Summary: Young children interpret social cues in context and then evaluate possible actions to select the behavior that offers the greatest benefit. This value-driven decision process explains how infants flexibly adapt social behaviors such as gaze-following to different situations.
Source: Doshisha University
Social relationships and interaction are central to human life, and the ability to participate in complex socio-cultural systems strongly influences wellbeing.
From the earliest months of life, infants depend on interactions with caregivers and others for cultural learning, adapting to diverse social environments, and ultimately thriving. Rather than acting purely reflexively, infants often adapt their responses to fit the demands and opportunities of the moment.
One commonly studied behavior is gaze-following—how infants look where another person is looking. Research shows gaze-following is not always automatic; infants can modulate it depending on the social context. Yet, empirical findings have sometimes been mixed, with some studies suggesting context matters and others reporting gaze-following that appears context-independent.
To address these inconsistencies and provide a unified account, Mitsuhiko Ishikawa, a JSPS Research Fellow at Doshisha University’s Centre for Baby Science, together with Atsushi Senju from the Research Centre for Child Mental Development at Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, developed a theoretical framework to explain how infants choose social actions.
Their model, presented in Trends in Cognitive Sciences (online 5 January 2023; Volume 27, Issue 3, March 2023), frames infant social behavior as a value-based decision-making process. Rather than assuming external cues directly trigger specific behaviors, the researchers propose that infants continuously evaluate the expected value of alternative actions and select the action likely to yield the greatest benefit—such as acquiring useful information or gaining a social reward.
According to the “action value calculator” model, infants follow a multistep process when faced with social stimuli. First, they encode available social cues—faces, gestures, vocalizations, and other signals—within the current context. Next, they integrate those perceptual cues with relevant memories and internal physiological states to create a representation of the present social situation.
The brain then computes and compares the values of different possible responses in that situation. Each potential action—looking where an adult looks, maintaining eye contact, shifting attention elsewhere—receives a value estimate that reflects its likely payoff. Infants select the action with the highest computed value, producing the most advantageous outcome in that context.
This evaluation process is dynamic. Past experience and long-term memory shape estimated values, and immediate internal states—hunger, arousal, or emotional state—can bias choices. After an action is taken, infants receive feedback from the environment; the outcome updates their internal estimates, and the social scene is re-evaluated. Because social interactions are often reciprocal and changing, this loop allows behavior to adapt over time.
The researchers also highlight how early predispositions to attend to social information interact with learning. Infants are born with a tendency to engage with social cues, which provides abundant experience to learn which actions produce favorable outcomes in specific contexts. Over development, infants refine their action-value mappings, producing systematic, context-sensitive variation in behaviors like gaze-following.
Individual differences in experience further shape value assignments. For instance, infants raised in different family environments or with varied sensory experiences may develop distinct action preferences. As an example, deaf infants raised by deaf parents often show heightened gaze-following compared with hearing infants raised by hearing parents, reflecting how social and communicative environments tune value calculations.
By emphasizing internal value computation and decision-making, the action value calculator model reconciles studies that emphasize contextual modulation with those that report apparent stimulus-driven responses. It offers a clear framework for generating testable predictions about when infants will follow gaze or choose other social actions, depending on context, past experience, and internal states.
Dr. Ishikawa notes that this cognitive model can guide future empirical work across a range of infant social behaviors beyond gaze-following. It also provides a basis for investigating how cultural and individual differences in social environments shape decision-making processes in early development, contributing to a deeper understanding of how humans interact socially from infancy onward.
Funding: Mitsuhiko Ishikawa was supported by JSPS Research Fellowship (PD) Grant Number 21J00466. Atsushi Senju was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 22512422.
About this neurodevelopment research news
Author: Jun Kita
Source: Doshisha University
Contact: Jun Kita – Doshisha University
Image: The image is in the public domain
Original Research: Open access. “Action value calculations in social context from infancy” by Mitsuhiko Ishikawa et al., Trends in Cognitive Sciences.
Abstract
Action value calculations in social context from infancy
Infants adaptively modulate social behaviors, such as gaze-following, according to social context. We propose that these modulations reflect infants’ social decision-making aimed at obtaining the most valuable outcome. The action value calculator model formalizes the cognitive mechanisms and developmental processes that govern decision-making during social interactions.