Leader–follower dynamics during early social interactions matter for infant word learning

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 121; no. 38; p. e2321008121
• Main Authors: Goupil, Louise, Dautriche, Isabelle, Denman, Katherine, Henry, Zion, Marriott-Haresign, Ira, Wass, Sam
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Academy of Sciences 17.09.2024
• Subjects: Attention; Attention - physiology; Biological Sciences; Cognitive science; EEG; Electroencephalography; Female; Humans; Infant; Infants; Language Development; Learning; Learning - physiology; Male; Social behavior; Social discrimination learning; Social Interaction; Social interactions; Verbal Learning - physiology; Visual discrimination learning; Visual perception; Words (language); active learning; leader–follower; language acquisition; social interactions

We know little about the mechanisms through which leader–follower dynamics during dyadic play shape infants’ language acquisition. We hypothesized that infants’ decisions to visually explore a specific object signal focal increases in endogenous attention, and that when caregivers respond to these p...