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Developmental correspondence between action prediction and motor ability in early infancy

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  • Yasuhiro Kanakogi

    (Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Yoshidahonmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.)

  • Shoji Itakura

    (Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Yoshidahonmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.)

Abstract

How do infants understand the goals of others' actions? It has been proposed that action-understanding results from a mechanism whereby an observed action is mapped onto the observer's own motor representation of that action. However, direct evidence of the matching process in early infancy is difficult to find. Here we show the developmental correspondence between action prediction and motor ability by comparing gazing and grasping responses to interesting objects in 4- to 10-month-old infants and adults. The onset of infants' ability to predict the goal of others' action was found to be synchronized with the onset of their own ability to perform that action. Moreover, there was correspondence relationship between action-prediction ability and motor ability of same action. Our findings indicate that the ability to predict others' action goals requires a corresponding motor ability, providing ontogenetic evidence for a direct matching process by a mirror neuron system.

Suggested Citation

  • Yasuhiro Kanakogi & Shoji Itakura, 2011. "Developmental correspondence between action prediction and motor ability in early infancy," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 2(1), pages 1-6, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:2:y:2011:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms1342
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1342
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    Cited by:

    1. Maurits Adam & Birgit Elsner, 2020. "The impact of salient action effects on 6-, 7-, and 11-month-olds’ goal-predictive gaze shifts for a human grasping action," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(10), pages 1-18, October.
    2. Yusuke Moriguchi & Yasuhiro Kanakogi & Yuko Okumura & Ikuko Shinohara & Shoji Itakura & Shinsuke Shimojo, 2019. "Imaginary agents exist perceptually for children but not for adults," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(1), pages 1-9, December.
    3. Ettore Ambrosini & Vasudevi Reddy & Annette de Looper & Marcello Costantini & Beatriz Lopez & C Sinigaglia, 2013. "Looking Ahead: Anticipatory Gaze and Motor Ability in Infancy," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(7), pages 1-9, July.

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