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Attachment and joint attention in infants: The role of expectation
Author(s) -
Mohammadzade Naghashan Neda,
Mazaheri M.Ali,
Gustafsson Erik,
SadeghiFiroozabadi Vahid,
Zabihzadeh Abbas
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
infancy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.361
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 1532-7078
pISSN - 1525-0008
DOI - 10.1111/infa.12382
Subject(s) - joint attention , psychology , strange situation , affect (linguistics) , context (archaeology) , developmental psychology , quality (philosophy) , attachment theory , joint (building) , cognitive psychology , communication , architectural engineering , paleontology , philosophy , epistemology , autism , engineering , biology
Abstract Previous research highlighted the correlation between parent–infant's attachment quality and joint attention skills. However, the underlying mechanisms of this relationship are still unclear. The aim of this study was to assess whether it is by mediating the expectation component in Internal Working Models that the quality of attachment style can affect joint attention. At first, 12‐ to 20‐month‐old infants were classified into secure and insecure groups using the Strange Situation Procedure. On a following day, using a violation‐of‐expectation paradigm, infants were habituated to two joint attention videos. Finally, the mean looking time duration of secure and insecure infants were compared with each other between two “divergent attention” and “joint attention” videos. Infants looked longer for divergent attention videos suggesting they did have expectation regarding the appropriate response in triadic interactions. In line with our main hypothesis, secure infants, but not insecure ones, looked longer in the divergent attention situation when an attachment‐related context was present, revealing the possible mediating role of “expectations” in the correlation between attachment and joint attention.