Defining and observing social signals in deaf and hearing infants

Infant gaze, gestures, and affective expression have become generally accepted as indicators of the infant's efforts to initiate or resume interaction with a partner, particularly during moments when the mother may be temporarily unresponsive as shown experimentally in the maternal "Still-Face" situation. Previous studies comparing deaf and hearing infants using this paradigm have revealed diminished signalling by deaf infants with hearing mothers, when signals were defined by the typical indices mentioned above. This study compares results from both a microanalytic coding system (used with 59 dyads) and a more global examination of efforts by 20 deaf and 20 hearing infants to re-engage their deaf or hearing mothers. Emphasis is on the kinds of infant signals that often remain undocumented due to methodological constraints, but that may be recognized by the mother and elicit a delayed response from her when she is able to resume her normal interactive patterns. Results indicate that when these additional "signal" behaviors are considered (such as repetitive hand, arm, or foot movements, or behaviors previously prohibited by the mother), there are few overall differences in eliciting efforts by deaf and hearing infants.