Poster #128 - Exploring the Development of Prosocial Behaviour in Infants Before Independent Locomotion

• In Event: 2-055 - Poster Session 06
  In Poster Session: PS 06 Section - Moral Development

Integrative Statement

Introduction/Current Literature
Research on infant prosocial behaviour focuses primarily on its emergence in infants who are 14 months or older (e.g., Hay & Cook, 2007; Warneken & Tomasello, 2007); however, an emerging body of research suggests that some types of prosocial behaviour may originate earlier in infants, even before 8 months of age, i.e., before independent locomotion (e.g., Hamlin, Wynn & Bloom, 2010; Hammond et al., 2017; Xu et al., 2016). As early as 3 months, infants engage in anticipatory adjustments with their body to cooperate in infant-directed caregiver tasks, such as dressing and feeding (Reddy et al. 2013). By 7.5 months, given enough practice, infants have the ability to participate in early sharing behaviour (Xu et al., 2016). To date, no research has examined the longitudinal development of early infant prosocial behaviour before 8 months of age, nor individual differences in social and motor development, and in parental social interaction, and its relation to early prosocial behaviour.
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to systematically and longitudinally study the development of prosocial behaviour from 3 to 8 months of age, exploring developmental milestones in prosocial behaviour, individual differences in motor and social development, and the role of caregiver-infant interactions.
Methodology
Analyses will be conducted with longitudinal data from approximately 30 Canadian caregiver-infant dyads who are taking part in an ongoing study. Participants are met with remotely (e.g., via Skype, Facetime etc) in monthly, 10-15 minute sessions that include three interactive dyadic tasks (both structured and semi-structured, adapted from, e.g., Meins & Fernyhough, 2015; Xu et al., 2016) and online questionnaires (Everyday Helping Questionnaire (adapted from [citation removed for eview], the Ages and Stages Questionnaire [ASQ; Briggs et al., 2012], as well as the Early Motor Questionnaire [EMQ, Libertus Violi, 2016]). The structured tasks involve routine behaviours such as dressing and sharing, which help to assess the infant’s motor abilities and prosocial tendencies, whereas the semi-structured tasks involve a free-play activity between the caregiver and the infant in order to observe the potential effect of parental behaviour.
Expected results
Preliminary findings (age 3 months – 5 months) suggest that collaborative prosocial behaviour begins to emerge at 3 months, it is not until 5 months that the majority of parents observe prosocial behaviour in day-to-day tasks such as dressing and feeding. Both social and motor milestones at 3 months appear to predict later prosocial behaviour at 5 months. By the time of SRCD, we will have data from 3-8 months analyzed, and will have coded behavioural tasks of helping and parent-child interaction.

Conclusion
The anticipated findings would expand our understanding of the emergence of prosocial behaviour in infants by offering a way to outline the development of helping behaviour early in an infant’s first year of life.

Authors

• Ann Hérard, University of Ottawa
  Presenting Author

• Madison MacLachlan, University of Ottawa
  Non-Presenting Author

• Anisa Yan, University of Ottawa
  Non-Presenting Author

• Victoria L. Edwards, University of Ottawa
  Non-Presenting Author

• Stuart Hammond, University of Ottawa
  Non-Presenting Author