From toy play to meal preparation: Multiple pathways to establishing joint attention in naturalistic contexts

Joint attention (JA) is a critical developmental process, yet it has typically been studied through gaze-following experiments. However, infants rarely look at faces during play, suggesting that JA relies on multiple pathways. In 2 naturalistic studies-free play (N = 53, Mage = 16.70 months; 2018-2019; working-middle socioeconomic status [SES], White non-Hispanic families) and meal preparation (N = 42, Mage = 16.36 months; 2019-2023; mostly middle-high SES, White non-Hispanic families)-dyads used different pathways to achieve similar amounts of JA. Although pathway use varied across contexts, nearly all dyads used multiple strategies, and JA duration did not differ by pathway. These findings suggest it is not the specific pathway that matters, but the ability to flexibly coordinate attention using diverse behavioral cues.