Manual exploratory behaviors in six-month-old infants at environmental and biological risk.
Very-preterm and low-SES six-month-olds explore toys less with their hands, a quick visual cue for early intervention.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Rohr et al. (2022) watched how six-month-old babies handle toys. They compared three groups: healthy full-term infants, very-preterm infants, and infants from low-income homes.
Each baby sat on a caregiver's lap and played with three objects that differed in texture. Cameras recorded every finger, mouth, and wave motion for later coding.
What they found
Very-preterm and low-SES babies fingered, transferred, and waved the toys less than their healthy peers. Object texture also changed how babies explored.
In short, risk status and toy feel both shaped what the babies did with their hands.
How this fits with other research
Zuccarini et al. (2016) saw the same reduced hand play in extremely preterm six-month-olds, so the new data confirm that finding.
de Campos et al. (2012) reviewed 18 papers and concluded that each risk group—preterm, low-SES, Down syndrome, blindness, autism—shows its own exploration pattern. The current study adds fresh detail for preterm and low-SES infants.
Zuccarini et al. (2017) later tracked the same ELGA babies and found that more mouthing and handling at six months predicted better language and thinking scores at two years. Together these studies suggest that catching low exploration early can guide therapy before delays pile up.
Why it matters
If you assess six-month-olds in NICU follow-up or Early Intervention, watch how they use their hands. Less fingering, transferring, or waving can flag the need for extra sensory and motor experiences. Simple tweaks—offering varied textures and brief, playful hand games—may boost exploration and, based on longitudinal data, could protect later language and cognitive growth.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Place two textures in reach and count finger movements for two minutes—note if baby needs prompts.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Exploratory behaviors are essential and may improve different skill development. Different risk factors may negatively impact neuromotor development, such as biological risk and environmental risk. OBJECTIVE: Assess and discriminate exploratory behaviors of infants at environmental or biological risk and infants at non-risk. METHODS: Sixty-four six-month-old infants were divided into three independent groups: Group 1 (G1), 28 healthy full-term infants; Group 2 (G2), 21 full-term infants of low socioeconomic status (SES); Group 3 (G3), 15 very preterm infants. Nine exploratory behaviors were assessed: fingering, mouthing, waving, tapping, banging, transferring, rotating, alternating, and squeezing. RESULTS: For the malleable object, fingering (p = 0.005) and transferring (p = 0.046) behaviors were different between G2 and G3 whereas waving behavior (p = 0.041) differed between G1 and G3 and transferring (p = 0.003) between G1 and G2. For the rigid object, waving was different between G1 and G3 (p = 0.018) whereas transferring behavior differed between G2 and G3 (p = 0.019). Total number of behaviors was significantly different between G1 and G2 for malleable (p = 0.019) and rigid objects (p = 0.009). Intragroup analysis revealed differences between malleable and rigid objects for transferring (p = 0.013), squeezing (p < 0.0001), fingering (p < 0.0001), and banging (p = 0.013) behaviors in infants from G1. Fingering and squeezing (p < 0.0001) were different between malleable and rigid objects in G2 (p = 0.009 and p < 0.0001) and G3 (p = 0.004 and p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Risk factors and object properties influence exploratory behaviors, mainly in low SES infants. Fingering and banging behaviors are favored by rigid objects, while squeezing is favored by malleable objects.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2022 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2022.104317