Dyadic exploration of the physical world and vocabulary size at 18 months: A headcam study with children

Visual attention has always been a foundational part in the process of one’s early cognitive development, defining how infants engage with their surroundings and react socially. This thesis delves into how the development process of visual attention in children becomes apparent during caregiver–child interactions, in particular through play and early learning.Notably, exploring how parental behaviors such as naming objects and responsiveness towards their child could in turn influence the amount and direction of one’s object exploration in toddlers, and how those interactions could then lead to early language development. To address these questions, the spontaneous play with familiar and unfamiliar objects of 18 dyads was analyzed, and was recorded using head-mounted cameras worn by both mother and child and a tripod to record the pairs from an outside perspective. The recordings were then coded manually to closely observe child gaze patterns (direction of gaze turn), maternal verbal input and shared attention episodes. After the recordings, expressive vocabulary was also measured using the Italian adaptation of the Primo Vocabolario del Bambino (PVB). The findings showed that both mothers and children tend to focus more of their visual attention on familiar objects. However, when mothers labeled unfamiliar objects, this was significantly associated with higher vocabulary scores in children. This suggests that when children spend more time exploring new objects, and mothers respond by labeling these objects more frequently, it may support vocabulary development. Additionally, there were strong linkages observed between the total duration of gaze and children's vocabulary outcomes. This indicates that it is not merely the length of interaction that causes the influences , but also the timing and quality of the exchanges between caregiver and child, do play a crucial role in supporting the child’s learning and development. This study supports the emphasis on the importance of analyzing visual attention within a naturalistic caregiver–child interaction and adds onto the continuation to contribute towards the understanding of visual engagement , alongside backed up by responsive caregiving from caregivers, as well as also facilitating early word learning, which offers a foundation for future research pointers and interventions to targeting early attentional and linguistic development. Keywords: visual attention, object exploration, caregiver–child interaction, maternal labeling, shared attention, vocabulary development, infancy