Newborns to three months should be stimulated to hold and reach for
objects, study says

Date:
July 8, 2021
Source:
Fundac,a~o de Amparo a` Pesquisa do Estado de Sa~o Paulo
Summary:
When newborns observe adults performing everyday tasks, their
social, motor and cognitive development is stimulated.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Newborn infants and babies aged up to three months should be stimulated
to manipulate objects and observe adults performing everyday tasks. This incentive helps their social, motor and cognitive development, researchers
note in an article published in the May 2021 issue of the journal Infant Behavior & Development.


========================================================================== According to the authors, from the earliest age babies watch adults
carrying out activities such as handling utensils and putting them away
in drawers or closets. They should themselves have frequent contact
with objects to develop the ability to hold things and reach out for
them. Through social interaction, even newborns can learn to use their
own bodies functionally and to perceive the links between their movements
and their surroundings.

"We present evidence that neonatal imitation and manipulation activities
are connected, and therefore propose stimulation practices based on
seminal experimental designs where infants should be positioned in
favorable postures to observe others acting in the world. This will have
an impact on the way that early infants understand the social world
and the chain of actions possible in this environment," they argue in
the article.

The study was supported by FAPESP in partnership with the Maria Ceci'lia
Souto Vidigal Foundation (FMCSV).

For Priscilla Ferronato, a professor at the Health Sciences Institute
of Paulista University (UNIP) in Sa~o Paulo, Brazil, and first author
of the article, the study innovated by evidencing the link between
social imitation and the motor system underlying manipulation. "Research published since 1970 has shown that babies can copy facial expressions
as soon as they're born. We suggest they imitate manipulative motor
actions just as much as expressions.

When babies see adults using their hands, they copy the movements,
and this helps them use their own hands," she said.

Babies are unable to reach for objects in the first three months of life.

"Carers usually stimulate them to use their hands only after they learn
the reaching movement," she said. "We propose the opposite: encouraging
them to reach out before they can do so of their own accord." In the
article, the researchers present a review of the scientific literature
on the subject and advocate a novel approach to the understanding
of imitation and manual activities. The suggestions are based on the reproduction of scenarios that replicate experimental situations in
classic studies of child development but are simple and easily adapted.



==========================================================================
One of the exercises proposed consists of placing the baby's hands
first on a smooth surface and then on an object with a rough surface to
induce an awareness of the difference involved in terms of grasping and holding. Another is offering a finger for the baby to hold and smiling
to reinforce the association between touch and visual stimulus.

A third proposal entails shining a flashlight or smartphone in a dimly
lit room just above the baby's chest to stimulate use of the arms as
the baby tries to seize the beam of light.

"We want this information to be made available to professionals in daycare centers for practical application, and also to parents because at this
early age babies are usually at home. Many parents have no idea babies
are capable of learning in the first two or three months of their lives," Ferronato said.

Last year the foundation published a book on interaction between
parents or carers and infants (Primeiri'ssima Infa^ncia -- Interac,o~es: Comportamentos de pais e cuidadores de crianc,as de 0 a 3 anos), according
to which 21% of parents interviewed said children start learning after
the age of 6 months, while the same percentage thought the threshold
was 1 year. Most of the 58% who answered that babies learn in the womb
or start learning shortly after birth had a university degree and were relatively well-off.

Developing skills Early childhood is defined in Brazilian law as
the first six years of a person's life (Lei 13257/2016). Researchers
and organizations often define infancy as the first three years of
life. Around 10 million children can be classed as infants under this definition, according to data from the 2019 Continuous National Household Sample Survey (PNAD) conducted by IBGE, Brazil's national census bureau.

The first 1,000 days, from conception to the child's second birthday,
are considered the most important from the standpoint of physical and
mental development. What happens in this period can determine countless
factors in adulthood. Sometimes referred to as the "golden days," they
are also crucial for learning because of the brain's plasticity.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Fundac,a~o_de_Amparo_a`_Pesquisa_do_Estado_de_Sa~o_Paulo.

Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Priscilla Augusta Monteiro Ferronato, Briseida Resende, Edison
de Jesus
Manoel. Interweaving social and manipulative development in early
infancy: Some direction for infant caregiving. Infant Behavior
and Development, 2021; 63: 101564 DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2021.101564 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210708135335.htm

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