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Cited by 60Motor Control and AdaptationEmbodied and Extended CognitionAction Observation and Synchronization

Development of reaching to the body in early infancy: From experiments to robotic models

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Hoffmann, Matej, Chinn, Lisa K., Somogyi, Eszter, Heed, Tobias, Fagard, Jacqueline, Lockman, Jeffrey J., O'Regan, J. Kevin·2017·2017 Joint IEEE International Conference on Development and Learning and Epigenetic Robotics (ICDL-EpiRob)
DOI 10.1109/devlrn.2017.8329795
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Abstract

We have been observing how infants between 3 and 21 months react when a vibrotactile stimulation (a buzzer) is applied to different parts of their bodies. Responses included in particular movement of the stimulated body part and successful reaching for and removal of the buzzer. Overall, there is a pronounced developmental progression from general to specific movement patterns, especially in the first year. In this article we review the series of studies we conducted and then focus on possible mechanisms that might explain what we observed. One possible mechanism might rely on the brain extracting "sensorimotor contingencies" linking motor actions and resulting sensory consequences. This account posits that infants are driven by intrinsic motivation that guides exploratory motor activity, at first generating random motor babbling with self-touch occurring spontaneously. Later goal-oriented motor behavior occurs, with self-touch as a possible effective tool to induce informative contingencies. We connect this sensorimotor view with a second possible account that appeals to the neuroscientific concepts of cortical maps and coordinate transformations. In this second account, the improvement of reaching precision is mediated by refinement of neuronal maps in primary sensory and motor cortices-the homunculi-as well as in frontal and parietal cortical regions dedicated to sensorimotor processing. We complement this theoretical account with modeling on a humanoid robot with artificial skin where we implemented reaching for tactile stimuli as well as learning the "somatosensory homunculi". We suggest that this account can be extended to reflect the driving role of sensorimotor contingencies in human development. In our conclusion we consider possible extensions of our current experiments which take account of predictions derived from both these kinds of models.

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  • Sensory experiences from an infant's spontaneous movements, such as self-touch, promote learning about one's own body and contribute to the formation of an early sense of self.

    “For example, sensory experiences arising from an infant's spontaneous movements, such as self‐touch, not only promote learning about one's own body (e.g., acquiring body representations) (Hoffmann et al. 2017), but also contribute to the formation of an early sense of self (Rochat 1998).”

    From Emergence of Goal‐Directed Behaviors via Active Inference With Self‐Prior (2026) · cites this paper as Hoffmann et al. 2017

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Authors
Hoffmann, M., Chinn, L. K., Somogyi, E., Heed, T., Fagard, J., Lockman, J. J., & O'Regan, J. K.
Affiliations
  • Italian Institute of Technology (IT)
  • Tulane University (US)
  • Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
  • Bielefeld University (DE)
ORCID
Venue
2017 Joint IEEE International Conference on Development and Learning and Epigenetic Robotics (ICDL-EpiRob)
Publisher
IEEE
Published
2017-09
Pages
112-119
DOI
10.1109/devlrn.2017.8329795
OpenAlex
W2756284637
Cited by
60
References
1
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 35 · 2019: 10 · 2017: 2
FWCI
21.00
Type
conference paper
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • IEEE International Conference on Development and Learning (ICDL) (publishedVersion)
  • PhilPapers (PhilPapers Foundation) (submittedVersion)
  • PUB – Publications at Bielefeld University (Bielefeld University) (submittedVersion)
  • Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld (Universität Bielefeld) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
  • Grantová Agentura České Republiky (GJ17-15697Y, GA17-)
  • National Institutes of Health (5R01HD067581)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Motor Control and Adaptation
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Embodied and Extended Cognition
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
Keywords
infant reaching, sensorimotor contingencies, vibrotactile stimulation, self-touch, motor babbling, intrinsic motivation, cortical maps, coordinate transformation, humanoid robots, artificial skin, sensorimotor development

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