What does a child's ability to look where another is looking tell us about his or her early cognitive development? What does this ability-or lack thereof-tell us about a child's language development, understanding of other's intentions, and the emergence of autism? This volume assembles several years of research on the processing of gaze information and its relationship to early social-cognitive development in infants spanning many age groups. Gaze-Following examines how humans and non-human primates use another individual's direction of gaze to learn about the world around them.

The chapters throughout this volume address development in areas including joint attention, early non-verbal social interactions, language development, and theory of mind understanding. Offering novel insights regarding the significance of gaze-following, the editors present research from a neurological and a behavioral perspective, and compare children with and without pervasive developmental disorders.

Scholars in the areas of cognitive development specifically, and developmental science more broadly, as well as clinical psychologists will be interested in the intriguing research presented in this volume.

About the Author
Ross Flom, Kang Lee, Darwin Muir

Reviews

"The development of gaze following has had a faithful following of a few researchers for more than four decades. This book should bring this significant behavior to the attention of a wide audience, with its comprehensive coverage from leaders in the field." - Rachel Keen, University of Masachussetts Amherst

"Flom has assembled a state of the art scientific "smorgasbord." Gaze-following and its development are considered from every perspective, from neuroscience, to conceptual structure, to ontogenetic processes, to social life and beyond. This breadth provides the reader with not only a comprehensive account of current knowledge, but, more critically, with a cross-disciplinary foundation for fresh insights into this long-studied phenomenon. This volume is perfect in its breadth and level of detail to serve as the focus of a doctoral seminar. Seasoned researchers will glean new insights from the trenchant theoretical analyses and innovative empirical work presented in these chapters." - Amanda Woodward, University of Maryland

"The development of gaze following has had a faithful following of a few researchers for more than four decades. This book should bring this significant behavior to the attention of a wide audience, with its comprehensive coverage from leaders in the field."
-Rachel Keen
University of Masachussetts Amherst

"Flom has assembled a state of the art scientific "smorgasbord." Gaze-following and its development are considered from every perspective, from neuroscience, to conceptual structure, to ontogenetic processes, to social life and beyond. This breadth provides the reader with not only a comprehensive account of current knowledge, but, more critically, with a cross-disciplinary foundation for fresh insights into this long-studied phenomenon. This volume is perfect in its breadth and level of detail to serve as the focus of a doctoral seminar. Seasoned researchers will glean new insights from the trenchant theoretical analyses and innovative empirical work presented in these chapters."
-Amanda Woodward
University of Maryland

Book Information
ISBN 9780415654920
Author Ross Flom
Format Paperback
Page Count 340
Imprint Psychology Press Ltd
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 1050g