Social referencing helps a child determine how to respond in ambiguous situations by observing what?

• A. The color of the room lighting.
• B. A trusted adult's expression.
• C. The height of a caregiver.
• D. The age of the child.

Answer: (B)

Social referencing is when a child looks to a trusted adult’s facial expression and cues to decide how to react in a situation that feels unclear. By reading the caregiver’s emotions—whether they seem calm, concerned, or excited—the child taps into that information to determine if something is safe or risky and how to respond. This helps the child regulate their own feelings and learn appropriate behavior in new or ambiguous contexts. The color of the room lighting, the caregiver’s height, or the child’s age don’t provide real-time social guidance about how to respond, so they don’t influence the child’s immediate reaction in the same way.