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

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2021.101645Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • 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.

Abstract

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.

Keywords

Rhythmic movements
Responsiveness
Triadic interactions
Communicative development
Objects

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