Effects of reinforcement learning on gaze following of gaze and head direction in early infancy: An interactive eye-tracking study

The current four experiments investigated gaze following behavior in response to gaze and head turns in 4-month-olds and how reinforcement learning influences this behavior (N = 99). Using interactive eye tracking, infants’ gaze elicited an animation whenever infants followed a person’s head or gaze orientation (Experiment 1.1, 2.1 and 2.2) or looked at the opposite side (Experiment 1.2). Infants spontaneously followed the direction of a turning head with and without simultaneously shifted gaze direction (Cohen’s d: 0.93–1.05) but not the direction of isolated gaze shifts. We only found a weak effect of reinforcement on gaze following in one of the four experiments. Results will be discussed with regard to the impact of reinforcement on the maintenance of already existing gaze following behavior.