In our lab meeting this week we read Wolf and Tomasello's (2020) study, which looked at the influence of watching a film next to a new adult (who sometimes read a book and couldn't see the film) on 2.5-year-old's willingness to approach that adult holding out a toy. The researchers conclude that both minimally interactive and noninteractive shared experiences lead children to feel more comfortable with a new adult.
Wolf, W. & Tomasello, M. (2020). Watching a video together creates social closeness between children and adults. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 189, 1-12.
