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Seeing the World From Others' Perspective: 14-Month-Olds Show Altercentric Modulation Effects by Others' Beliefs.
Dora Kampis1,2, Ágnes Melinda Kovács1
1Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Open Mind : Discoveries in Cognitive Science
|November 28, 2022
Summary
14-month-old infants consider others' beliefs when searching for objects. This early altercentric influence suggests infants track what others know, even about object presence or identity.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Development
- Social Cognition
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Humans readily adopt others' perspectives, influencing behavior.
- Altercentric influence is well-studied in adults but its developmental origins are unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if 14-month-olds' object search is modulated by another person's belief.
- To explore the ontogenetic origins of altercentric influence in infants.
Main Methods:
- Infants' search behavior in a box was observed under conditions of true/false beliefs about object presence (Experiment 1).
- Infants' search behavior was observed when others held true/false beliefs about object identity (Experiment 2).
Main Results:
- Infants searched longer when the other person believed an object remained in the box.
- This indicates an early altercentric influence on infant behavior.
Conclusions:
- Infants spontaneously represent others' beliefs regarding object presence and identity.
- Infants may appreciate that others encode the world under specific aspects.
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