Stability of coupled fluctuations in movement and visual attention in infants

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Abstract
Fluctuations in body movement and visual inspection were measured over minutes in 3‐month‐old infants to look for evidence of coupling. In Experiment 1, infants (n = 12) looked ad libitum at two identical pictures for an average of 7.3 min. Analysis of the spontaneous fluctuations in movement and inspection revealed that they were inversely coupled: Moment‐to‐moment changes in movement and inspection occurred in opposite directions. In Experiment 2, after 4 min of free looking, infants (n = 33) were presented with a new pair of stimuli, a temporary change in the stimuli, or no change in stimuli. The inverse coupling between the fluctuations in body movement and visual inspection found in Experiment 1 was present before and after the stimulus changes, even in infants whose body movement decreased transiently in response to the stimulus changes. The reappearance of inversely coupled fluctuations in body movement and visual inspection following the stimulus changes was led by increases in movement. The results demonstrate the stability of the inverse coupling between spontaneous fluctuations in body movement and visual inspection, and suggest that changes in movement may lead changes in inspection. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 39: 99–106, 2001