Building Language Learning: Relations between Infant Attention and Social Contingency in the First Year of Life

41 Pages Posted: 29 Jul 2023

See all articles by Lillian R. Masek

Lillian R. Masek

New York University (NYU) - New York University

Elizabeth V. Edgar

Yale University

Brianna T. M. McMillan

Smith College

James Torrence Todd

Florida International University

Roberta Michnick Golinkoff

University of Delaware

Lorraine E. Bahrick

Florida International University

Kathy Hirsh-Pasek

Temple University

Abstract

In Western societies, social contingency, or prompt and meaningful back-and-forth exchanges between infant and caregiver, is a powerful feature of the early language environment. Research suggests that infants with better attentional skills engage in more social contingency during interactions with adults and, in turn, social contingency supports infant attention. This reciprocity is theorized to build infant language skills as the adult capitalizes on and extends the infant’s attention during socially contingent interactions. Using data from 106 infants and caregivers, this paper tests reciprocal relations between infant attention and social contingency at 6- and 12-months and the implications for infant vocabulary at 18-months. Infant attentional skills to social (women speaking) and nonsocial (objects dropping) events were assessed, and social contingency was examined during an 8-minute toy play interaction with a caregiver. Child receptive and expressive vocabulary was measured by caregiver-report. Both social and nonsocial attentional skills related to engagement in social contingency during caregiver-infant interaction, though only models that included social attention and social contingency predicted vocabulary. These findings provide empirical evidence for the proposed reciprocal relations between infant attention and social contingency as well as how they relate to later language.

Keywords: infancy, caregiver-infant interaction, social contingency, attention, language development

Suggested Citation

Masek, Lillian R. and Edgar, Elizabeth V. and McMillan, Brianna T. M. and Todd, James Torrence and Golinkoff, Roberta Michnick and Bahrick, Lorraine E. and Hirsh-Pasek, Kathy, Building Language Learning: Relations between Infant Attention and Social Contingency in the First Year of Life. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4518538 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4518538

Lillian R. Masek (Contact Author)

New York University (NYU) - New York University ( email )

Elizabeth V. Edgar

Yale University ( email )

493 College St
New Haven, CT 06520
United States

Brianna T. M. McMillan

Smith College ( email )

Northampton, MA 01060
United States

James Torrence Todd

Florida International University ( email )

Miami, FL

Roberta Michnick Golinkoff

University of Delaware ( email )

Newark, DE 19711
United States

Lorraine E. Bahrick

Florida International University ( email )

Miami, FL

Kathy Hirsh-Pasek

Temple University ( email )

Philadelphia, PA 19122
United States

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