Gaze following in 4.5- and 6-month-old infants: The impact of proximity on standard gaze following performance tests.

Abstract

Gaze following (GF), the ability to synchronize visual attention with others, is often considered a foundation of social cognition. In this study, GF was assessed while changing the space between an actor's eyes and the gaze target. This was done to address a potential confound in the gold standard GF performance test, namely the spatial bias of the actors' eye position that occurs when the actor turns the head to look at a target, offsetting the eye position from a centered position toward the attended target. Our results suggest that both 4.5 (n=27) and 6 (n=30)-month-old infants can follow an actor's gaze regardless of proximity. This is the first demonstration that early GF is not dependent on proximity cues, and our results strengthen previous findings suggesting that GF develops well before 6months of age. The study was preregistered, and all data and analysis routines can be downloaded with provided links.