Three-year-old Meghan is at the park when a tongue-wagging golden retriever approaches her. Meghan quickly glances at her mom in an effort to determine if petting the dog is safe. Meghan is demonstrating:

Social referencing.

Explanation:

Social referencing is the process or act of a child uses his/her affective displays of emotions to 'ask' an adult to monitor and regulate his/her behavior. In other words, it is the act of 'looking up’ to an adult for how to behave in certain events, like asking for permission to do anything.

In the given scenario, Meghan wants her mother to monitor and regulate her behavior towards the golden retriever. This ensures that she is nearby and on hand to help if anything bad happens and provides emotional support for Meghan. Moreover, it also gives the child the permission of whether to go forward or not.  

answer; acquired mainly during early childhood;