Rhythms of participation in mother-infant interaction

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the temporal pattern of the vocalizations of mother-infant dyads as proposed by two models: rhythmic and stochastic. The infants were 12 and 24 months old. Dyads were videotaped in four play sessions and the vocalizations were registered with computerized software. The results of spectral analysis and time series analysis showed that the temporal pattern of mothers’ vocalizations of both, 12 months old infants and 24 months old infants, conform to a stochastic model with a dyadic interchange of turn-taking. These findings are discussed in the context of two central aspects of infant development: mutual regulation and anticipatory learning.