2026-02-06 マックス・プランク研究所
Across 17 communities spanning five continents, children showed the same performance pattern that was predicted by a computational model of gaze following.© Manuel Bohn
<関連情報>
- https://www.mpg.de/26085622/children-around-the-world-process-gaze-in-similar-ways
- https://academic.oup.com/chidev/advance-article/doi/10.1093/chidev/aacaf017/8439672
人間の社会認知の普遍性:17のコミュニティの子どもたちは視線を同じように処理する A universal of human social cognition: Children from 17 communities process gaze in similar ways
Manuel Bohn,Julia Christin Prein,Agnes Ayikoru,Florian M Bednarski,Ardain Dzabatou,Michael C Frank,Annette M E Henderson,Joan Isabella,Josefine Kalbitz,Patricia Kanngiesser,…
Child Development Published:23 January 2026
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1093/chidev/aacaf017
Abstract
Theoretical accounts typically assume that key features of human socio-cognitive development are universal. This paper reports a large-scale cross-cultural study (17 communities, diverse ethnicities, N = 1,377, 709 female, mean = 5.50 years, collected March 2022 to January 2024) on gaze following in early childhood. To test for universality, cognitive processing signatures were derived from a computational model treating gaze following as social vector estimation. Results showed substantial variation between communities and individuals. Yet, the processing signature was found in all communities. Individual differences in performance were related to children’s familiarity with the data-collection device but not opportunities for social interaction. These results provide strong evidence for gaze following as a universal socio-cognitive process despite cultural and individual-level variation in absolute performance.
