Narrative Development in Infant-Mother Interaction

Narrative is a fundamental component of human cognition necessary for social meaning and cultural learning, yet its origins in preverbal infancy are not well understood. This study provides the first longitudinal analysis of the development of preverbal narrative in infancy. We measured its temporal structure in the interactions of 18 mother-infant dyads selected from a cohort of 60 dyads at 4, 7, and 10 months. Timings of infant gaze, affect, engagement duration, and progress through the four-part narrative cycle were coded and analyzed. Interestingly, the narrative complexity of mother-infant interactions significantly increased with age; infants at 7 and 10 months reached the climax and resolution phases significantly more often than at 4 months, while also significantly decreasing in duration. Progressing through this narrative arc was strongly associated with increased positive affect, with completed narratives generating longer durations of positive affect for both infant and mother. These results identify a coherent narrative structure present in preverbal interactions that develops in complexity across the first year, strongly associated with positive feelings. This provides an affective, embodied, and participatory foundation for narrative cognition as a primary organizer of shared experience, learning, and socioemotional regulation evident from birth.