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Rhythm in Mother‐Infant Interactions
Author(s) -
Deckner Deborah F.,
Adamson Lauren B.,
Bakeman Roger
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
infancy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.361
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 1532-7078
pISSN - 1525-0008
DOI - 10.1207/s15327078in0402_03
Subject(s) - rhythm , psychology , developmental psychology , language development , association (psychology) , philosophy , psychotherapist , aesthetics
Rhythmic behavior and the association of vocal rhythmic behavior with language development were studied in a sample of 30 mother‐infant dyads. Dyads were observed in 2 contexts (1 involved sharing pictures and the other sharing musical toys) when infants were 18 and 24 months of age. Vocal rhythmic behavior was seen in both contexts, and in both contexts mothers matched their infant's vocal rhythmic behavior at greater than chance rates. Greater matching tended to be associated with higher language scores whereas, counter to prediction, higher rates of maternal vocal rhythmic behavior tended to be associated with lower language scores. At 24 months of age, mother‐daughter dyads showed more matching than mother‐son dyads. These results suggest that differences in maternal production of vocal rhythmic behavior may foster different language learning strategies.