Little is known about the origins of the pointing gesture. We sought to gain insight into its emergence by investigating individual differences in the pointing of 12-month-old infants in two ways. First, we looked at differences in the communicative and interactional uses of pointing and asked how different hand shapes relate to point frequency,…

Infants' response to maternal mirroring was investigated in 4-month-old infants. Mother-infant dyads participated in the still face and replay tasks. Infants were grouped by those whose mothers did and did not mirror their behavior in the interactive phases of the tasks. In the still face task, infants with maternal mirroring showed more…

Forty infants (mean age 5 months) of depressed mothers and non-depressed mothers were seated in an infant seat and were exposed to four different degrees of animation, including a still-face Raggedy Ann doll (about two-feet tall suspended in front of the infant), the same doll in an animated state talking and head-nodding, an imitative mother and…

Effects of modeling and contingent praise on infant's motor response topographies were experimentally analyzed. Three male 10-month-olds showed systematic increases in targeted training and probe response topographies after introduction of the modeling and praise treatment procedure. Thus generalized imitation with infants was demonstrated. (RH)

The behavioral dynamics of three different types of early mother-infant interactions were examined. Mothers were instructed to play with, imitate, and hold the attention of their infants. Frequency of vocalization, gaze direction, and smiling by both interactants, tactile play by the mother, and crying by the infant were recorded. (PCB)

Two studies were conducted to examine (1) 1- to 3-day-old infants' imitation of their mothers, and (2) mothers' imitation of their newborn infants. For the infant imitation study, 30 mothers and their infants served as subjects. Two observers stood behind the mother to view the infant's face while the mother presented one of the following…

This study compared the reinforcement effects of imitation to the elicitation effects of noncontingent maternal vocal stimulation. Subjects were 17 three- to six-month-old infants and their mothers. Infants received three successive experimental conditions: contingent imitation B1, noncontingent elicitations, and contingent imitation B2. Under the…

Sixteen white home-reared babies (eight boys - eight girls) ranging in age from six months to two years were studied during home visits. Piaget's sensory-motor development theory of imitation was employed, and his special thesis of the hierarchical sequence was tested. The examiner proposed four critieria for assessing the development of imitation…

Analyzed effects of modeling and contingent praise on infant imitation of three responses: motor-with-toy, motor-without-toy, or vocal. Found a systematic increase in the percentages of training and probe models matched by the three 12- to 14-month-olds following introduction of model-and-praise treatment conditions. Nonmatching responses did not…

Mothers' imitation of their infants during the first 3 days of life is examined in this study. Twenty-four newborn infants (12 males, 12 females) and their mothers participated in the study. On each of the first 3 days following delivery, mother-infant pairs were videotaped in a non-feeding interaction for approximately 5 minutes while the infants…

The purpose of this study was to longitudinally examine the development of symbolic play in 2-year-old Japanese infants. The subjects were four children who were individually tested once a month from the age of 12 to 24 months in laboratory settings. Assessment materials consisted of three sets of miniature toys, a doll and junk objects. Each set…

Infant imitation is considered a significant component of social, cognitive, and language development. Observation of 20 infants and their mothers in 2 naturalistic settings at 4 separate ages revealed dyads' imitation and matching in vocal, verbal and action behaviors. Verbal matching increased over the second year, suggesting relation of dyads'…

One pathway through which second order effects proceed is "social referencing," a process in which the individual utilizes another's interpretation when appraising a situation. This phenomenon is well identified in adults and older children. While it had not been studied in infancy, there are good indications that the necessary cognitive…

Explored relation between infants' early spontaneous imitation of novel and familiar words and subsequent lexicons in longitudinal sample between 13 and 21 months. Found marked contrasts in quantity and proportions of nouns between reported and observed lexicons. When earlier vocabulary levels were controlled, infants' early replication of novel…

This longitudinal study of the development of nonverbal behavior in the first 3 years of a child's life focuses on four factors: the relation between physical and vocal interaction between the child and his mother, observed cuses which can be used to interpret the child's communicative intent at different age levels, frequency of occurrence and…