Preference for the relevant type of locomotion in infancy(Summary of Awarded Presentations at the 24th Annual Meeting)

抄録

Previous findings have suggested that infants prefer other infants, especially infants of the same age, rather than older or younger infants. The preference for individuals who are similar to themselves might form a basis for such peer preference in infancy. The present study examined the role of bodily movements as a cue for detecting a similarity. The study focused on the types of locomotion which develop rapidly in infancy and investigated whether infants show a looking preference for a particular type of locomotion which is similar to their own. Two types of biological motion (BM) were used as stimuli. The results indicated that infants who could crawl, but could not walk, preferred to look at crawling BM, while infants who could walk without support preferred to look at walking BM. This suggested that bodily movement could be one that plays an important role for detecting a similarity to self.