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Sensitivity to social contingencies between 1 and 3 months of age
Author(s) -
Striano Tricia,
Henning Anne,
Stahl Daniel
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
developmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.801
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1467-7687
pISSN - 1363-755X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2005.00442.x
Subject(s) - imitation , psychology , developmental psychology , social cognition , social relation , social cognitive theory , cognition , social psychology , neuroscience
Infants’ sensitivity to social contingencies was assessed. In Study 1, 1‐month‐old infants and their mothers interacted face‐to‐face in three types of imperfect contingent interactions: Normal, Non‐Contingent and Imitation. One‐month‐old infants did not discriminate these conditions. In Study 2, 3‐month‐old infants were tested as in Study 1. At 3 months of age, infants gazed reliably longer in the Imitation condition and smiled reliably more in the Normal than in the Non‐Contingent and Imitation interactions. These findings suggest a developmental transition in the sensitivity to social contingencies between 1 and 3 months of age. The relationship between the developing sensitivity to social contingencies and social cognition is discussed.