Eye–hand coordination in the newborn.

Are the arm and hand movements of newborns in any way coordinated with vision? If they are, what are the properties of this coordination? These questions were studied in a situation in which newborns were presented with a slowly moving object. In Experiment 1 the number and distribution of arm-hand movements of 14 infants were examined when the object was either present or absent. It was shown that a higher proportion of movements performed while the infant fixated the object was forward extended than otherwise. However, there was no difference in the absolute frequency of forward extension between periods when the object was present and when it was absent. In Experiment 2 the forward extensions of 13 infants were analyzed by a technique that took into consideration the three-dimensional properties of arm-hand movements. It was shown that the movements performed while the neonate fixated the object were aimed closer at the object than were other movements. The effect was not a function of changes in body posture or head direction accompanying changes in visual direction. It was further shown that fixated movements clustered closer around the object and that the hand slowed down near the object in the best aimed of the fixated movements. It was concluded that there exists in the newborn a rudimentary form of eye-hand coordination, the primary function of which is attentional rather than manipulative.