Define social referencing. How do babies use it to guide their actions and gather information about ...

Beginning at 8 to 10 months, infants engage in social referencing—actively seeking emotional information from a trusted person in an uncertain situation. Many studies show that the caregiver’s emotional expression (happy, angry, or fearful) influences whether a 1-year-old will be wary of strangers, play with an unfamiliar toy, or cross the deep side of the visual cliff. The adult’s voice—either alone or combined with a facial expression—is more effective than a facial expression alone. The voice conveys both emotional and verbal information, and the baby need not turn toward the adult but, instead, can focus on evaluating the novel event. As toddlers start to appreciate that others’ emotional reactions may differ from their own, social referencing allows them to compare their own and others’ assessments of events. In sum, in social referencing, toddlers use others’ emotional messages to evaluate the safety and security of their surroundings, to guide their own actions, and to gather information about others’ intentions and preferences. These experiences, along with cognitive and language development, probably help toddlers refine the meanings of emotions—for example, happiness versus surprise, anger versus fear—during the second year.

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