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Sensitivity to triadic attention in early infancy.

Tricia Striano¹, Daniel Stahl

¹Center for Advanced Studies, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany. striano@cbs.mpg.de

Developmental Science

|June 30, 2005

Summary

Infants as young as 3 months old demonstrate sensitivity to joint attention. They gaze and smile more when adults coordinate attention and affect, indicating early social understanding.

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Area of Science:

Developmental Psychology
Infant Social Cognition
Early Communication

Background:

Joint attention, the shared understanding of an object or event, is crucial for cognitive and social development.
Understanding the developmental trajectory of joint attention sensitivity in infants is key to identifying early social-communication precursors.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate infant sensitivity to joint attention and social cues from 3 to 9 months of age.
To determine if infants respond differently to coordinated attention and affect versus attention or affect alone.

Main Methods:

Study 1: 54 infants (3, 6, 9 months) interacted with an adult in dyadic exchanges, with conditions involving joint attention or looking away.
Study 2: 37 infants (3, 6, 9 months) experienced adult interactions coordinating visual attention and affect, affect only, attention only, or no interaction.
Infant gazing and smiling behaviors were measured in response to different adult interaction conditions.

Main Results:

Infants gazed and smiled more during joint attention compared to looking away.
Infants gazed more when adults coordinated both attention and affect.
Infants smiled more when adults coordinated affect and attention, or attention only.

Conclusions:

Infants show sensitivity to triadic attention (joint attention involving an infant, an adult, and an object) by 3 months of age.
Coordinated social cues, particularly attention and affect, significantly influence infant engagement and social responsiveness.
These findings highlight the early emergence of sophisticated social-perceptual abilities in human infants.

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