The development of body representations: an associative learning account

Representing one's own body is of fundamental importance to interact with our environment, yet little is known about how body representations develop. One account suggests that the ability to represent one's own body is present from birth and supports infants' ability to detect similarities between their own and others' bodies. However, in recent years evidence has been accumulating for alternative accounts that emphasize the role of multisensory experience obtained through acting and interacting with our own body in the development of body representations. Here, we review this evidence, and propose an integrative account that suggests that through experience, infants form multisensory associations that facilitate the development of body representations. This associative account provides a coherent explanation for previous developmental findings, and generates novel hypotheses for future research.

Automated summary

The ability to represent one's own body is crucial in interacting with the environment, which may develop from birth or through multisensory experience obtained through acting and interacting with the body. Infants form multisensory associations through experience, facilitating the development of body representations. This integrative view offers new hypotheses for future research and provides a coherent explanation for previous developmental findings.