The Development of Visually Guided Stepping, 2017-2022

Cowie, Dorothy and Mowbray, Rachel (2022). The Development of Visually Guided Stepping, 2017-2022. [Data Collection]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Service. 10.5255/UKDA-SN-855484

Perceiving one's own body is crucial for being able to perceive the world and act on it. But how do we do this? Imagine that I can see two hands resting on the table in front of me. One is mine, and one belongs to my friend. How do I tell which is which? This seems like an obvious question, but on consideration it is not. In fact, research has told us that adults use several different types of information, including multisensory visual, tactile, and movement cues; and stored knowledge about the form of their own hand. A more difficult question is how children manage to identify their own bodies in the midst of the constant growth and change which occurs in childhood. Very little is known about this. In particular, it is unclear how children balance the need for a consistent idea of their own body, and the need to be flexible as it grows. Further, new virtual reality technologies are emerging which can provide virtual bodies to children in games or educational settings. How might children accept and use these virtual bodies?

Data description (abstract)

Adults use vision during stepping and walking to fine-tune foot placement. However, the developmental profile of visually
guided stepping is unclear. We asked (1) whether children use online vision to fine-tune precise steps and (2) whether precision
stepping develops as part of broader visuomotor development, alongside other fundamental motor skills like reaching.
With 6-(N = 11), 7-(N = 11), 8-(N = 11)-year-olds and adults (N = 15), we manipulated visual input during steps and reaches.
Using motion capture, we measured step and reach error, and postural stability. We expected (1) both steps and reaches
would be visually guided (2) with similar developmental profiles (3) foot placement biases that promote stability, and (4)
correlations between postural stability and step error. Children used vision to fine-tune both steps and reaches. At all ages,
foot placement was biased (albeit not in the predicted directions). Contrary to our predictions, step error was not correlated
with postural stability. By 8 years, children’s step and reach error were adult-like. Despite similar visual control mechanisms,
stepping and reaching had different developmental profiles: step error reduced with age whilst reach error was lower and
stable with age. We argue that the development of both visually guided and non-visually guided action is limb-specific.

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