Infants predict other people's action goals.
Do infants come to understand other people's actions through a mirror neuron system that maps an observed action onto motor representations of that action? We demonstrate that a specialized system for action perception guides proactive goal-directed eye movements in 12-month-old but not in 6-month-old infants, providing direct support for this view. The activation of this system requires observing an interaction between the hand of the agent and an object.
Falck-Ytter
Terje
T
Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Box 1225, 751 42 Uppsala, Sweden. terje.falck-ytter@psyk.uu.se
Gredebäck
Gustaf
G
von Hofsten
Claes
C
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D003210:Concept Formation; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D007100:Imitative Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D007223:Infant; D033182:Intention; D008297:Male; D018187:Personal Construct Theory; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D013997:Time Factors; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology