On the emergence of agency

TL;DR

This paper investigates how infants develop a sense of agency through movement patterns, showing that agency emerges as a self-organizing process detectable via coordination analysis.

Contribution

It introduces a novel application of coordination dynamics to identify emergent agency in infants through detailed movement analysis.

Findings

Movement patterns reveal stages of agency development.

Agency emergence is punctuated and self-organizing.

Both movement and stillness contribute to agency understanding.

Abstract

How do human beings make sense of their relation to the world and realize their ability to effect change? Applying modern concepts and methods of coordination dynamics we demonstrate that patterns of movement and coordination in 3-4 month-olds may be used to identify states and behavioral phenotypes of emergent agency. By means of a complete coordinative analysis of baby and mobile motion and their interaction, we show that the emergence of agency takes the form of a punctuated self-organizing process, with meaning found both in movement and stillness.