Infants' Grasp of Others' Intentions
- 1 February 2009
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Current Directions in Psychological Science
- Vol. 18 (1) , 53-57
Abstract
The perception of others as intentional agents is fundamental to human experience and foundational to development. Recent research reveals that this cornerstone of social perception has its roots early in infancy, and that it is influenced by the universal, early-emerging human experience of engaging in goal-directed action. Infants' own action capabilities correlate with their emerging tendency to view others' actions as organized by goals. Moreover, interventions that facilitate new goal-directed actions alter infants' perception of those same actions in others. These effects seem to depend on the first-person aspects of infants' experience. These findings open new questions about how doing leads to knowing in the social domain.Keywords
This publication has 22 references indexed in Scilit:
- Recognizing the role of perception in action at 6 monthsDevelopmental Science, 2008
- Do as I do: 7‐month‐old infants selectively reproduce others’ goalsDevelopmental Science, 2008
- Experience matters: The impact of doing versus watching on infants' subsequent perception of tool-use events.Developmental Psychology, 2008
- Social Cognition and Social Responsiveness in 10-month-old InfantsJournal of Cognition and Development, 2007
- The ‘like me’ framework for recognizing and becoming an intentional agentActa Psychologica, 2007
- Understanding and sharing intentions: The origins of cultural cognitionBehavioral and Brain Sciences, 2005
- Can a Self-Propelled Box Have a Goal?Psychological Science, 2005
- An action perspective on motor developmentTrends in Cognitive Sciences, 2004
- A pick-me-up for infants’ exploratory skills: Early simulated experiences reaching for objects using ‘sticky mittens’ enhances young infants’ object exploration skillsInfant Behavior and Development, 2002
- Links between Social Understanding and Early Word Learning: Challenges to Current AccountsSocial Development, 2001