Going around transparent and grid‐like barriers: detour ability as a perception–action skill

Abstract

Early detour ability may not generalize immediately across similar problems in different perception–action systems, but instead may reveal a pattern of developmental onset that is more domain‐specific. To investigate this possibility, we examined how 10‐month‐old (n = 24) and 12‐month‐old (n = 24) infants performed detours via different action modes and around barriers that differed in transparency. Infants made reaching and locomotor detours to retrieve an object located behind either an upright transparent barrier or an upright transparent barrier overlaid with a grid pattern. The results indicated that infants were more likely to make reaching than locomotor detours and explored the transparent and grid barriers differently. Additionally, younger infants more often attempted to contact the object through the entirely transparent barrier than did older infants, especially when making a reaching detour. The results suggest that during detour development, infants learn to coordinate relevant perceptual information with emerging actions.

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