Auditory social cognition precursors in 12-month-old infants with visual impairment: A preliminary study

This database includes the raw data linked with the paper " Auditory social cognition precursors in 12-month-old infants with visual impairment: A preliminary study". The present study explores socio-cognitive behaviours in response to auditory stimuli in infants with visual impairment (VI) compared to a group of fully sighted (FS) infants at 9 and 12 months of age (mo). Methods A group of 39 FS infants (15 9-mo and 24 12-mo) and 20 infants with VI (10 9-mo and 10 12-mo) and their mothers were included. Infants and their mothers took part in a remotely videotaped face-to-face interaction. After 2 minutes of free play, researchers introduced series of three human or non-human sounds. While the sounds played (30 seconds), mothers were instructed to maintain neutral expressions. After each exposure, play resumed for 30 seconds (reunion). Episodes were micro-analytically coded. Analyses focused on gaze orienting (% time orienting to the source of the sound), gaze triangulation (present vs absent), communicative signalling (% time communicating to the source) and pointing (present vs absent). Differences between VI-FS at 9-12 months were assessed via ANOVA and chi-squared tests. Results (in brief) Gaze orienting and the production of basic communication signals, such as vocalizations and gestures aimed at initiating social interaction, were largely comparable between the VI and FS groups. However, important differences emerged in more complex socio-cognitive behaviours: significantly less infants with VI exhibited triangulation or pointing gestures compared to FS infants.