Before they are 3;0-3;6, children typically do not engage with peers in focused interaction, although they do with adults. With parents, children interact around the "here-and-now". We hypothesize that young peers do not attempt to establish joint attention to present objects. Using the CHILDES database, we compared attention-directives…

Sixteen dyads comprised either of deaf toddlers and their deaf mothers or deaf toddlers and their hearing mothers were compared on the use and success of various means for establishing mutual attention for communication. Results suggested the deaf-deaf dyads experienced significantly more episodes of mutual attention because the deaf mothers were…

Presents an analysis of the control techniques adopted by the mothers of 15- and 24-month-old children during an eight-minute laboratory play situation. Mothers were requested to take an active role in the interaction by ensuring that the child played with the full range of toys available. (JMB)

The effects of infant responsiveness and marital satisfaction on parent-infant reciprocity in face-to-face interactions are examined in this study. Thirty-two middle to upper-middle class couples attending LaMaze classes were recruited for the study. There were equal numbers of male and female infants. When the infants were approximately three…

Forty-eight mothers and their four- to six-year-old children participated in a controlled disciplinary encounter in which the children's attentiveness was manipulated. Results suggested that parents may use commands to get their children's attention and then use reasoning once their children are listening. (JMB)

Qualitative analysis of videotape recordings of seven mothers and their sons with autism (ages 2 and 3) found that mothers mostly engaged in verbal regard (conversation) and directive behaviors. Sons were able to give some form of regard 69% of the time, mostly in the form of active task participation rather than verbal or visual regard.…

This paper presents a study of the looking and looking away or gaze alternation behavior of both full term and preterm infants in the presence of varying degrees of facial animation. The faces used in the study included, in increasing order of animation, a Raggedy Ann doll's face, a moving and talking doll's face, a mother's less animated face…

Examines how the parents of a 2-year-old child elicit and sustain the child's attention during mundane activities such as playing an educational game and telling a story. Notes that triadic interactions are fostered by the arrangement and blending of artifacts, the parents' complementary roles, the use of affective morphology and of nonvocal…