The multimodality of infant's rhythmic movements as a modulator of the interaction with their caregivers

• Published in: Infant behavior & development Vol. 65; p. 101645
• Main Authors: Moreno-Núñez, Ana, Murillo, Eva, Casla, Marta, Rujas, Irene
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01-11-2021
• Subjects: Adult; Attention; Caregivers; Communication; Communicative development; Humans; Infant; Movement; Objects; Parents; Responsiveness; Rhythmic movements; Triadic interactions; Responsiveness; Objects; Triadic interactions; Rhythmic movements; Communicative development
• ISSN: 0163-6383; 1879-0453; 1934-8800
• DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2021.101645

•Children’s early rhythmic movements possess a meaningful predictive validity for later communicative development.•We examined parents’ responses to them during natural play interactions.•Children’s rhythmic movements combined with multimodal cues increased the probability of adults’ responses.•Adults often responded following the child’s focus of attention.
Children’s rhythmic movements during the first year of life possess a meaningful predictive validity for later communicative development. However, their role within adult-child interactions is still underexplored. In this study, we examined whether children’s rhythmic movements were significantly responded by adults and the role of multimodality and object use in this process. We observed 22 dyads of 9-month-olds and their parents in natural play interactions. Infants’ multimodal rhythmic movements increased the probability of adult responding. Adults offered different types of responses and significantly followed the child’s focus of attention. These dynamics could support communicative development by promoting joint attention frameworks.