Rhythms of Dialogue in Infancy

Coordination between infant and adult is thought to be essential to infant development. However, the evidence is sparse. The study is theoretically and methodologically grounded in a dyadic systems perspective and relational psychoanalysis. Our automated apparatus explores the micro-second timing of 4-month infant-adult vocal coordination to predict 12-month infant attachment and cognition. Coordination was related to the contexts of partner (mother/stranger), site (home/lab) and outcome (attachment/cognition). Although "more" coordination is generally assumed to be "better", a midrange was optimal for attachment (enhancing flexibility), and a high degree between stranger and infant in the lab was optimal for cognition ("high novelty response"). Stranger-infant coordination showed more mutual (bidirectional) coordination than mother-infant, suggesting that the measure assesses vigilance rather than "attunement." Stranger-infant coordination predicted attachment just as well as mother-infant, and was a more powerful predictor of cognition. This work further defines a fundamental dyadic timing matrix that guides the trajectory of infant development.