Hand-eye coordination

Definition

Hand-eye coordination is the ability of the vision system to coordinate the information received through the eyes to control, guide, and direct the hands in the accomplishment of a given task, such as handwriting or catching a ball. Hand-eye coordination uses the eyes to direct attention and the hands to execute a task.

Description

Vision is the process of understanding what is seen by the eyes. It involves more than simple visual acuity (ability to distinguish fine details). Vision also involves fixation and eye movement abilities, accommodation (focusing), convergence (eye aiming), binocularity (eye teaming), and the control of hand-eye coordination. Most hand movements require visual input to be carried out effectively. For example, when children are learning to draw, they follow the position of the hand holding the pencil visually as they make lines on the paper. Between four and 14 months of age, infants explore their world and develop hand-eye coordination, in conjunction with fine motor skills . Fine motor skills are involved in the control of small muscle movements, such as when an infant starts to use fingers with a purpose and in coordination with the eyes.

Infants are eager to move their eyes, their mouths, and their bodies toward the people and objects that comfort and interest them. They practice skills that let them move closer to desired objects and also move desired objects closer to themselves. By six months of age, many infants begin reaching for objects quickly, without jerkiness, and may be able to feed themselves a cracker or similar food. Infants of this age try to get objects within their reach and objects out of their reach. Many infants are also able to look from hand to object, to hold one object while looking for a second object, and to follow the movements of their hands with their eyes. At this age, most infants begin to poke at objects with their index fingers. After six months, infants are usually able to manipulate a cup and hold it by the handle. Many infants at this age also begin to reach for objects with one arm instead of both. At about eight months of age, as dexterity improves, many infants can use a pincher movement to grasp small objects, and they can also clap and wave their hands. They also begin to transfer objects from hand to hand, and bang objects together. Hand-eye coordination development milestones are as follows.

Birth to three years

Between birth and three years of age, infants can accomplish the following skills:

• start to develop vision that allows them to follow slowly moving objects with their eyes
• begin to develop basic hand-eye skills, such as reaching, grasping objects, feeding, dressing
• begin to recognize concepts of place and direction, such as up, down, in
• develop the ability to manipulate objects with fine motor skills

Three to five years

Between three and five years of age, little children develop or continue to develop the following skills:

• continue to develop hand-eye coordination skills and a preference for left or right handedness
• continue to understand and use concepts of place and direction, such as up, down, under, beside
• develop the ability to climb, balance, run, gallop, jump, push and pull, and take stairs one at a time
• develop eye/hand/body coordination, eye teaming, and depth perception

Five to seven years

Children between five and seven years old develop or continue to develop the following skills:

• improve fine motor skills, such as handling writing tools, using scissors
• continue to develop climbing, balancing, running, galloping, and jumping abilities
• continue to improve hand-eye coordination and handedness preference
• learn to focus vision on school work for hours every day

Common problems

Hand-eye coordination problems are usually first noted as a lack of skill in drawing or writing. Drawing shows poor orientation on the page and the child is unable to stay "within the lines" when using a coloring book. Often the child continues to depend on his or her hand for inspection and exploration of toys or other objects. Poor hand-eye coordination can have a wide variety of causes, but the main two conditions responsible for inadequate hand-eye coordination are vision problems and movement disorders .

Vision impairment

Vision impairment is a loss of vision that makes it hard or impossible to perform daily tasks without specialized adaptations. Vision impairment may be caused by a loss of visual acuity, in which the eye does not see objects as clearly as usual. It may also be caused by a loss of visual field, in which the eye cannot see as wide an area as usual without moving the eyes or turning the head. Vision impairment changes how a child understands and functions in the world. Impaired vision necessarily affects a child's hand-eye coordination, as well as cognitive, emotional, neurological, and physical development by limiting the range of experiences and the kinds of information to which the child is exposed.

Movement disorders

Movement disorders are characterized by impaired body movements. They have a variety of causes. An example is ataxia, characterized by a lack of coordination while performing voluntary movements. The problem may appear as clumsiness, inaccuracy, or instability. Movements are not smooth and may appear disjointed or jerky. Another example is hypertonia, a condition marked by an abnormal increase in muscle tension and a reduced ability of a muscle to stretch. Whatever their origin, movement disorders almost always prevent the normal development of hand-eye coordination.

Parental concerns

When a child is between one and two years old, parents should start encouraging activities that allow the child to learn how to use hands to manipulate objects and learn how different things fit together. These activities are extremely important for the development of hand-eye coordination, which is itself crucial for the overall physical development of the child. Some toys are designed to assist hand-eye coordination development. They usually involve "fitting things together," but parents can also use simple kitchen cups or bowls. Letting children play with these objects teaches them how to fit objects together. Jigsaw puzzles are also good hand-eye coordination developers, as are blocks or tower toys that encourage playing and coordination. These toys help children learn what items can fit on top of each other and which ones will stack easily. By the time children reach two or three years of age, they are ready to start throwing things and wanting to catch them. These play activities are a great way to improve hand-eye coordination. Most child development professionals believe that the best thing parents can do when trying to improve hand-eye coordination in their children is simply to let them play with a variety of toys on their own.

When to call the doctor

Parents of preschool children should be alert for signs of abnormal visual development or coordination problems. If a child is reluctant to engage in activities that require hand-eye coordination (does not like Legos, tinker toys) or has very irregular handwriting with excessive erasures, they should consider having the child evaluated.

KEY TERMS

Ataxia —A condition marked by impaired muscular coordination, most frequently resulting from disorders in the brain or spinal cord.

Binocular vision —Using both eyes at the same time to see an image.

Convergence —The natural movement of the eyes inward to view objects close-up.

Fine motor skill —The abilities required to control the smaller muscles of the body for writing, playing an instrument, artistic expression and craft work. The muscles required to perform fine motor skills are generally found in the hands, feet and head.

Gross motor skills —The abilities required to control the large muscles of the body for walking, running, sitting, crawling, and other activities. The muscles required to perform gross motor skills are generally found in the arms, legs, back, abdomen and torso.

Hypertonia —Having excessive muscular tone or strength.

Motor skills —Controlled movements of muscle groups. Fine motor skills involve tasks that require dexterity of small muscles, such as buttoning a shirt. Tasks such as walking or throwing a ball involve the use of gross motor skills.

Visual acuity —Sharpness or clearness of vision.

See also Bayley Scales of Infant Development.

Resources

BOOKS

Ball, Morven F. Developmental Coordination Disorder: Hints and Tips for the Activities of Daily Living. Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2002.

PERIODICALS

Bekkering, H., and U. Sailer. "Commentary: coordination of eye and hand in time and space." Progress in Brain Research 140 (2002): 365–73.

Carey, D. P. "Eye-hand coordination: eye to hand or hand to eye?" Current Biology 10, no. 11 (June 2000): R416–19.

Crawford, J. D., et al. "Spatial transformations for eye-hand coordination." Journal of Neurophysiology 92, no. 1 (July 2004): 10–9.

Fogt, N., et al. "The influence of head movement on the accuracy of a rapid pointing task." Optometry 73, no. 11 (November 2002): 665–73.

Henriques, D. Y., et al. "Geometric computations underlying eye-hand coordination: orientations of the two eyes and the head." Experimental Brain Research 152, no. 1 (September 2003): 70–8.

Johansson, R. S., et al. "Eye-hand coordination in object manipulation." Journal of Neuroscience 21, no. 17 (September 2001): 6917–32.

Pelz, J., et al. "The coordination of eye, head, and hand movements in a natural task." Experimental Brain Research 139, no. 3 (August 2001): 266–77.

Sailer, U., et al. "Spatial and temporal aspects of eye-hand coordination across different tasks." Experimental Brain Research 134, no. 2 (September 2000): 163–73.

Udermann, B. E., et al. "Influence of cup stacking on hand-eye coordination and reaction time of second-grade students." Perception & Motor Skills 98, no. 2 (April 2004): 409–14.

ORGANIZATIONS

American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). 141 Northwest Point Boulevard, Elk Grove Village, IL 60007–1098. Web site: <www.aap.org>.

American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). 4720 Montgomery Lane, PO Box 31220, Bethesda, MD 20824–1220. Web site: <www.aota.org>.

American Psychological Association (APA). 750 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002–4242. Web site: <www.apa.org>.

Child Development Institute (CDI). 3528 E Ridgeway Road, Orange, California 92867. Web site: <www.cdipage.com>.

WEB SITES

"Activities for infants which develop hand eye and hand foot coordination." A Fit Tot. Available online at <www.topcondition.com/temp/Afittot/hand_eye_coordination.htm> (accessed November 29, 2004).

Monique Laberge, Ph.D.

Hand-eye coordination

The ability to coordinate vision with fine motor skills.

Hand-eye coordination begins developing in infancy . Although it is an instinctive developmental achievement that cannot be taught, parents can hasten its progress by providing their children with stimulating toys and other objects that will encourage them to practice reaching out for things and grasping them.

Until the age of eight weeks, infants are too nearsighted to see objects at distances farther than about eight inches from their faces, and they have not yet discovered their hands, which are kept fisted throughout this period. By the age of two to two-and-a-half months, the eyes focus much better, and babies can follow a moving

object with their gaze, even turning their heads to keep sight of it longer. However, when a child this age drops an object, she will try to find it by feeling rather than looking for it, and although she plays with her hands, she does it without looking at them.

By three months, most infants will have made an important hand-eye connection; they can deliberately bring their hands into their field of vision . By now they are watching their hands when they play with them. They also swipe at objects within their view, a repetitive activity that provides practice in estimating distance and controlling the hands. Attempts to grab onto things (which usually fail) consist of a series of tries, with the child looking at the object and then at his hand, moving his hand closer to it, and then re-sighting the object and trying again.

At the age of four or five months, hand-eye coordination is developed sufficiently for an infant to manipulate toys, and she will begin to seek them out. By the age of six months, she can focus on objects at a distance and consistently follow them with her eyes. At this point, the infant can sight an object and reach for it without repeatedly looking at her hand. She senses where her hand is and can lead it straight to the object, keeping her eyes on the object the entire time. By the final months of her first year, an infant can shift her gaze between objects held in both hands and compare them to each other.

Toddlerhood

The toddler stage brings further progress in hand-eye coordination, resulting in the control necessary to manipulate objects with increasing sophistication. The ability to sight and grasp objects accurately improves dramatically with the acquisition of the "pincer grasp." This ability to grasp objects between the thumb and fore-finger develops between the ages of 12 and 15 months. Around the same time, children begin stacking objects on top of each other. Most can stack two blocks by the age of 15 months and three by the age of 18 months. At this age they also begin emptying, gathering, and nesting objects, or placing one inside another. Toddlers can also draw horizontal and vertical pencil lines and circular scribbles, twist dials, push levers, pull strings, pound pegs, string large beads, put a key in a lock, and turn book pages. Eventually, they are able to stack as many as six blocks, unwrap small objects, manipulate snap toys, and play with clay. Between the ages of 15 and 23 months there is significant improvement in feeding skills, such as using a spoon and a cup.

Preschool years

During the preschool period, hand-eye coordination progresses to the point of near independence at self-care activities. A four-year-old is learning to handle eating utensils well and button even small buttons. Four-yearolds can also handle a pencil competently, copy geometric shapes and letters, and use scissors. By the age of five, a child's hand-eye coordination appears quite advanced, although it will still continue to be fine-tuned for several more years. He approaches, grasps, and releases objects with precision and accuracy. He may use the same toys as preschoolers, but he manipulates them with greater skill and purpose and can complete a familiar jigsaw puzzles with lightning speed. An important milestone in hand-eye progress at this stage is the child's ability to tie his own shoelaces. At the age of six, a child's visual orientation changes somewhat. Children of this age and older shift their gaze more frequently than younger children. They also have a tendency to follow the progress of an object rather than looking directly at it, a fact that has been linked to the practice of some six-year-olds using their fingers to mark their places when they are reading. Even when absorbed in tasks, they look away frequently, although their hands remain active.

School-aged children

Hand-eye coordination improves through middle childhood , with advances in speed, timing, and coordination. By the age of nine, the eyes and hands are well differentiated, that is, each can be used independently of the other, and improved finger differentiation is evident as well. Nine-year-olds can use carpentry and garden tools with reasonable skill and complete simple sewing projects.

See also Fine motor skills

Further Reading

Eckert, Helen M. Motor Development. 3rd ed. Indianapolis, IN: Benchmark Press, 1987.

Lerch, Harold A., and Christine B. Stopka. Developmental Motor Activities for All Children: From Theory to Practice. Dubuque, IA: Brown and Benchmark, 1992.