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Emergence of vocal alternation in mother-infant interchanges*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2009

G. P. Ginsburg  and
Brock K. Kilbourne
G. P. Ginsburg*
Affiliation:
University of Nevada, Reno
Brock K. Kilbourne
Affiliation:
Naval Health Research Center, San Diego
*
Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada 89557, USA.
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Abstract

Microanalyses of unstructured videotaped interactions of three mother-infant dyads revealed dramatic shifts in dyadic vocalization patterns from primarily overlapping to primarily alternating. Maximal overlapping vocalization appeared between 7 and 13 weeks for the different dyads, and subsequent alternation predominance peaked between 12 and 18 weeks. The findings are compared with prior work which had not found alternation predominance and reasons for the difference are suggested. The early emergence of a sequence of predominantly overlapping vocalization followed by predominantly alternating vocalization may be linked to the concomitant development of multimodal sensory-sensory and sensory-motor integration. If so, then the emergent patterns reflect increased potential for co-ordination within the dyad, which may be capitalized upon by the mother and by the infant.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 15 , Issue 2 , June 1988 , pp. 221 - 235
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988

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Footnotes

*

The authors are grateful to B. T. Gardner for reminding us of the work of Daniel Stern and his colleagues and its pertinence to our own research. We also thank J. S. Bruner for providing access at Oxford University to videotapes of Jonathon and Richard, which initiated our interest in this line of research.

References

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