Poster #193 - Processes underlying perspective-taking development in young children

• In Event: 3-206 - Poster Session 13
  In Poster Session: PS 13 Section - Social Cognition

Integrative Statement

Learning to understand other people, particularly that others’ perspectives can differ from one’s own, is a cornerstone of social cognition. Perspective-taking (PT) develops in the first years of life: Children pass level 1 PT tasks at 24 months and level 2 PT tasks at 36 months (Moll & Tomasello, 2006; Moll & Meltzoff, 2011). Yet, open questions remain regarding processes underpinning PT. Specifically, adult studies show that inhibition of imitation predicts PT more strongly than general inhibition (Santiesteban et al., 2012). Additionally, while neural correlates of PT (including STS, mPFC and TPj) have been found in adults and adolescents (Blakemore, 2012; Wang et al., 2016), no such studies have been conducted with children. Thus, the current pair of pre-registered studies examines behavioral and neural processes underlying level 1 visual PT in young children. The first study addresses individual differences in 3-year-olds’ explicit and implicit PT related to inhibition of imitation and general inhibition. We hypothesize that children better at inhibiting imitation will have improved PT skills. The second study examines neural correlates of 4-year-olds’ PT skills using EEG. We hypothesize increased activity over medial prefrontal and temporal-parietal areas and increased phase-coupling between these regions as indexed by theta oscillations will underlie PT. In both studies, a communicative, behavioral task assesses children’s PT skills (see Figure 1). Children choose one of two identical toys to give to an experimenter across from them. Both toys are visible to the child but one is hidden from the experimenter’s perspective. Children are asked to give the toy the experimenter “can see” (Match perspective) or “does not see” (Mismatch perspective). PT skills are quantified using children’s overt (percentage of trials choosing correct toy) and implicit (eye gaze: proportion of time looking towards correct toy) responses. For the behavioral study, we also assess 36-month-olds’ inhibition of imitation and general inhibition skills related to PT. In the neural study, we measure 48-month-olds’ brain activity using EEG during the PT task. Neural analyses will compare theta power and phase-coupling in theta oscillations over medial-frontal and temporal brain areas during PT versus control trials. As illustrated in Figure 2, results of the behavioral study (36 36-month-olds; 36.0-38.9 months; 15 female) demonstrate that children systematically choose the correct toy when their perspective matches another’s (Match mean = .59, SE = .03) but not when perspectives differ (Mismatch mean = .49, SE = .03). In contrast, children’s implicit responses suggest they do account for another’s perspective when it differs from their own (Match mean = .63, SE = .02; Mismatch mean = .58, SE = .03). Ongoing analyses are exploring whether inhibition of imitation and general inhibition relate to PT. Pilot results from the neural study (7 48-month-olds; 48.1-50.7 months; 4 female) show that older children’s overt PT performance is robust (Match mean = .82, SE = .09; Mismatch mean = .70, SE = .09). Forthcoming results will explore neural correlates of PT. Results from both studies will have implications for understanding behavioral and neural processes supporting PT in early childhood.

Authors

• Natalie Brezack, University of Chicago
  Presenting Author

• Marlene Meyer, University of Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author

• River Macleod, University of Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kayleigh Watson, University of Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author

• Amanda Woodward, University of Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author