Infants' perception of goal-directed actions on video

Imitation studies and object search studies show that infants have difficulties using action information presented on video to guide their own behaviour. The present study investigated whether infants also have problems interpreting information shown on video relative to real live information. It was examined whether 6-month-olds interpret an action with a salient action effect as goal-directed when it is performed by an actor on a video-screen and when it is performed by a live actor. A video presentation of a goal-directed action display was presented to one group of infants, and another group received the same action display, matched in all details, live on a stage. Results indicate that 6-month-olds in the video group as well as in the live group interpreted the human action as goal-directed. Moreover, comparison across both groups revealed no difference in the overall looking pattern between the video and the live presentation group. Thus, our findings show that infants as young as 6 months of age can take important information from video clips and interpret televised actions in meaningful ways that is equivalent to their interpretation of live actions.

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