Creating affordances: Do parental choices regarding the physical environment predict motor development and object play?

• In Event: Dynamics of the dyad: Reciprocal relations between infant action and caregiver input

Abstract

Studies show that children vary greatly in their rate of motor development. One of the possible explanations for this variation can be found in the affordances found in children’s environment. In the early years, caregivers mostly shape the physical and social environment children grow in. Empirical work has shown that caregivers largely vary in the way they shape this early environment (e.g., Adolph, Karasik, & Tamis-Lemonda, 2010; Oudgenoeg-Paz, van Schaik, & Atun-Einy, 2020). However, evidence for a longitudinal relation between parental choices for activities and materials and actual motor development and object play is still scarce. Therefore, we set out to study longitudinal and cross-sectional relations between the activities parents did with their children and the materials they provided them with, and children’s motor development and object play.

Thirty Dutch children were followed from age 9 months to age 20 months. At the beginning of the study, parents filled in the Affordances in the Home Environment for Motor Development questionnaire (Caçola, Gabbard, Montebelo, & Santos, 2015) reporting on aspects of the home environment that are considered important for motor development. Moreover, parents reported the frequency of engaging in activities that are thought to elicit or limit movement (e.g., putting the child in baby bouncer or allowing the child to freely move on the floor). Children’s motor skills were measured using parental reports about the age of attainment of major motor milestones (e.g., unsupported sitting, crawling) and by observing children’s object play at 9, 12, 16, and 20 months.

Results revealed that certain activities and toys were consistently related to the attainment of major motor milestones. The frequency of engaging in activities that limited movement was related to later attainment of crawling (β =.38) and walking (β =.35). On the other hand, activities that enabled more movement were related to earlier attainment of walking (β = -.47). Playing more with puzzles at age 9 months was also related to earlier attainment of independent sitting (r=-.47), crawling (r = -.52) and walking (r = -.33). On the contrary, playing more with pop-up toys was related to later attainment of crawling (r = .35) and walking (r = .35) and playing more frequently with balls was related to later sitting (r = .39). Moreover, use of puzzles, pop-up toys and balls were all related to more complex object exploration (i.e., making more combinations) at ages 12 and 20 months (r values ranged from .36 to .45). No significant cross-sectional relations were found.

These results suggest that activities and toys that enabled more movement were related to earlier self-locomotion attainment, whereas more stationary activities and toys were related to later attainment of self-locomotion. Moreover, the use of toys that explicitly elicit spatial manipulation (such as puzzles and balls) predicted more complex object exploration longitudinally. These results demonstrate how caregivers’ choices, early in the infant’s life, ultimately cascade and contribute to developmental motor outcomes. In the presentation, the meaning of these findings as well as the types of toys and activities that were not related to motor outcomes will be further discussed.

Authors

• Ora Oudgenoeg-Paz, Universiteit Utrecht
  Presenting Author

• Paul Pm Leseman, Utrecht University
  Non-Presenting Author

• M.J.M. Volman, Utrecht University
  Non-Presenting Author