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The Development of Anticipatory Smiling
Meaghan Venezia1, Daniel S Messinger, Danielle Thorp
1Department of Psychology, University of Miami.
Summary
Infants develop the ability to share positive feelings about objects around 10 months old. This is shown by changes in smiling timing during social interactions, indicating developing communication skills.
Area of Science:
- Developmental psychology
- Infant communication
- Social cognition
Background:
- Infants' ability to share positive affect is crucial for social development.
- Understanding the timing of these expressions provides insight into early communication skills.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate developmental changes in infant smiling during joint attention.
- To determine when infants begin to communicate positive affect about objects to social partners.
Main Methods:
- Observing 26 typically developing infants at 8, 10, and 12 months.
- Utilizing the Early Social-Communication Scales to elicit joint attention behaviors.
- Analyzing the timing and proportion of infant smiles during object-focused joint attention episodes.
Main Results:
- The overall proportion of infant smiles during joint attention did not change with age.
- A significant increase in anticipatory smiling (smiling at an object then the partner) was observed between 8 and 10 months.
- This anticipatory smiling remained stable from 10 to 12 months, suggesting enhanced communication.
Conclusions:
- Infants' ability to communicate positive affect about objects develops significantly between 8 and 10 months.
- The timing of smiles, specifically anticipatory smiling, is a key indicator of developing social-communicative abilities.
- These findings highlight the emergence of intentional communication in early infancy.