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The Cross-Modal Coordination of Interpersonal Timing: Six-Week-Olds Infants' Gaze with Adults' Vocal Behavior

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the hypothesis that 6-week-old infants are capable of coordinated interpersonal timing within social interactions. Coordinated interpersonal timing refers to changes in the timing of one individual's behavior as a function of the timing of another individual's behavior. Each of 45, first-born 6-week-old infants interacted with his or her mother and a stranger for a total of 14 minutes. The interactions were videotaped and coded for the gaze behavior of the infants and the vocal behavior of the mothers and strangers. Time-series regression analyses were used to assess the extent to which the timing of each of the infants' gazes was coordinated with the timing of the adults' vocal behavior. The results revealed that (a) coordinated timing occurs between infants and their mothers and between infants and strangers as early as when infants are 6 weeks old, and (b) strangers coordinated the timing of their pauses with the infants to a greater extent than did mothers. The findings are discussed in terms of the role of temporal sensitivity in social interaction.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45207-6511

    Cynthia L. Crown

  2. University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, Maryland

    Stanley Feldstein

  3. George Washington University, Washington, D.C

    Michael D. Jasnow

  4. College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, New York

    Beatrice Beebe & Joseph Jaffe

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  1. Cynthia L. Crown
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  2. Stanley Feldstein
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  3. Michael D. Jasnow
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  4. Beatrice Beebe
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  5. Joseph Jaffe
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Correspondence to Cynthia L. Crown.

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Crown, C.L., Feldstein, S., Jasnow, M.D. et al. The Cross-Modal Coordination of Interpersonal Timing: Six-Week-Olds Infants' Gaze with Adults' Vocal Behavior. J Psycholinguist Res 31, 1–23 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014301303616

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