Infants’ relationship with drop-offs and water environments

Underpinned by the ecological approach to perceptual-motor development, this Thesis aims to contribute to the understanding of the organization of infants’ behaviour during encounters with drop-offs and water environments. Previous studies have linked locomotor experience to infants’ avoidance of falling from heights. Using the Real Cliff / Water Cliff apparatus, Burnay and Cordovil (2016) confirmed the effect of locomotor experience on crawlers’ avoidance of drop-offs and linked locomotor experience to infants’ avoidance of falling into the water for the first time. However, the effect of other specific locomotor experiences on infants’ approach to aquatic environments has not been addressed. This Thesis investigated the effect of specific locomotor experiences and the transition from skilled crawling to novice walking on infants’ behaviour when they encounter real cliffs and two different ways to access the water: a cliff and a slope. Using a cross-sectional design, Study One examined the effect of specific locomotor experiences on 102 infants’ (58 crawlers, 44 walkers) avoidance of falling from a real and a water cliff (tank of water attached to the edge of a drop-off). Crawling and total self-produced locomotor experiences were associated with crawling and walking infants’ behaviour. No association between walking experience and walking infants’ avoidance behaviour was found. Study Two examined 25 infants’ behaviour on the real and the water cliff in a longitudinal design. Infants were tested as experienced crawlers, new walkers and again as experienced walkers. The majority of infants avoided equally or more consistently when tested as new walkers than as experienced crawlers and even more consistently when tested as experienced walkers. Combining results from Study One and Two indicates that some degree of what infants learn through crawling experience about navigating drop-offs transfers to a new walking locomotor pattern. For new walkers, adaptive behaviour requires a recalibration process, and a longer duration of crawling experience facilitates this process. To investigate if perceptual-motor development influences infants’ avoidance of submersion when a sloped entrance to the water is offered in the same way it does when a drop-off is presented, Study Three examined 77 infants’ (43 crawlers, 34 walkers) avoidance of submersion on a 10⁰ sloped surface leading to deep water. No association between infants’ avoidance of submersion and locomotor experiences was found. Comparison with the results of Study One revealed that the proportion of infants that reached submersion on the slope was greater than the proportion of infants that fell into the water cliff. With self-produced locomotor experience, infants become attuned to relevant perceptual information about threats posed by cliffs (filled with water or not) but locomotor experience does not teach them to perceive water as unsafe when it can be approached via a sloped pathway. Outcomes of this Thesis can be applied to educate caregivers about sensitive periodswhen infants are more susceptible to engage in behaviour that heightens drowning risk and to inform them about the potential increased drowning risk posed by swimming pools with sloping access

Comportamento do bebé perante precipício real e aquático : a influência da experiência a gatinhar

Mestrado em Desenvolvimento da Criança na variante de Desenvolvimento MotorEstudos com recurso a precipícios visuais e reais indicam que algum tempo depois de começarem a gatinhar os bebés apresentam uma tendência para evitar a queda de alturas perigosas e que os bebés com menos experiência a gatinhar avançam com maior frequência. A maturação de capacidades físicas permite ao bebé o desenvolvimento da locomoção autónoma e a exploração do seu envolvimento, estimulando a relação entre a perceção das próprias capacidades e das possibilidades de ação sobre o envolvimento. A aproximação a superfícies aquáticas foi também previamente abordada mas em situação de piscina e com adultos na água. Numa perspetiva de segurança infantil, importa saber qual o comportamento de bebés perante o precipício real e aquático e que variáveis influenciam esse comportamento. No presente estudo, 31 bebés (M=0,96 anos; DP=0,13), com tempos de experiência a gatinhar entre 3 dias e 5,76 meses (M=1,94 meses; DP=6,7) foram testados perante um precipício real (80cm da altura) e um precipício aquático (cuba de água), sendo a segurança do bebé garantida por equipamentos próprios de escalada. Cinco dos bebés avançaram apenas na situação de precipício aquático, 4 no precipício real e 6 nas duas situações. Os bebés com mais experiência a gatinhar e mais experiência locomotora (rastejar e gatinhar) avançaram significativamente menos que os bebés com menos experiência, tanto no precipício real como no precipício aquático

Infant Drowning Prevention: Insights from a New Ecological Psychology Approach

Drowning causes significant mortality and morbidity globally, and infants (0–4 years of age) are disproportionately impacted. In a groundbreaking approach to pediatric drowning prevention, ecological psychology has been used to investigate the relationship between infants’ perceptual–motor development and their behavior around bodies of water. In this review, we summarize recent research findings in the field of ecological psychology and apply these to the prevention of infant drowning. Studies have linked infants’ avoidance of falls into the water with locomotor experience and type of accessway into bodies of water. Through crawling experience, infants learn to perceive the risk of falling into water and start adapting their behavior to avoid drop-offs leading into water. Infants tend to enter deep water more when the access is via a slope than via a drop-off. We propose that ecological psychology can enhance infant drowning prevention interventions. The aim is to create an additional layer of protection, the perceptual information layer, in addition to existing strategies, such as supervision and barriers. This new protective layer can be a powerful tool to further highlight the risk of entering the water and reduce infant drowning-related mortality and morbidity

The effect of specific locomotor experiences on infants’ avoidance behaviour on real and water cliffs

© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Infants’ avoidance of drop-offs has been described as an affordance learning that is not transferable between different locomotor postures. In addition, there is evidence that infants perceive and act similarly around real and water cliffs. This cross-sectional study investigated the effects of specific locomotor experiences on infants’ avoidance behaviour using the Real Cliff/Water Cliff paradigm. The experiments included 102 infants, 58 crawling, but pre-walking, infants (Mage = 11.57 months, SD = 1.65) with crawling experience ranging between 0.03 and 7.4 months (M = 2.16, SD = 1.71) and 44 walking infants (Mage = 14.82 months, SD = 1.99), with walking experience ranging between 0.13 and 5.2 months (M = 1.86, SD = 1.28). The association between crawling experience and crawlers’ avoidance of the real and water cliffs was confirmed. Importantly, crawling and total self-produced locomotor experience, and not walking experience, were associated with walkers’ avoidance behaviour on both cliffs. These results suggest that some degree of perceptual learning acquired through crawling experience was developmentally transferred to the walking posture. A longer duration of crawling experience facilitates a more rapid recalibration to the new walking capability. In addition, there was no difference in infants’ avoidance of falling on the real and the water cliff. However, infants explored the water cliff more than the real cliff, revealing more enticement to examine bodies of water than for drop-offs

Effects of Exposure to Formal Aquatic Activities on Babies Younger Than 36 Months: A Systematic Review

This systematic review investigated the possible effects of exposing infants to formal activities in aquatic environments. A literature search of eight databases was concluded on 12 December 2022. Studies were eligible if they: (i) focused on 0–36 months of age infants, (ii) addressed the exposure of infants to formal aquatic activities, and (iii) compared the ‘same condition of aquatic exposure with the control’ or ‘before and after exposure’. The PRISMA protocol was used. Articles considered for inclusion (n = 18) were clustered in the health, development, and physiological outcome domains. The results show that research is focused on indoor activities, mainly in baby swimming programs and baby aquatic therapy interventions. Swimming and aquatic therapy practices are generally safe for babies’ health, and there are benefits to preterm and newborns exposed to aquatic therapy once the physiological parameters are maintained in normal and safe patterns. A positive effect is also suggested in general gross and fine motor skills, visual motion perception, cognitive flexibility, and response selection accuracy for infants who participated in aquatic programs. Further investigation with high-quality experimental designs is required to establish the effect of exposure of infants to formal aquatic activities (Systematic Review Registration: CRD42021248054)

Experienced crawlers avoid real and water drop-offs, even when they are walking [dataset]

The behaviour of 25 infants was analysed on the Real Cliff / Water Cliff apparatus using a longitudinal study design. Infants were tested as experienced crawlers (T1), novice walkers (T2), and as experienced walkers (T3). The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of crawling experience on walking infants’ avoidance of falling on the real and the water cliffs and to confirm the results of a previous cross-sectional study [Burnay et al. (2021) The effect of specific locomotor experiences on infants’ avoidance behaviour on real and water cliffs] where crawling experience, and not walking experience, was linked to walking infants’ avoidance behaviour, suggesting that newly walking infants who have been experienced crawlers avoid falling from real and water cliffs more consistently then walking infants that did not have enough crawling experience. The RC/WC apparatus consists of a 200 x 120 x 75cm platform with a real cliff at one end and a water cliff at the opposite end. Climbing equipment was used to ensure infant’s safety. In each visit to the laboratory, infants were tested once on the real cliff and once on the water cliff, with randomized trial order. The experimenter placed the infants close to the opposite edge of the platform. The trials ended: (a) after 180s, if the infant had moved from the starting position but had not reached the platform edge; (b) 150s after the infant reached the platform edge; (c) when the infant fell off or descended from the platform edge; (d) when the infant started showing signs of distress or fussiness. If the infant showed signs of distress or fussiness during the first 60s of the trial and was not able to be calmed down, the test was ended and the infant was excluded from subsequent analyses. If the infant showed signs of distress or fussiness after 60s of reaching the edge, the test was ended, and the infant was coded as an avoider. Infants were free to move around and explore the platform while their mothers were calling them. Infants were code for: Avoidance behaviour: Infants who fell from the platform were coded as “fell”. Infants who stayed on the platform until the end of the trial were coded as “avoided” and infants who adapted their behaviour by turning around, laying their bellies on the platform and safely descending feet first, were coded “descended”. For the propose of statistical analysis, infants who avoided (by staying in the platform until the end of the trial) and those who safely descended from the platform were analysed together as avoiding’ infants

Application of ecological dynamics principles to drowning prevention

Drowning has been identified as the cause of over 2.5 million preventable deaths globally in the past decade. Lower- and middle-income countries in Asia have recorded the highest numbers of drowning worldwide and children seem particularly vulnerable. Drowning is a complex phenomenon informed by multiple interacting factors, and the majority of deaths occur in natural environments such as ponds, ditches, rivers and oceans. Any potential drowning prevention strategy should acknowledge the important relationships that are created between individuals and their environment in water safety education. In this article, we share how the ecological dynamics theoretical perspective can help inform our understanding of drowning prevention. First, we review recent drowning prevention recommendations provided by the World Health Organization (WHO). Next, we discuss how well WHO's recommendations align with the principles of ecological dynamics. It is acknowledged that in many Asian countries, there are considerable challenges to delivering WHO's drowning prevention interventions. Teaching children basic swimming, water safety and self-rescue skills remains the most practical means to prevent drowning. The relevant scale of analysis for understanding behaviour is the individual-environment relationship. Specifically, the relative fit between these components may dictate how well water safety skills are learnt. Considerations such as installing barriers and adequate supervision around water can be scaffolded alongside an understanding of affordances in the context of water safety. We conclude that water safety education informed by an ecological dynamics approach is an effective partnership to help tackle the drowning pandemic

Do infants avoid a traversable slope leading into deep water?

Ramps used to access swimming pools are designed with a shallow slope that affords easy access for all including infants. Locomotor experience has been linked to infants’ avoidance of falling into the water from drop-offs; however, the effect of such experience on infants’ behavior when a slope is offered to access the water has not been addressed. Forty-three crawling infants (Mage = 10.63 ± 1.91 months; Mcrawling = 2.38 ± 1.77 months) and 34 walking infants (Mage = 14.90 ± 2.18 months; Mwalking = 2.59 ± 1.56 months) were tested on a new Water Slope paradigm, a sloped surface (10°) leading to deep water. No association between infants’ avoidance of submersion and locomotor experience was found. Comparison with the results of infants’ behavior on the water cliff revealed that a greater proportion of infants reached the submersion point on the water slope than fell into the water cliff. Collectively, these results indicate a high degree of specificity in which locomotor experience teaches infants about risky situations. Importantly, sloped access to deep water appears to increase the risk of infants moving into the water thereby making them more vulnerable to drowning