When it pays off to take a look: Infants learn to follow an object’s motion with their gaze—Especially if it features eyes

Author(s): Christine Michel, Sabine Pauen, Stefanie Höhl
Abstract: Social cues and instrumental learning are two aspects potentially fostering early gaze following. We systematically investigated the influence of social features (schematic eyes vs. reverse-contrast eyes) and gaze-contingent reinforcement (elicited vs. not elicited) on 4-month-olds' learning to attend to gaze-cued objects. In 4 experiments, we tested infants' (N = 74) gaze following of a turning block with schematic or reverse-contrast eyes. In Experiments 1 and 2, infants could elicit an attractive animation in a training phase via interactive eye tracking by following the turning of the block. Experiments 3 and 4 were yoked controls without contingent reinforcement. Infants did not spontaneously follow the motion of the block. Four-month-olds always followed the block after training when it featured schematic eyes. When the block featured reverse-contrast eyes, the training phase only affected infants' looking behavior without reinforcement. While speaking to a certain degree of plasticity, findings stress the importance of eyes for guiding infants' attention.
Organisation(s): Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology
External organisation(s): Scientific Software Center, Max-Planck-Institut für Kognitions- und Neurowissenschaften
Journal: Infancy
Volume: 27
Pages: 515-532
No. of pages: 18
ISSN: 1525-0008
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/infa.12464
Publication date: 03-2022
Peer reviewed: Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012: 501005 Developmental psychology
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Developmental and Educational Psychology, Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health
Portal url: https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/when-it-pays-off-to-take-a-look-infants-learn-to-follow-an-objects-motion-with-their-gazeespecially-if-it-features-eyes(7c5c12a0-f0c7-4335-a981-239ead2bf4ef).html