Work

Individual Differences and the Development of Joint Attention in Infancy

Year: 2007

Type: article

Abstract: This study examined the development of joint attention in 95 infants assessed between 9 and 18 months of age. Infants displayed significant test-retest reliability on measures of following gaze and gestures (responding to joint attention, RJA) and in their use of eye contact to establish social attention coordination (initiating joint attention, IJA). Infants displayed a linear, increasing pattern of age-related growth on most joint attention measures. However, IJA was characterized by a significant cubic developmental pattern. Infants with different rates of cognitive development exhibited different frequencies of joint attention acts at each age, but did not exhibit different age-related patterns of development. Finally, 12-month RJA and 18-month IJA predicted 24-month language after controlling for general aspects of cognitive development.

Source: Child Development

DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01042.x

Authors: Peter Mundy, Jessica Block, Christine Delgado, Yuly Pomares, Amy Vaughan Van Hecke, Meaghan Venezia Parlade

Institutions: University of Miami, University of Illinois Chicago, University of Pittsburgh

Language: English

Topic: Child and Animal Learning Development

Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Award: INFANT JOINT ATTENTION AND DEVELOPMENTAL OUTCOMES