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Caregiver-infant behaviours during multi-component object play are associated with infant visual working memory
Sobanawartiny Wijeakumar1, Christina Davidson1, Aimee Theyer1
1School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom.
Infant Behavior & Development
|November 25, 2025
Summary
Caregiver scaffolding and infant engagement during multi-component object play (MO play) are linked to better infant visual working memory. This play context supports cognitive development more than single object play.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Early Childhood Education
Background:
- Caregiver interactions significantly influence early cognitive development.
- Play is a crucial context for infant learning and development.
- Visual working memory is a key component of cognitive function in infants.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between caregiver and infant behaviors during different play contexts and infant visual working memory.
- To compare behaviors in single object play (SO play) versus multi-component object play (MO play).
- To identify specific interactive behaviors that support infant visual working memory.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study involving 90 caregivers and 91 infants (6-10 months old).
- Video recordings analyzed for caregiver intrusiveness, caregiver scaffolding, infant object engagement, and infant distractibility during SO play and MO play.
- Infant visual working memory assessed using a preferential looking task.
Main Results:
- Infants and caregivers exhibited more object engagement and scaffolding, respectively, during MO play compared to SO play.
- Behaviors during SO play (intrusiveness, scaffolding, object engagement) correlated positively with corresponding behaviors in MO play.
- Infant visual working memory was associated only with behaviors during MO play: higher visual working memory linked to better infant object engagement, reduced distractibility, and enhanced caregiver scaffolding.
Conclusions:
- Multi-component object play (MO play) appears more beneficial for developing infant visual working memory than single object play (SO play).
- Specific caregiver and infant behaviors within the MO play context are critical for supporting infant visual working memory.
- Findings highlight the importance of play context and interaction quality in early cognitive development.
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