Balancing act(ion): Attentional and postural control strategies predict extent of infants' perseveration in a sitting and reaching task

This study examined the organization of attention in infancy in the context of embodied cognition. Twenty-eight 7-month-old infants, split between Stage 2 and Stage 3 sitters, participated in a modified A-not-B reaching task. Sitting proficiency, experimentally manipulated sitting surface, and whether infants employed compensatory postural control strategies predicted extent of infants' perseveration. An independent measure of Focused Attention was related to infants' ability to come up with balance control strategies, which, in turn, minimized infants' attentional load and facilitated inhibition. These findings suggest a competition of resources between maintaining balance control and engaging in cognitive activity. Investigating balance control, perseverative behaviors, and the relation between the two, revealed that automatization frees attentional resources, not only for the execution of the cognitive task demands per se, but also for recognizing and executing the strategies that facilitate execution of the task.