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The cross-modal coordination of interpersonal timing: six-week-olds infants' gaze with adults' vocal behavior

Cynthia L Crown1, Stanley Feldstein, Michael D Jasnow

  • 1Department of Psychology, Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio 45207-6511, USA. crown@xavier.xu.edu

Journal of Psycholinguistic Research
|April 2, 2002
PubMed

Insights

Six-week-old infants demonstrate coordinated interpersonal timing with mothers and strangers. Strangers showed greater temporal coordination with infants than mothers did, highlighting early social interaction skills.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental psychology
  • Infant social interaction
  • Behavioral coordination

Background:

  • Coordinated interpersonal timing is crucial for social interaction.
  • Previous research has not extensively explored this timing in early infancy.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if 6-week-old infants exhibit coordinated interpersonal timing.
  • To analyze infant gaze and adult vocal behavior coordination.

Main Methods:

  • 45 first-born infants interacted with mothers and strangers for 14 minutes.
  • Interactions were videotaped, and infant gaze and adult vocalizations were coded.
  • Time-series regression analyses assessed timing coordination.

Main Results:

  • Coordinated interpersonal timing was observed between infants and both mothers and strangers at 6 weeks old.
  • Strangers exhibited greater coordination of vocal pauses with infant gaze than mothers did.

Conclusions:

  • Infants possess temporal sensitivity for social interactions from a very early age.
  • The findings suggest a foundational role for temporal coordination in early social development.

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