Becoming Aware of One's Competence in the Second Year: Developmental Progression within the Mother Child Dyad

Abstract

This article shows that infants become aware of their competence in the second year. It is argued that this progression is: (1) promoted in the interaction with a familiar and motivated adult; (2) is part and parcel of developmental advances in control of action; (3) is expressed in a sequence of behavioural indicators predicted by a task-analysis. Task-centred interactions of 12 mother-infant pairs were observed at bimonthly intervals between the infants' 14th and 22nd month. Control of action was assessed in terms of per-minute rate of task attempts, and number of consecutive attempts in task-action episodes. Behavioural indicators of awareness of one's competence included reactions to successful and unsuccessful outcomes, and seeking and rejecting maternal help. The findings support the three predictions raised, in that: (1) with the mother-child dyad paradigm employed, pride reactions to success became common as early as at 20 months; (2) developmental gains both in action control and in becoming aware of one's competence occurred across the entire longitudinal span; (3) the findings are consistent with the predicted sequence of different kinds of help-related behaviour and reactions to failure and success.