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Longitudinal Continuity in Understanding and Production of Giving-Related Behavior From Infancy to Childhood

Joshua Juvrud1, Marta Bakker1, Katharina Kaduk2

  • 1Uppsala University.

Child Development
|August 14, 2018
PubMed

Insights

Infants’ neural processing of giving gestures at 9 months predicts their later giving behavior at 2 years. Individual differences in early giving understanding are stable and not linked to other social skills.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Infant Behavior

Background:

  • Early understanding of object transfer (giving) is present in infants.
  • Individual differences in infant giving abilities and their developmental trajectories are not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate individual differences in 9-month-old infants' understanding and production of giving.
  • To examine the developmental continuity of giving behaviors from infancy to toddlerhood.
  • To explore the relationship between early giving skills and other sociocognitive abilities.

Main Methods:

  • Event-related potentials (ERPs) measured neural processing of a "give-me" gesture in 59 nine-month-olds.
  • Pupil dilation assessed reactions to inappropriate responses to the "give-me" gesture.
  • Giving behavior was observed at 2 years of age.

Main Results:

  • Infants with clearer neural processing of the "give-me" gesture showed stronger reactions to inappropriate responses.
  • These infants were more likely to engage in giving behavior at 2 years.
  • Giving behavior development was independent of language, gaze-following, and helping behaviors.

Conclusions:

  • Early neural and behavioral indicators of giving understanding predict later production of giving behavior.
  • There is developmental continuity in the understanding and production of giving from infancy.
  • Giving is a fundamental human behavior with early developmental roots.

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