TY - JOUR

T1 - Using nonlinear methods to quantify changes in infant limb movements and vocalizations

AU - Abney, Drew H.

AU - Warlaumont, Anne S.

AU - Haussman, Anna

AU - Ross, Jessica M.

AU - Wallot, Sebastian

PY - 2014/8/12

Y1 - 2014/8/12

N2 - The pairing of dynamical systems theory and complexity science brings novel concepts and methods to the study of infant motor development. Accordingly, this longitudinal case study presents a new approach to characterizing the dynamics of infant limb and vocalization behaviors. A single infant's vocalizations and limb movements were recorded from 51-days to 305-days of age. On each recording day, accelerometers were placed on all four of the infant's limbs and an audio recorder was worn on the child's chest. Using nonlinear time series analysis methods, such as recurrence quantification analysis and Allan factor, we quantified changes in the stability and multiscale properties of the infant's behaviors across age as well as how these dynamics relate across modalities and effectors. We observed that particular changes in these dynamics preceded or coincided with the onset of various developmental milestones. For example, the largest changes in vocalization dynamics preceded the onset of canonical babbling. The results show that nonlinear analyses can help to understand the functional co-development of different aspects of infant behavior.

AB - The pairing of dynamical systems theory and complexity science brings novel concepts and methods to the study of infant motor development. Accordingly, this longitudinal case study presents a new approach to characterizing the dynamics of infant limb and vocalization behaviors. A single infant's vocalizations and limb movements were recorded from 51-days to 305-days of age. On each recording day, accelerometers were placed on all four of the infant's limbs and an audio recorder was worn on the child's chest. Using nonlinear time series analysis methods, such as recurrence quantification analysis and Allan factor, we quantified changes in the stability and multiscale properties of the infant's behaviors across age as well as how these dynamics relate across modalities and effectors. We observed that particular changes in these dynamics preceded or coincided with the onset of various developmental milestones. For example, the largest changes in vocalization dynamics preceded the onset of canonical babbling. The results show that nonlinear analyses can help to understand the functional co-development of different aspects of infant behavior.

KW - Psychology

KW - Allan factor

KW - Infant vocalization

KW - Motor development

KW - Nonlinear methods

KW - Recurrence

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84906334052&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/05ea81b7-14d8-3bac-b361-cb6effcecfc8/

U2 - 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00771

DO - 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00771

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:84906334052

VL - 5

JO - Frontiers in Psychology

JF - Frontiers in Psychology

SN - 1664-1078

IS - AUG

M1 - 771

ER -