The development of human body perception has long been investigated, but little is known about its early origins. This study focused on how a body part highly relevant to the human species, namely the hand, is perceived a few days after birth. Using a preferential-looking paradigm, 24- to 48-hr-old newborns watched biomechanically possible and impossible dynamic hand gestures (Experiment 1, N = 15) and static hand postures (Experiment 2, N = 15). In Experiment 1, newborns looked longer at the impossible, compared to the possible, hand movement, whereas in Experiment 2 no visual preference emerged. These findings suggest that early in life the representation of the human body may be shaped by sensory-motor experience.

Longhi, E., Senna, I., Bolognini, N., Bulf, H., Tagliabue, P., MACCHI CASSIA, V., et al. (2015). Discrimination of Biomechanically Possible and Impossible Hand Movements at Birth. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 86(2), 632-641 [10.1111/cdev.12329].

Discrimination of Biomechanically Possible and Impossible Hand Movements at Birth

BOLOGNINI, NADIA;BULF, HERMANN SERGIO;MACCHI CASSIA, VIOLA MARINA;TURATI, CHIARA
2015

Abstract

The development of human body perception has long been investigated, but little is known about its early origins. This study focused on how a body part highly relevant to the human species, namely the hand, is perceived a few days after birth. Using a preferential-looking paradigm, 24- to 48-hr-old newborns watched biomechanically possible and impossible dynamic hand gestures (Experiment 1, N = 15) and static hand postures (Experiment 2, N = 15). In Experiment 1, newborns looked longer at the impossible, compared to the possible, hand movement, whereas in Experiment 2 no visual preference emerged. These findings suggest that early in life the representation of the human body may be shaped by sensory-motor experience.
Articolo in rivista - Articolo scientifico
visual preference, newborns, body movements
English
2015
86
2
632
641
partially_open
Longhi, E., Senna, I., Bolognini, N., Bulf, H., Tagliabue, P., MACCHI CASSIA, V., et al. (2015). Discrimination of Biomechanically Possible and Impossible Hand Movements at Birth. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 86(2), 632-641 [10.1111/cdev.12329].
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/53800
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