How joint attention relates to cooperation in 1- and 2-year-olds

Joint attention has been suggested to contribute to children’s development of cooperation; however, few empirical studies have directly tested this hypothesis. Children aged 1 and 2 years participated in two joint action activities to assess their cooperation with an adult partner, who stopped participating at a specific moment during the tasks. Children’s joint attention skills were measured by the Early Social Communication Scales (ESCS). Results showed that children’s responding to joint attention ability contributed to their successful cooperation in an activity that required parallel roles, whereas initiating joint attention ability contributed to their successful cooperation in an activity that required complementary roles. These results suggest a complex relationship between joint attention and cooperative abilities when considering RJA and IJA separately.

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Social-Communication Intervention for Toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Effects on Initiating Joint Attention and Interactions with Mother

Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities ◽

10.1007/s10882-016-9519-8 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 29 (2) ◽

pp. 203-221 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Madiha S. Muzammal ◽

Emily A. Jones

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Joint Attention ◽

Social Communication ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Communication Intervention ◽

Disorder Effects ◽

Social Communication Intervention ◽

Initiating Joint Attention

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Why is joint attention a pivotal skill in autism?

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.2002.1199 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 358 (1430) ◽

pp. 315-324 ◽

Cited By ~ 295

Author(s):

Tony Charman

Keyword(s):

Joint Attention ◽

Social Communication ◽

Symptom Severity ◽

Crucial Role ◽

Pervasive Developmental Disorders ◽

Developmental Disorders ◽

Developmental Trajectory ◽

Attention Skills ◽

Longitudinal Associations ◽

Neurological Processes

Joint attention abilities play a crucial role in the development of autism. Impairments in joint attention are among the earliest signs of the disorder and joint attention skills relate to outcome, both in the ‘natural course’ of autism and through being targeted in early intervention programmes. In the current study, concurrent and longitudinal associations between joint attention and other social communication abilities measured in a sample of infants with autism and related pervasive developmental disorders at age 20 months, and language and symptom severity at age 42 months, were examined. Extending the findings from previous studies, joint attention ability was positively associated with language gains and (lower) social and communication symptoms, and imitation ability was also positively associated with later language. Some specificity in the association between different aspects of joint attention behaviours and outcome was found: declarative, triadic gaze switching predicted language and symptom severity but imperative, dyadic eye contact behaviours did not. Further, although joint attention was associated with later social and language symptoms it was unrelated to repetitive and stereotyped symptoms, suggesting the latter may have a separate developmental trajectory. Possible deficits in psychological and neurological processes that might underlie the impaired development of joint attention in autism are discussed.

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