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!Kung Infancy: The Social Context of Object Exploration
Author(s) -
Bakeman Roger,
Adamson Lauren B.,
Konner Melvin,
Barr Ronald G.
Publication year - 1990
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/j.1467-8624.1990.tb02822.x
Subject(s) - object (grammar) , psychology , context (archaeology) , developmental psychology , social environment , child development , social psychology , sociology , social science , history , archaeology , philosophy , linguistics
The present study consists of new analyses of systematic observations of !Kung infants made by Konner during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Our intent was to examine claims about the role of object sharing in development by describing how !Kung infants develop interest in objects and how their caregivers act toward them when they are engaged in object‐related acts. Results indicated that infants first displayed sustained interest in objects beginning at 4 months of age and that, beginning at about 8 months, they also began to engage in relational play and to give objects to others. Others tended to ignore infants during episodes of object manipulation and play, but moments of object offering were often socially embedded. These findings provide support for claims that there are universal changes in infants' involvement with objects and that their involvement is channeled in a culturally relevant manner by their caregivers.