Abstract
This study investigates infants' neural and behavioral responses to maternal ostensive signals during naturalistic mother-infant interactions and their effects on object encoding. Mothers familiarized their 9- to 10-month-olds (N = 35, 17 females, mainly White, data collection: 2018–2019) with objects with or without mutual gaze, infant-directed speech, and calling the infant's name. Ostensive signals focused infants' attention on objects and their mothers. Infant theta activity synchronized and alpha activity desynchronized during interactions compared to a nonsocial resting phase (Cohen' d: 0.49–0.75). Yet, their amplitudes were unrelated to maternal ostensive signals. Ostensive signals did not facilitate object encoding. However, higher infant theta power during encoding predicted better subsequent object recognition. Results strengthen the role of theta-band power for early learning processes.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 530-543 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Child Development |
Volume | 95 |
Issue number | 2 |
Early online date | 15 Sept 2023 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Mar 2024 |
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 501005 Developmental psychology