Answer:
social referencing
Step-by-step explanation:
As 14-month-old Timothy walked across his yard, a dog suddenly knocked him over. Timothy immediately looked to the adults sitting nearby to assess their reaction to this incident. Timothy is using SOCIAL REFERENCING to gain an understanding of this surprise encounter.
Social referencing refers to the process wherein infants use the affective displays of an adult to regulate their behaviors toward environmental objects, persons, and situations, it also represents one of the major mechanisms by which infants come to understand the world around them.