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Sensorimotor Decoupling Contributes to Triadic Attention: A Longitudinal Investigation of Mother–Infant–Object Interactions
Author(s) -
Barbaro Kaya,
Johnson Christine M.,
Forster Deborah,
Deák Gedeon O.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.12464
Subject(s) - gaze , psychology , modalities , joint attention , object (grammar) , developmental psychology , haptic technology , longitudinal study , decoupling (probability) , visual attention , cognitive psychology , communication , cognition , artificial intelligence , neuroscience , computer science , autism , social science , sociology , psychoanalysis , statistics , mathematics , control engineering , engineering
Previous developmental accounts of joint object activity identify a qualitative “shift” around 9–12 months. In a longitudinal study of 26 dyads, videos of joint object interactions at 4, 6, 9, and 12 months were coded for all targets of gaze and manual activity (at 10 Hz). At 12 months, infants distribute their sensorimotor modalities between objects handled by the parent and others controlled by the infant. Analyses reveal novel trajectories in distributed joint object activity across the 1st year. At 4 months, infants predominantly look at and manipulate a single object, typically held by their mothers. Between 6 and 9 months, infants increasingly decouple their visual and haptic modalities and distribute their attention between objects held by their mothers and by themselves. These previously unreported developments in the distribution of multimodal object activity might “bridge the gap” to coordinated joint activity between 6 and 12 months.