Joint attention (JA) is the purposeful coordination of an individual's focus of attention with that of another and begins to develop within the first year of life. Delayed, or atypically developing, JA is an early behavioural sign of many developmental disabilities and so assessing JA in infancy can improve our understanding of trajectories of…

Recent work suggests that differences in functional brain development are already identifiable in 6- to 9-month-old infants from low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds. Investigation of early SES-related differences in neuro-cognitive functioning requires the recruitment of large and diverse samples of infants, yet it is often difficult to…

This study examined the effects of adult imitation and adult playfulness on the imitation, social attention and initiation of new behaviours by non-verbal preschoolers with autism. Videotapes taken from a previous study were recoded for the adult's imitation and playful behaviour and the children's imitation, social attention (looking at…

Search for a ball that has undergone hidden motion rapidly improves during the second year of life ("Dev. Psychol.," 2000; 36:394-401). In three experiments we investigated whether the poor performance of younger toddlers was due to attentional failure by highlighting the major cue for the hidden object. We observed only slight improvement in…

We examined the effects of joint attention for object learning in 5- and 7-month-old infants. Infants interacted with an adult social partner who taught them about a novel toy in two conditions. In the "Joint Attention" condition, the adult spoke about the toy while alternating gaze between the infant and the toy, while in the…

This longitudinal study examined individual differences and correlates of focused attention when toddlers were approximately 18 months old (T1; n = 256) and a year later (T2; n = 230). Toddlers' attention and negative emotionality were reported by mothers and non-parental caregivers and rated globally by observers. Toddlers' focused attention also…

This study investigated the effects of spatial arrangement on preschool children's selective attention and incidental learning. Three- and four-year old children were shown a multi-coloured box designated as a "special place" containing miniature chairs and models of animals. One category of objects were designated as relevant and one as…