Our Question: How do babies make sense of others' behavior?

At the Maryland Infant Studies Laboratory we investigate babies' understanding of the social world. In particular, we study how babies make sense of other people's actions. From the time they are born, babies love to watch people, and they learn many important things by doing this. From the actions of their parents and others, babies learn about language, social values, culturally important activities, tools (such as keys and telephones), and which situations are safe or dangerous. Because all of these messages are conveyed by others' actions, babies' learning depends on their ability to make sense of others' behavior. In particular, learning from social partners requires understanding the intentions, perceptions and emotions that give rise to their actions.

As adults, we are quite adept at reading other people's from their actions. For example, imagine a woman walking across the living room and then reaching down to pick up a toy from the floor. We could think about this action in terms of each physical motion that took place -- the motions involved in each step, the motions involved in crouching down, how the arm moved through space toward the toy, et cetera. Rather than considering all of these details, however, we are likely to reason that the woman saw the toy, and then had the goal of getting it (perhaps because she wants to tidy the room). That is, we understand and remember this action not in terms of the actual physical motion that took place, but rather in terms of the person's underlying psychological states. In our studies, we ask whether infants also focus on the goals of actions.