMID: 30537626 DOI: 10.1016/j.humov.2018.11.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2018] [Accepted: 11/28/2018] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To examine whether a brief reaching training with sticky mittens was effective to improve reaching behavior in newly reaching preterm infants. METHODS In this randomized controlled trial, twenty four 5-month-old (±16-week-old corrected age) preterm infants were randomly allocated into experimental or control groups. Infants were assessed three times in a single session: pretraining (immediately before training), posttraining (immediately after training), and retention (4 min after the posttraining). During training, infants in the experimental group wore open fingers Velcro covered mittens. Training consisted of one 4-minute session of stimulated reaching using Velcro covered toys. Controls did not receive the training. During assessments, infants were placed in a baby chair and toys without Velcro were offered at their midline for 2 min. Number of total reaches, proximal adjustments and distal adjustments of reaching were primary outcomes. Grasping was a secondary outcome. RESULTS Groups were similar in the pretraining. In the posttraining, trained infants performed greater amount of total reaches and bimanual reaches than untrained infants. Greater amount of bimanual reaches in trained infants was maintained in the retention test. Distal adjustments and grasping outcome were not influenced by the training. CONCLUSIONS A brief-term training with open fingers sticky mittens benefited reaching behavior and favored retention of increased bimanual reaches in newly reaching late preterm infants. However, it was not sufficient to influence hand openness and early grasping.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Leila Foerster Merey
- Physical Therapy Section, Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil
| | - Eloisa Tudella
- Departament of Physical Therapy, Federal University of Sao Carlos, Sao Carlos, SP, Brazil
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Karl JM, Wilson AM, Bertoli ME, Shubear NS. Touch the table before the target: contact with an underlying surface may assist the development of precise visually controlled reach and grasp movements in human infants. Exp Brain Res 2018; 236:2185-2207. [PMID: 29797280 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-018-5293-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2017] [Accepted: 05/16/2018] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Multiple motor channel theory posits that skilled hand movements arise from the coordinated activation of separable neural circuits in parietofrontal cortex, each of which produces a distinct movement and responds to different sensory inputs. Prehension, the act of reaching to grasp an object, consists of at least two movements: a reach movement that transports the hand to a target location and a grasp movement that shapes and closes the hand for target acquisition. During early development, discrete pre-reach and pre-grasp movements are refined based on proprioceptive and tactile feedback, but are gradually coordinated together into a singular hand preshaping movement under feedforward visual control. The neural and behavioural factors that enable this transition are currently unknown. In an attempt to identify such factors, the present descriptive study used frame-by-frame video analysis to examine 9-, 12-, and 15-month-old infants, along with sighted and unsighted adults, as they reached to grasp small ring-shaped pieces of cereal (Cheerios) resting on a table. Compared to sighted adults, infants and unsighted adults were more likely to make initial contact with the underlying table before they contacted the target. The way in which they did so was also similar in that they generally contacted the table with the tip of the thumb and/or pinky finger, a relatively open hand, and poor reach accuracy. Despite this, infants were similar to sighted adults in that they tended to use a pincer digit, defined as the tip of the thumb or index finger, to subsequently contact the target. Only in infants was this ability related to their having made prior contact with the underlying table. The results are discussed in relation to the idea that initial contact with an underlying table or surface may assist infants in learning to use feedforward visual control to direct their digits towards a precise visual target.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jenni M Karl
- Department of Psychology, Thompson Rivers University, 805 TRU Way, Kamloops, BC, V2C 0C8, Canada.
| | - Alexis M Wilson
- Department of Psychology, Thompson Rivers University, 805 TRU Way, Kamloops, BC, V2C 0C8, Canada
| | - Marisa E Bertoli
- Department of Psychology, Thompson Rivers University, 805 TRU Way, Kamloops, BC, V2C 0C8, Canada
| | - Noor S Shubear
- Department of Psychology, Thompson Rivers University, 805 TRU Way, Kamloops, BC, V2C 0C8, Canada
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Nonaka T, Goldfield EC. Mother-Infant Interaction in the Emergence of a Tool-Using Skill at Mealtime: A Process of Affordance Selection. ECOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY 2018. [DOI: 10.1080/10407413.2018.1438199] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Tetsushi Nonaka
- Graduate School of Human Development and Environment, Kobe University
| | - Eugene C. Goldfield
- Program in Behavioral Science, Boston Children's Hospital
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University
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10
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The Embodied Origins of Infant Reaching: Implications for the Emergence of Eye-Hand Coordination. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2018. [DOI: 10.1123/kr.2017-0052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
This article reviews the literature on infant reaching, from past to present, to recount how our understanding of the emergence and development of this early goal-directed behavior has changed over the decades. We show that the still widely-accepted view, which considers the emergence and development of infant reaching as occurring primarily under the control of vision, is no longer sustainable. Increasing evidence suggests that the developmental origins of infant reaching is embodied. We discuss the implications of this alternative view for the development of eye-hand coordination and we propose a new scenario stressing the importance of the infant body-centered sensorimotor experiences in the months prior to the emergence of reaching as a possible critical step for the formation of eye-hand coordination.
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Williams JL, Corbetta D. Assessing the Impact of Movement Consequences on the Development of Early Reaching in Infancy. Front Psychol 2016; 7:587. [PMID: 27199822 PMCID: PMC4846662 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00587] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2015] [Accepted: 04/08/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Prior research on infant reaching has shown that providing infants with repeated opportunities to reach for objects aids the emergence and progression of reaching behavior. This study investigated the effect of movement consequences on the process of learning to reach in pre-reaching infants. Thirty-five infants aged 2.9 months at the onset of the study were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups. Two groups received a 14-day intervention to distinct reaching tasks: (1) in a contingent group, a toy target moved and sounded upon contact only, and (2) in a continuous group, the toy moved and sounded continuously, independent of hand-toy contact. A third control group did not receive any intervention; this group's performance was assessed only on 2 days at a 15-day interval. Results revealed that infants in the contingent group made the most progress over time compared to the two other groups. Infants in this group made significantly more overall contacts with the sounding/moving toy, and they increased their rate of visually attended target contacts relative to non-visually attended target contacts compared to the continuous and control groups. Infants in the continuous group did not differ from the control group on the number of hand-toy contacts nor did they show a change in visually attended target versus non-visually attended target contacts ratio over time. However, they did show an increase in movement speed, presumably in an attempt to attain the moving toy. These findings highlight the importance of contingent movement consequences as a critical reinforcer for the selection of action and motor learning in early development. Through repeated opportunities to explore movement consequences, infants discover and select movements that are most successful to the task-at-hand. This study further demonstrates that distinct sensory-motor experiences can have a significant impact on developmental trajectories and can influence the skills young infants will discover through their interactions with their surroundings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua L Williams
- Department of Psychology, Armstrong State University Savannah, GA, USA
| | - Daniela Corbetta
- Department of Psychology, The University of Tennessee Knoxville, TN, USA
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