When infants look at someone's face or at an object, they are learning about the world. But neither parents nor scientists know how long an infant will look at a given face or object. This study tests the hypothesis that the durations of an infant's previous looks at a target predict the duration of the next look at the target. This is called the temporal dependency hypothesis. It suggests that infants regulate their own behavior to learn from their environment early in life. The temporal dependency hypothesis will be evaluated in a multi-ethnic group of infants from the Southeastern United States. During several visits in the first year of life, individual infant looks will be measured as infants interact with their mothers, and watch videos of people and objects. During each of these activities, individual infants may have a preferred level of temporal dependency that indicates how strongly their past looks predict their next looks. Greater temporal dependency is believed to reflect greater self-regulation. The project will assess whether greater temporal dependency predicts higher levels of communication and self-regulation at a year and a half of age.
The project unites research on social and cognitive development to understand the behavioral bases of visual exploration. It tests a hypothesis that may characterize other behaviors relevant to children's learning such as reaction times. Results will inform understanding of developmental disorders such as autism, and the development of new technologies such as robots with realistic and effective looking behaviors. To maximize this impact, project resources such as digital recordings of infant behavior will be shared with other researchers.
