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The origins of joint visual attention in infants
1Department of Psychology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. vcorkum@nsis.com
Insights
Joint visual attention, crucial for social development, emerges around 10 months. While infants can learn gaze-following from 8 months, simple learning alone doesn't explain its full development.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Infant Behavior
Background:
- Joint visual attention is a fundamental social-cognitive skill.
- Understanding its developmental trajectory and learning mechanisms is key to early social development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the emergence and learning of joint visual attention in infants.
- To differentiate the role of simple learning versus other mechanisms in acquiring gaze-following behavior.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments utilized a training procedure with infants aged 6-11 months.
- Infants were tested under feedback and no-feedback conditions, with specific training for gaze-following or alternative visual attention.
Main Results:
- Reliable joint visual attention was observed starting around 10 months of age.
- Gaze-following responses were trainable in infants as young as 8 months.
- Simple associative learning was insufficient to explain the acquisition of signal value in joint attention cues.
Conclusions:
- Joint visual attention develops around 10 months, with learning playing a role from 8 months.
- The acquisition of joint visual attention involves more than basic learning mechanisms.
- These findings offer insights into early social-communication development.
Abstract:
Two experiments examined the origins of joint visual attention with a training procedure. In Experiment 1, infants aged 6-11 months were tested for a gaze-following (joint visual attention) response under feedback and no feedback conditions. In Experiment 2, infants 8-9 months received feedback for either following the experimenter's gaze (natural group) or looking to the opposite side (unnatural group). Results of the 2 experiments indicate that (a) joint visual attention does not reliably appear prior to 10 months of age, (b) from about 8 months of age, a gaze-following response can be learned, and (c) simple learning is not sufficient as the mechanism through which joint attention cues acquire their signal value.