Precursors of Socio-Cognitive Development in Infants with Visual Impairment and in Sighted Controls from 9 to 12 Months

Infants’ precursors of social cognition, including social attention and social awareness behaviors, are meant to emerge through face-to-face interactions early during their development. Their initial tendency to approach social stimuli and later gain awareness of others’ internal processes create a foundation for social, communicative, and cognitive abilities. By 9 months, behavioral indicators of this development are quite evident. Infants with visual impairment (VI) might follow atypical developmental paths and show an increased risk of developmental delay due to their limited access to visual cues. The present study investigates the difference in the display of specific infant socio-cognitive behaviors (i.e., gaze orientation, communication, pointing, emotional responses) in sighted infants (SIs) and in counterparts with VI between 9- and 12-months age, during a face-to- face interaction with mother. Fifty-three mother-infant dyads participated: 39 SIs assessed at 9 months (mean age = 9.61 months) and reassessed at 12 months (N=24, mean age= 12.75 months); 14 infants with VI between 9 and 12 months of age (corrected age= 10.18 months) were included for comparison. Mother-infant dyads participated in a 6-minute online video- recorded interaction with 9 structured phases: initial face-to-face play, 4 exposure episodes to auditory stimuli (human and non-human sounds), and 4 reprise episodes. Results showed that SIs from 9 to 12 months showed similar attention to sounds and interacted with mothers using gaze and communication. Pointing, however, increased significantly at 12 months. Emotional responses were more affected by the type of interaction than age, with negativity rising during non-interactive episodes. Furthermore, for infants with VI, the study revealed similar interest in social interaction with their mother as SIs, but not toward the auditory source. Infants with VI exhibited less gaze orientation, communication during the non-human exposure episode, and overall pointing. However, communication with auditory source during the human exposure episode remained similar, suggesting an intent to engage socially. Additionally, while infants with VI displayed blunted emotional responses compared to Sis, their decrease in positive emotionality during still-face suggest they remained sensitive to changes in interaction. This study contributes to our understanding of the early socio- cognitive development in infants with VI and further highlights the importance of investing in early interventions engaging parents that to support their communicate and social development.