Studies of infant cognition often use gaze duration as a dependent variable, under the assumption that it is a process-pure measure of some cognitive state. However, the function of looking can be broken down into at least two categories: an information gathering function and a socio-communicative function. The latter is under-investigated. In particular, there is no research determining how the communicative function of looking influences infant behavior in forced choice and violation-of-expectation tasks. The study of animal behavior, under the Natural Design Perspective, offers a clear methodological strategy to remedy this situation. Behavioral analysis and ethological studies are here combined to explore the natural consequences of looking behavior in a social situation and to test the degree to which these consequences could affect looking behavior in standard cognitive experiments. As quality of mother-infant relationship is a strong predictor of problems in later childhood, increasing knowledge about communication in this dyad may lead to better understanding of what behavioral patterns are inherent to different quality levels, and how failed communication can create future problems. ? ? ?
