Current Research

Modulation of leg coordination patterns in infants with and without disability

Contact: Rosa Angulo-Barroso <rangulo@umich.edu>

We have designed an experimental protocol to engage the infant in the production of more coordinated movement via a contingent reinforcement paradigm. In this study, infants will be positioned supine on a crib from where they can see a mobile. During the first 2 minutes, infants will move spontaneously but they will not receive any type of reinforcement. After this, and for the next 10 minutes, infants will receive the reinforcement (i.e. movement and sound from the mobile) every time they produce a predetermined coordinated movement. To complete the session, infants will receive 2 minutes of extinction during which the mobile will not move. Through this study we hope to gain a better understanding of the process by which infants learn and use different forms of coordination. We further hope that this study will be the initiation of a potential intervention program to reinforce functional movement in infants with DS.

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