Files
Abstract
Joint attention (JA) is a widely studied developmental phenomenon and is a key component of toddler social development. The relation JA has with social outcomes is well-studied, but less is known about how it is shaped by the developmental emergence of core attentional properties. Distractibility, a capacity that is linked to attentional processes that are also important to JA, could be a source of individual differences in JA. Toddlers in the 16-34 month age range (N = 98) were recruited and participated in a free play task. An inverse relation between distractibility and RJA was found in our 24 month age group. A within-subject exploratory analysis also showed strong differences in IJA depending on the presence or absence of an active social partner during the session for our 24-, 31-, and 34-month-old groups. Potential future directions are discussed.