Abstract
To understand the development of nonverbal communication, the manual gestures of 11 infants between 9 and 15 months of age were observed while they played with their mothers several times a month. Infants were more likely than their mothers to request objects and less likely to respond to requests for objects, suggesting a relatively acquisitive style of interaction. The proportion of infant requests that involved a vocalization rose with age, suggesting that infants increasingly use vocalizations to emphasize instrumental communications. Infant gazing at mother was most likely during offers that infants initiated without a preceding maternal request. When infants gestured and gazed at mother, they also tended to smile. Unsolicited offers involving gazing at mother and smiling appear to index self-initiated, positive social contact. The results help distinguish between instrumental and social approach functions of nonverbal conventional communication.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 566-590 |
| Number of pages | 25 |
| Journal | Merrill-Palmer Quarterly |
| Volume | 44 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| State | Published - Oct 1 1998 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Psychology(all)
- Developmental and Educational Psychology
Cite this
Give and take : The development of conventional infant gestures. / Messinger, Daniel S; Fogel, Alan.
In: Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, Vol. 44, No. 4, 01.10.1998, p. 566-590.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Give and take
T2 - The development of conventional infant gestures
AU - Messinger, Daniel S
AU - Fogel, Alan
PY - 1998/10/1
Y1 - 1998/10/1
N2 - To understand the development of nonverbal communication, the manual gestures of 11 infants between 9 and 15 months of age were observed while they played with their mothers several times a month. Infants were more likely than their mothers to request objects and less likely to respond to requests for objects, suggesting a relatively acquisitive style of interaction. The proportion of infant requests that involved a vocalization rose with age, suggesting that infants increasingly use vocalizations to emphasize instrumental communications. Infant gazing at mother was most likely during offers that infants initiated without a preceding maternal request. When infants gestured and gazed at mother, they also tended to smile. Unsolicited offers involving gazing at mother and smiling appear to index self-initiated, positive social contact. The results help distinguish between instrumental and social approach functions of nonverbal conventional communication.
AB - To understand the development of nonverbal communication, the manual gestures of 11 infants between 9 and 15 months of age were observed while they played with their mothers several times a month. Infants were more likely than their mothers to request objects and less likely to respond to requests for objects, suggesting a relatively acquisitive style of interaction. The proportion of infant requests that involved a vocalization rose with age, suggesting that infants increasingly use vocalizations to emphasize instrumental communications. Infant gazing at mother was most likely during offers that infants initiated without a preceding maternal request. When infants gestured and gazed at mother, they also tended to smile. Unsolicited offers involving gazing at mother and smiling appear to index self-initiated, positive social contact. The results help distinguish between instrumental and social approach functions of nonverbal conventional communication.
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0032276390&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0032276390
VL - 44
SP - 566
EP - 590
JO - Merrill-Palmer Quarterly
JF - Merrill-Palmer Quarterly
SN - 0272-930X
IS - 4
ER -