Social contingency detection and infant development

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Infant Social Cognition
• Early Social Development

Background:

• Social contingency detection is crucial for infant development.
• Early interactions shape an infant's understanding of social cues.
• Intersubjectivity, or shared experience, emerges from these early detections.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the developmental origins and determinants of social contingency detection.
• To propose a framework for understanding how infants develop a sense of self and social connection.
• To map the evolving social stances of infants from birth to 18 months.

Main Methods:

• Review of recent research on infant social development.
• Theoretical proposal based on existing empirical evidence.
• Analysis of the changing meaning of contingency detection and intersubjectivity.

Main Results:

• Social contingency detection originates from the infant's early ability to differentiate self from others (first 6 months).
• Contingency detection from the second month onwards contributes to a sense of intersubjectivity.
• The significance of contingency detection and its role in intersubjectivity undergo radical changes between birth and 18 months.

Conclusions:

• Social contingency detection is linked to the developing sense of self, reciprocity, and participation in infancy.
• A developmental map of infant social stances can be proposed.
• Understanding these origins is key to comprehending early social-emotional development.