1997 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
SENSORI-MOTOR COORDINATION IN INFANT
| Project/Area Number |
08610086
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
実験系心理学
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| Research Institution | OKAYAMA UNIVERSITY |
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Principal Investigator |
TAYA Raiten OKAYAMA UNIVERSITY,PROFESSOR, 文学部, 教授 (80033356)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
HIRAMATSU Yoshiki CHUGOKU JUNIOE COLLEGE,PROFESSOR, 幼児教育科, 教授 (60199099)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1996 – 1997
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| Keywords | INFANT / KICK / SUCKING / THE SECONDARY CIRCULAR REACTION / PURPOSIVE BEHAVIOR / CAUSALITY / OPERANT CONDITIONING / THE SENSORY-MOTOR INTELLIGENCE |
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| Research Abstract |
According to Piaget (l948), the secondary circular reaction of an infant, the first purposive behavior, begins at about 4 1/2 months after his birth. We re-examined quantitatively the characteristics of this secondary circular reaction in footkick and sucking behaviors of infans after Rovee-Collier et al.(1979).
FOOTKICK When a 3-month old infant moves his left leg in a reinforcement period, a cord was fastend at the ankle of his left leg, and his kick directly initiated sway and movement in the rattle hung above the infant's face (the conjugate reinforcement condition). But in a non-reinforcement period, the cord was unfastened from the ankle, then no footkicks caused any effects. He learned soon to kick with his left foot, but his cause-effect idea appeared much different from that in the normal grown-ups. He understood well the contiguous relationships between his action and the rattle sound, but he did not discriminated well the non-reinforcement period from the reinforcement period
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; i.e., he kicked frequently also when the cord was unfastened from his left ankle.
SUCKING When a 6-weeks old infant sucked an artificial rubber nipple, a buzzer sound was heard in a reinforcement period but no sound was heard in a non-reinforcement period. He soon learned to sack the nipple to hear the buzzer tone, but he sucked frequently also in a non-reinforcement period. He discriminated not so well the latter period from the former.
CONCLUSION A 3-month-old or younger infant could understand well the cause-effect relationship between his action and the changed outer world in reinforcement period. he could even modify his action to get some better effects. Thus these actions are the secondary circular reactions defined by Piaget. But he could hardly stop his action in non-reinforcement period. Once he finds a good effect as a result of his sortie action, he cart continue expecting the same good effect for some long period without any further reinforcement. This would be one of fundamental characteristics of the cause-effect idea of the very younf infant. Less
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