Conversational patterns of two-year-old twins in mother-twin-twin triads

This study investigated the general nature of conversational interaction in mother-twin-twin triads. Four sets of firstborn twins (2;3) were videotaped during 15 minutes of free play with their mothers. Analyses revealed that triadic conversations were approximately five times longer, and elicited more turns from all speakers, than dyadic conversations between mother and a single twin. Twins also responded as often to comments and requests made to another person as to those directed to themselves, but responded more often to questions directly to them than to others, indicating reliable monitoring of language not addressed to them. These results largely parallel those reported for mother-infant-sibling triads and indicate the unique effects of triadic exchanges are not due to the relative linguistic levels of the child partners.