Laura J. Claxton

Assistant Professor

Research Interests:

Dr. Claxton’s primary research interest focuses on motor development in infants and young children.  When infants first start to stand, they are typically very unstable and unable to remain upright for an extended period of time.  However, Dr. Claxton and her colleagues are finding evidence that these newly standing infants can easily adapt their postural sway to facilitate task performance.  For example, a newly standing infant can typically only remain stable for around 4 seconds before they fall.  However, if you give that infant a toy to hold onto, he/she will stand for around 12 seconds.  This threefold increase in stability appears to enable the infants to complete their task of exploring the toy.  Continuing along this research line, Dr. Claxton is addressing the following questions: 1) Does this adaptive constraining of sway develop when infants first start to stand or is this adaptive behavior present at earlier key postural milestones (e.g., when infants first start to sit)?  2) Can we develop a mathematical model that accounts for the different mechanism behind the development of infant postural sway?  3) Can we develop training paradigms for infants with motor developmental delays to help improve the rate at which they reach key motor milestones?

Dr. Claxton is also investigating the relation between motor skills and cognitive skills in preschool-aged children.  An increasing amount of research has demonstrated that cognitive and motor abilities are linked in development.  Children who have better cognitive skills tend to also excel at motor abilities and vice versa.  One mechanism that might link these two abilities is our executive functioning ability.  One key component of executive functioning is our ability to inhibit behaviors, commonly referred to as inhibitory control.   Dr. Claxton is currently exploring the role inhibitory control might play in the expression of fine motor and gross motor behaviors and whether training in fine and gross motor abilities will transfer to overall improvements in inhibitory control abilities. 

Memberships in Professional Organizations:

• North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity
• Society for Research in Child Development
• Cognitive Development Society
• International Society of Infant Studies

Recent Publications:

• Haddad, J.M., Claxton, L.J., Melzer, D.K., Hamill, J., & Van Emmerik, R. (2013). Developmental changes in postural stability during the performance of a precision manual task. Journal of Motor Learning and Development, 1, 12-19.
• Haddad, J.M., Rietdyk, S., Claxton, L.J., & Huber, J.E. (2013).  Task dependent postural control throughout the lifespan. Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews, 41(2), 123-132.
• Claxton, L.J. & Ponto, K. (2013).  Understanding the properties of interactive televised characters.  Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 34, 57-62.
• Claxton, L.J., Melzer, D.K., Ryu, J.H., & Haddad, J.M. (2012).  The control of posture in newly standing infants is task dependent.  Journal of Experimental Child Psychology,
  113, 159-165.
• Haddad, J. M., Rietdyk, S., & Claxton, L. J. (2012). Exercise training to improve
  independence and quality of life in impaired individuals: A commentary on Li and Hondzinski’s “Reversal of movement dysfunction due to peripheral neuropathy with exercise modalities”. Exercise and Sports Science Reviews, 40(3), 117.
• Haddad, J.M., Claxton, L.J., Keen, R., Berthier, N., Riccio, G.E., Hamill, J., & Van Emmerik, R.  (2012).  Development of the coordination between posture and manual control.  Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 111, 286-298. 
• Claxton, L.J. (2011).  An investigation of preschoolers’ misattributions of the properties of two-dimensional images: Understanding the relationship between a symbol and its referent.  Infant and Child Development, 20, 301-312. 
• Claxton, L.J., McCarty, M.E., & Keen, R. (2009).  Self-directed action affects planning in tool-use tasks with toddlers.  Infant Behavior and Development, 32, 230-233. 
• Carlson, S. M., Moses, L. J., & Claxton, L.J. (2004).  Individual differences in executive functioning and theory of mind: An investigation of inhibitory control and planning.  Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 87, 299-319.
• Claxton, L.J., Keen, R., & McCarty, M. E. (2003).  Evidence of motor planning in infant reaching behavior.  Psychological Science, 14, 354-356.
  
  

Recent Presentations:

• Claxton, L.J., Strasser, J., Leung, E., Ryu, J.H., & O’Brien, K. (2013, April).  Sitting Infants Increase Stability When Engaged in a Supra-postural Task.  Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Seattle, Washington.
• Claxton, L.J., Leung, E., Strasser, J., O’Brien, K., & Ryu, J.H. (2013, April).  Sitting Infants Reduce Sway Velocity in Response to Visual Task-Demands.  Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Seattle, Washington.
• Claxton, L.J., Strasser, J., Leung, E., & Carlson, S.M. (2012, June).  Individual Differences in the Development of Executive Functioning and Motor Control in Preschool-aged Children.  Talk given at the annual meeting of the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity, Honolulu, Hawaii.
• Claxton, L.J., Strasser, J., Leung, E., & Ryu, J.H. (2012, June).  Newly Standing Infants Adapt Postural Sway When Engaging in a Visually-demanding Supra-postural Task.  Talk given at the annual meeting of the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity, Honolulu, Hawaii.
• O’Brien, K., Rhoads, J., Haddad, J.M., & Claxton, L.J. (2012, June).  A Mathematical Model to Explore the Mechanisms Underlying the Development of Independent Sitting in Infants.  Talk given at the annual meeting of the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity, Honolulu, Hawaii.
• Claxton, L.J. (2011, October).  Understanding the Properties of Interactive Cartoon Characters.  Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Cognitive Development Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
• Claxton, L.J., Haddad, J.M., Ryu, J.H., Ponto, K., & Newcomer, S. (2011, June).  Newly Standing Infants Exhibit More Complex Center of Pressure Patterns When Engaging in a Supra-postural Task.  Talk given at the annual meeting of the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity, Burlington, Vermont.
• Claxton, L.J., Witt, J., Haddad, J. M., Ryu, J. H., & Ponto, K. (2010, June). The Dorsal Stream Anticipates Future Actions. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity, Tucson, Arizona.
• Claxton, L.J., & Ponto, K. (2009, October). Preschoolers’ use of live and televised individuals as sources of information about the real world. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Cognitive Development Society, San Antonio, Texas.
• Claxton, L.J., & Daehler, M. W. (2007, March). Can You See Me? Preschoolers Interactions with Televised versus Live Actors. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Boston, Massachusetts.
• Claxton, L.J., & Daehler, M. W. (2007, March). Real or Pictures: Understanding the Properties of Televised Objects. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Boston, Massachusetts.
• Claxton, L. J., Haddad, J. M., & Keen, R. (2005, October). Motor planning in infants when reaching for objects at varying distances. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Cognitive Development Society, San Diego, California.
  

Grants:

• Individual differences in the development of executive functioning and motor control in preschool-aged children. Kinley Trust. ($19,214 funded; 8/10-8/11; PI).
• Purdue University PRF Summer Grant (PI).  (06/01/12-07/30/12). Development and validation of a mathematical model to better understand the mechanisms contributing to the emergence of sitting in infants. $8,000. 

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