Development of the infant's ability to retrieve food through a slit

The main purpose of the present study is to explore infants' ability to comprehend task manipulation, and whether they can feed themselves with a spoon when food has to be retrieved through a slit in a lid placed over a plate. To access the food, the infant has to align the bowl of the spoon with the slit. The orientation of the slit is manipulated, and certain orientations require more elaborate modifications of the feeding action than others. The infants are observed at monthly intervals, from 12 to 17 months of age. The presence of the lid affects the behaviour of the infants at all ages. Some behaviours become more immature. The infants grasp the spoon with more primitive grasp configurations, they grasp the spoon less consistently at the top of the handle, and they orient the spoon less consistently, with its bowl facing upwards. These differences decrease with age. The infants also make attempts to adjust to the constraints of the task, mainly by inclining the spoon more vertically, and rotating the hand in such a way as to align the spoon with the orientation of the slit. These adjustments improve with age. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.