Prior research supports that infants born very preterm (PT), compared with full term (FT), have early differences in rate of learning and motor control that may hinder their ability to learn challenging motor tasks. Four‐month‐old infants born FT (n = 18) and PT (n = 18) participated in an infant kick‐activated mobile task that was scaffolded to motivate progressively higher kicks. We found the FT group learned the association between their leg movements and mobile activation on the second day, but the PT group learned the association on the third day. Both groups of infants increased the height of their kicks on the day they learned the task, compared with their spontaneous kicking height. These findings suggest that infants born PT have the ability to learn challenging motor tasks, such as kicking high, when participating in a task environment that uses scaffolding.

中文翻译：

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足月和早产婴儿在使用脚手架任务环境进行踢腿激活的移动任务期间增加了反重力腿部运动的高度

先前的研究表明，与足月 (FT) 相比，极早产 (PT) 的婴儿在学习速度和运动控制方面存在早期差异，这可能会阻碍他们学习具有挑战性的运动任务的能力。四个月大的婴儿出生时 FT ( n  = 18) 和 PT ( n = 18) 参与了婴儿踢腿激活的移动任务，该任务被搭建起来以逐渐激发更高的踢腿。我们发现 FT 组在第二天学习了他们的腿部运动和移动激活之间的关联，而 PT 组在第三天学习了这种关联。与自发踢腿高度相比，两组婴儿在学习任务当天都增加了踢腿高度。这些发现表明，PT 出生的婴儿在参与使用脚手架的任务环境时，有能力学习具有挑战性的运动任务，例如踢高。