DHB: The Emergence of Social Attention-Sharing in Infancy: Behavioral and Computational Tests of a New Theory

DHB：婴儿期社会注意力共享的出现：新理论的行为和计算测试

• 批准号: 0527756
• 负责人: Gedeon Deak
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of California-San Diego
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-09-15 至 2009-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0527756&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DHB; Emergence; Social; Attention; Sharing

The Emergence of Social Attention-Sharing in Infancy: Behavioral and Computational Tests of a New Theory (Proposal No: 0527756)P.I: Gedeon Deak; Co-investigators: Kang Lee and Jochen TrieschHow do infants learn to interact with other people? An infant and parent playing together might seem like a simple interaction, but they actually form a complex social system. Infants must respond quickly and appropriately to caregivers, but the caregivers' behavior is quite variable. Nonetheless, most infants learn to use caregivers' behaviors to make sense of their surroundings. For example, by 9 months of age infants use caregivers' gaze shifts (that is, movements of the head and/or eyes to look around) to find nearby interesting sights. Attention sharing skills like this are crucial for learning language and non-verbal skills throughout childhood. How do early attention-sharing skills like gaze-following develop? Answering this will shed light on developmental disorders characterized by attention-sharing deficit, most notably autism. It also will help us understand what is distinctive about human social skills and interactions. Through a long-term study of a group of infants from 3 to 12 months, and innovative computer simulations of infants' social learning, we will test a theory of how attention-sharing skills develop. The theory proposes that attention-sharing skills emerge from several factors: brain-based learning processes, basic emerging perceptual routines and emotional responses, and the presence of caregivers who produce semi-predictable behaviors. By following infants for 9 months we will track how their attention-sharing skills develop. We will also test their learning and perceptual skills month-by-month, to see how these relate to the onset of new attention-sharing skills. In addition, monthly in-home observation of infants and parents at play will tell us how caregivers' natural behaviors help infants learn new attention-sharing skills. Finally, we will use standardized tests of infants' developmental status and caregivers' emotional well-being. Simultaneously, computer and robotic simulations will further test the theory. In a 3D 'virtual living room,' a simulated infant gets social input by watching a virtual parent handle and look at interesting objects. The virtual parent's actions are based on detailed recordings of the real parents' behaviors during the in-home play observations. The virtual infant uses specific learning routines to search for patterns in the virtual parent's behaviors, and alters its responses as specified by the theory. If the theory is correct, we should see the virtual infant learn attention-sharing skills like real infants. Further, by manipulating virtual infants' learning routines, or caregivers' behaviors, we can model how deficits in attention-sharing skills develop. This project will answer questions about cognitive and social development during the first year. Merging detailed behavioral observations with state-of-the-art computer modeling techniques will open new avenues for studying social development. Ultimately the results will probably support new diagnostic tools for early identification of social learning disabilities in infancy. It will also test a comprehensive theory of how human infants develop robust attention-sharing skills, supporting species-specific social learning abilities later in childhood.

婴儿期社会注意力分享的出现：新理论的行为和计算测试(提案编号：0527756)P.I：Gedeon Deak；合作研究人员：Kang Lee和Jochen Triesh婴儿如何学习与他人互动？婴儿和父母一起玩耍看起来像是一种简单的互动，但它们实际上构成了一个复杂的社会系统。婴儿必须对照顾者做出快速和适当的反应，但照顾者的行为非常不同。尽管如此，大多数婴儿还是学会了利用照顾者的行为来理解他们周围的环境。例如，9个月大的婴儿使用照顾者的凝视转移(即头部和/或眼睛的移动来环顾四周)来寻找附近有趣的景点。像这样的注意力分享技能对于整个童年学习语言和非语言技能至关重要。像目光跟随这样的早期注意力分享技能是如何发展起来的？回答这个问题将有助于了解以注意力分享缺陷为特征的发育障碍，最明显的是自闭症。它还将帮助我们理解人类社交技能和互动的独特之处。通过对一组3到12个月的婴儿的长期研究，以及对婴儿社交学习的创新计算机模拟，我们将测试注意力分享技能是如何发展的理论。该理论认为，注意力分享技能产生于几个因素：基于大脑的学习过程，基本的新兴感知程序和情绪反应，以及产生半可预测行为的照顾者的存在。通过跟踪9个月的婴儿，我们将跟踪他们的注意力分享技能的发展情况。我们还将逐月测试他们的学习和感知技能，看看这些技能与新的注意力分享技能的开始有什么关系。此外，每月在家中观察婴儿和父母玩耍的情况将告诉我们，照顾者的自然行为如何帮助婴儿学习新的注意力分享技能。最后，我们将使用标准化测试婴儿的发育状况和照顾者的情绪幸福感。同时，计算机和机器人模拟将进一步检验这一理论。在3D“虚拟起居室”中，模拟婴儿通过观看虚拟父母处理和观察有趣的物体来获得社交信息。虚拟父母的行为是基于真实父母在家中游戏观察期间的详细行为记录。虚拟婴儿使用特定的学习程序来搜索虚拟父母的行为模式，并按照理论的规定改变其反应。如果这一理论是正确的，我们应该看到虚拟婴儿像真实婴儿一样学习注意力分享技能。此外，通过操纵虚拟婴儿的学习习惯或照顾者的行为，我们可以模拟注意力分享技能的缺陷是如何发展的。这个项目将在第一年回答有关认知和社会发展的问题。将详细的行为观察与最先进的计算机建模技术相结合，将为研究社会发展开辟新的途径。最终，这些结果可能会支持新的诊断工具，用于早期识别婴儿期的社交学习障碍。它还将测试一种全面的理论，即人类婴儿如何发展强大的注意力分享技能，支持儿童后期特定物种的社会学习能力。