Six-month-old infants? communication in a comparative perspective: Do maternal attention and interaction matter?

Developmental precursors of the prelinguistic transition from ges-tures to word use can be found in the early pragmatic usage of audi-tory and visual signals across contexts. This study examined whether 6-month-old infants are capable of attention-sensitive com-munication with their mother, that is, adjusting the sensory modality of their communicative signals to their mother's attention. Proxies of maternal attention implemented in experimental conditions were the mother's visual attention (attentive/inattentive), interaction directed at the infant (interactive/non-interactive), and distance (far/close). The infants' signals were coded as either visual or audi-tory, following an ethological coding. Infants adjusted the sensory modality of their communicative signals mostly to maternal interac-tion. More auditory signals were produced when the mother was non-interactive than when she was interactive. Interactive condi-tions were characterized by higher rates of visual signaling and of gaze-coordinated non-vocal oral sounds. The more time infants spent looking at their attentive mother, the more they produced auditory signals, specifically non-vocal oral sounds. These findings are discussed within the articulated frameworks of evolutionary developmental psychology and early pragmatics. (c) 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.