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The effect of positive emotion on infants' gaze shift

Misa Kuroki1

  • 1Institute of Human Environment Studies, Kyusyu University, 6-19-1 Hakozaki, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan. black50@infoseek.jp

Infant Behavior & Development
|April 10, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Positive emotions encourage infants to look away from toys. While younger infants don't show a preference, 12-month-olds increasingly gaze at caregivers when happy, aiding social development.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Infant Social Cognition
  • Emotional Development

Background:

  • Infants frequently shift gaze between toys and caregivers during play.
  • Understanding gaze-shifting behavior is crucial for studying early social interaction.
  • The influence of emotional states on infant attention requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine if positive emotions disengage infants' gaze from their current focus.
  • To investigate whether positive emotions enhance caregiver-directed gaze in infants.
  • To explore age-related differences in these emotional influences on attention.

Main Methods:

  • Infants' toy play was observed in neutral and positive emotional states.
  • The rate of gaze shifts away from the point of fixation was measured.
  • Selection of the next visual target (caregiver vs. object) was recorded.

Main Results:

  • Infants showed significantly more gaze disengagement from their fixation point in positive emotional states compared to neutral states.
  • 6- and 9-month-old infants did not differ in selecting caregivers or objects as their next target when in a positive state.
  • 12-month-old infants significantly increased their gaze towards caregivers when experiencing positive emotions.

Conclusions:

  • Positive emotions play a role in disengaging infant attention.
  • The ability to direct gaze towards caregivers in positive emotional states develops by 12 months.
  • These findings contribute to understanding the development of initiating joint attention.

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