MATERNAL INTERPRETATIONS OF INFANT INTENTIONALITY - CHANGES OVER THE COURSE OF INFANT DEVELOPMENT

Maternal interpretations of the intentionality of infant behaviour hav e played a key role in many theoretical accounts of the development of intentionality. However, the assessment of maternal interpretations h as generally proceeded in an indirect fashion. The present study sough t to assess maternal interpretations in a more direct manner. Sixty pr imiparous mothers of 4- or S-month-old infants viewed video clips of u nfamiliar infants engaged in social-, object- or non-directed activiti es and rated the actions for perceived intentionality. Results indicat ed that mothers of younger infants assigned more intentionality to soc ial behaviours than did mothers of older infants, suggesting that mate rnal interpretations change over the course of infant development. Exp lanations for this pattern are explored, including the possibility tha t mothers become less sensitive to established behaviours or that they use a type of moving threshold to judge infant actions. Future avenue s of research are suggested.