2 FUNCTIONAL ORIENTATIONS OF SELF-EXPLORATION IN INFANCY

Twenty 3- and 5-month-old infants were presented with either a congrue nt or incongruent (left/right reversal) on-line views of their own leg s on a large TV monitor in two different experimental conditions. In o ne (no-object) condition, infants viewed their legs which produced a s ound each time they moved them. In another (object) condition, they vi ewed their legs plus an object target which produced a sound each time it was kicked. Results indicate that from 3 months of age infants ten d to reverse their pattern of relative visual attention and leg moveme nt depending on the condition. Confirming previous findings, at both a ges infants looked significantly longer and were more active while loo king at the incongruent view of their own legs in the no-object condit ion. In contrast, infants looked significantly longer and were more ac tive while looking at the congruent view of their own legs in the obje ct condition. These observations are interpreted as evidence that earl y in the first year of life, infants express a sense of their own body as a perceptually organized entity which they monitor and control as either an object of exploration or an agent of action in the environme nt.