Possibility of We-mode in young children: The perspective of collaboration

Abstract

Collaboration, the behavior of cooperating with others to achieve common goals, is a recent major topic in developmental psychology. Previous studies have demonstrated that the ability to collaborate with others develops at approximately 1 to 3 years of age. However, the mechanisms by which collaborations are achieved in young children are not well understood. The present article reviews recent collaboration studies in young children and identifies the importance of action interaction, which provides a basis for collaboration with others, as part of the development of collaboration in young children. Moreover, the authors propose two empirical findings as future research directions: interpersonal synchrony or social contingency and first-person plural cognitive perspective on self-other interactions called “we-mode”. These findings will help to explain the developmental changes that lead to collaboration in young children.