Sitting skill and the emergence of arms‐free sitting affects the frequency of object looking and exploration

Emily C. Marcinowski; Tanya Tripathi; Lin‐Ya Hsu; Sarah Westcott McCoy; Stacey C. Dusing

doi:10.1002/dev.21854

journal article Apr 22, 2019

Sitting skill and the emergence of arms‐free sitting affects the frequency of object looking and exploration

Emily C. Marcinowski Tanya Tripathi Lin‐Ya Hsu Sarah Westcott McCoy Stacey C. Dusing

Developmental Psychobiology Vol. 61 No. 7 pp. 1035-1047 · Wiley

View at Publisher Save 10.1002/dev.21854

Abstract

AbstractThe development of sitting changes how much infants are able to explore objects. Infants who can sit with their arms free are likely to explore their environment more effectively than prop sitters, as their hands are free to explore. We sought to quantify how prop sitters differed in the amount of visual and manual exploration of objects from arms‐free sitters. Infants younger than 7 months (n = 31) were recruited at sitting emergence, either prop or arms‐free sitting without the ability to change positions. Infants were grouped into sitting stages at baseline: prop (n = 17) or wobbly/arms‐free (n = 14). Across three visits (baseline, 3 weeks later, 6–8 weeks later), researchers assessed the infants’ total gross motor skill, sitting skill, and object looking and active exploration. Infants’ gross motor and sitting skill was assessed using the Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM)‐66 total scores and GMFM‐88 sitting dimension scores. While researchers supported infants in sitting, object looking and exploration were assessed using a series of three object exploration tasks and scoring modified slightly from the Early Problem Solving Indicator at each visit. Differences between trajectories of prop and wobbly/arms‐free sitters for the frequencies of two behaviors, looks and explores, were analyzed using longitudinal multilevel modeling. Prop sitters initially explored toys less frequently, but increased their exploration more quickly, than wobbly/arms‐free sitters. Sitting skill predicted minor changes in the development of looking; both stage and skill predicted changes uniquely in the development of exploration. These findings suggest that independent, arms‐free sitting changes how capable infants are of exploring objects visually and manually.

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Metrics

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References

Details

Published: Apr 22, 2019
Vol/Issue: 61(7)
Pages: 1035-1047
License: View

Authors

E

Emily C. Marcinowski

Department of Physical Therapy Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond VA

T

Tanya Tripathi

Department of Physical Therapy Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond VA

L

Lin‐Ya Hsu

Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Division of Physical Therapy University of Washington Seattle WA

S

Sarah Westcott McCoy

Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Division of Physical Therapy University of Washington Seattle WA

S

Stacey C. Dusing

Department of Physical Therapy Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond VA

Funding

Institute of Education Sciences Award: NCT02593825

Cite This Article

Emily C. Marcinowski, Tanya Tripathi, Lin‐Ya Hsu, et al. (2019). Sitting skill and the emergence of arms‐free sitting affects the frequency of object looking and exploration. Developmental Psychobiology, 61(7), 1035-1047. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.21854

Sitting skill and the emergence of arms‐free sitting affects the frequency of object looking and exploration

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