Timing in mother-infant communications: a comment on Murray & Trevarthen (1986)

Murray & Trevarthen (1986) experimentally manipulated the behaviours of mothers and infants in an attempt to determine who is responsible for the fine temporal patterning during vocal engagements. In the present note it is argued that the measures of content and style of maternal talk used by Murray and Trevarthen do not directly indicate the ways in which the behaviours of the partners are combined on a moment-to-moment basis.