What Mothers Do After Infants Vocalize: Implications for Vocal Development or Word Learning?

Purpose The goal of this study was to analyze verbal and nonverbal maternal response types following infant vocalizations in younger (ages 4-8 months) versus older (ages 10-14 months) infant groups and their potential implications for infant vocal development or word learning. Method Maternal response types that occurred within 3 s of infant vocalizations were examined in this cross-sectional study of naturalistic interactions in 35 mother-infant dyads. Response types were defined as vocally responsive to infant vocalizations (i.

Ordinary Interactions Challenge Proposals That Maternal Verbal Responses Shape Infant Vocal Development.

Purpose: This study tested proposals that maternal verbal responses shape infant vocal development, proposals based in part on evidence that infants modified their vocalizations to match mothers' experimentally manipulated vowel or consonant-vowel responses to most (i.e., 70%-80%) infant vocalizations.