Studies conducted in Western countries document the special role of mother--infant face-to-face exchanges for early emotional development including social smiling. A few cross-cultural studies have shown that the Western pattern of face-to-face communication is absent in traditional rural cultures, without identifying other processes that promote…

The study of infant communication during mother-infant interactions has largely focused on infants' distal behaviours, while neglecting their more proximal behaviours, such as touch. Yet, touch is an important modality through which infants and mothers communicate; it is also a vital means through which infants self-regulate and explore their…

In 2 experiments, mothers, between 5 and 81 hours after giving birth, stroked the hand of 3 infants and then guessed which infant was their own. Results showed that the majority of mothers who had been with their infant for an hour or more since childbirth were successful at the task. (BC)