By 10.5 months of age, infants can attribute agency to objects that take turns exchanging variable sound sequences during interactions, a study finds. Past research has shown that infants can attribute agency to an unfamiliar object whose actions are contingent on those of another entity. However, it is unclear whether infants' attribution of agency can be induced by the exchange of variable signal sequences, which potentially indicate that entities can communicate, in contrast to interactions involving completely predictable signal sequences. Tibor Tauzin and György Gergely showed 144 preverbal infants animated videos depicting two unfamiliar entities that took turns emitting sound sequences that were either variable or completely repetitive. During the subsequent test phase, one of the entities appeared in the middle of the screen and turned toward a target shape placed at a bottom corner of the screen, while seeming to ignore a different, nontarget shape positioned at the opposite bottom corner. The infants followed the entity's orientation change, looking longer at the target shape than the nontarget shape, but only when the entities had exchanged variable sound sequences. According to the authors, the findings suggest that even preverbal infants can recognize communication, which may play an important role in language acquisition and social-cognitive development.
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Article #18-16709: "Variability of signal sequences in turn-taking exchanges induces agency attribution in 10.5-mo-olds," by Tibor Tauzin and György Gergely.
MEDIA CONTACTS: Tibor Tauzin, Central European University, Budapest, HUNGARY; e-mail: tauzint@ceu.edu ; György Gergely, Central European University, Budapest, HUNGARY; e-mail: gergelygy@ceu.edu
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences