We have recently begun an examination of cooperation and prosocial behaviour in infants and young children. Our ongoing studies investigate the personal, situational, and motivational factors that affect how young children identify situations in which helping actions are required, and reason about who to provide help to.  In particular, we are examining how young children's understanding of intentions, goals, and emotions may play a role in the types of prosocial behaviour they engage in.

 

Relevant Papers and Presentations:

Dunfield, K.A., & Kuhlmeier, V.A.  (in press).  Intention-mediated selective helping in human infants.
Psychological Science.

O’Connell, L., Dunfield, K., Reinhardt, V., Goodman, L., Kelley, E., & Kuhlmeier, V.A. (2008). Social cognitive correlates of prosocial behavior in young children with and without ASD.
Poster presented at the 2008 meeting of the International Meeting for Autism Research, London, England.

Dunfield, K., O’Connell, L., Kelley, E., & Kuhlmeier, V.A. (2008). Development of prosocial responding: Helping, sharing, and comforting in 18- and 24-month-olds.
Poster presented at the 2008 International Conference on Infant Studies,
Vancouver, BC, Canada.