We cooperated so… now what? Infants expect cooperative partners to share resources

Publication date: August 2018Source: Infant Behavior and Development, Volume 52Author(s): Ying Wang, Annette M.E. HendersonAbstractResearch has demonstrated that an understanding of and engagement in cooperative activities emerges early in life. However, little is known about the expectations infants hold about the consequences of cooperative action. We demonstrate that 14-month-old infants expect that cooperative partners will share the recently attained cooperative goal instead of keeping it for themselves. Interestingly, this prediction does not hold if infants saw the two individuals work towards individual goals. These findings contribute to the growing body of literature suggesting that infants possess at least a basic understanding of cooperation well before their second birthday.

Source: Infant Behavior and Development - July 11, 2018 Category: Child Development Source Type: research