Abstract
Attentiveness and activity faced to persons and physical objects in the first year of life: The role of tem perament. This longitudinal study aimed to investigate the extent at what the temperament dimensions of attentiveness and activity can be used to examine the distinctive patterns showed by infants when they were faced with both persons and physical objects in the first year of life. 51 full-term infants, without any pre and post-natal complication, and belonging to a middle-class socioeconomic status took part in this study. These infants were faced, at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months of age, to different situations involving both social (persons) and physical objects in order to assess their attentiveness and activity. The results indicated that the infants showed higher levels of attentiveness and activity when facing to physical objects than to persons. These results are discussed taking into account the infant development, and the main theoretical orientations on the topic.
