Twelve-month-old infants’ attention to the eyes of a talking face is associated with communication and social skills

Abstract

We investigated whether attention to a talker's eyes in 12 month-old infants is related to their communication and social abilities. We measured infant attention to a talker's eyes and mouth with a Tobii eye-tracker and examined the correlation between attention to the talker's eyes and scores on the Adaptive Behavior Questionnaire from the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development (BSID-III). Results indicated a positive relationship between eye gaze and scores on the Social and Communication subscales of the BSID-III.