Journal
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
Volume 41, Issue 4, Pages 616-624Publisher
AMER PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOC
DOI: 10.1037/0012-1649.41.4.616
Keywords
mother-infant; communication; face-to-face; eye contact; intersubjectivity
Categories
Funding
- NCRR NIH HHS [RR-06158, RR-00165, RR-03591] Funding Source: Medline
- NICHD NIH HHS [HD-07105] Funding Source: Medline
Ask authors/readers for more resources
A comparative developmental framework was used to determine whether mutual gaze is unique to humans and, if not, whether common mechanisms support the development of mutual gaze in chimpanzees and humans. Mother-infant chimpanzees engaged in approximately 17 instances of mutual gaze per hour. Mutual gaze occurred in positive, nonagonistic contexts. Mother-infant chimpanzees at a Japanese center exhibited significantly more mutual gaze than those at a center in the United States. Cradling and motor stimulation varied across groups. Time spent cradling infants was inversely related to mutual gaze. It is suggested that in primates, mutual engagement is supported via an interchangeability of tactile and visual modalities. The importance of mutual gaze is best understood within a perspective that embraces both cross-species and cross-cultural data.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available