PSYC21021 Lecture 2: Early Social Skills and Communication Development 2024-2025 PDF

Lecture 2 :Early Social Skills and Language/Communication Development PSYC21021: Topics and Issues in Developmental Psychology Dr. Alissa Ferry Image: Game, Josef Capek (1937) Lecture 2 Aims To outline pre-linguistic communication skills....

Lecture 2 :Early Social Skills and Language/Communication Development PSYC21021: Topics and Issues in Developmental Psychology Dr. Alissa Ferry Image: Game, Josef Capek (1937) Lecture 2 Aims To outline pre-linguistic communication skills. To understand the differences between primary and secondary intersubjectivity. To provide evidence of how these skills develop in infancy. To evaluate the importance of these skills with reference to the acquisition of language. Lecture 2 Outline Two main stages of early social skills primary and secondary intersubjectivity Two key modes of communication important for language acquisition Turn-Taking. Joint attention.  Early Socialisation (1) Pre-linguistic communication is more than just crying!  Early Socialisation (2) Primary Intersubjectivity (Trevarthen, 1979) First months: attention to faces, eye contact, produce vocalisations, imitate sounds and gesture. Secondary Intersubjectivity (Trevarthen, 1979) Older infants: more sophisticated, pointing, turn- taking, shared attention. Early Socialisation Example Early Socialisation Example (1) https://youtu.be/87n98ayRdEg Early Socialisation Example (2) https://youtu.be/Yn8j4XRxSck Early Socialisation: Primary Intersubjectivity First months: attention to faces, eye contact, produce vocalisations, imitate sounds and facial gestures, one-at-a-time interactions. Caregiver and infant share experiences in face-to-face interactions. But these interactions are dyadic (baby and caregiver, baby and object). No assumption of the perspective of others. These interactions are not intentional. Motivation – dyadic mimicry Infants imitate (Kuhl, & Meltzoff, 1996; Meltzoff & Moore, 1977). Newborns mimic facial expressions. 3-4-month-olds imitate sounds. Limited form of imitation. No understanding of others’ intentions. But shows that infants motivated to engage with others. Figure from Meltzoff & Moore, 1986) Preference for Faces From birth, infants prefer to look at things that are “face- like” Goren et al.. (1975). Early Socialisation: Attention to faces and eye gaze Newborns prefer to look at direct (compared to averted) gaze (Farroni et al., 2002). Early Socialisation: Attention to faces and eye gaze Senju and Csibra (2008) 6mo infants only follow the gaze to the object if preceded by mutual eye gaze. Same results found for IDS (but not ADS). The communicative signal (eye gaze/IDS) encourages infants attend to the same object. Early Socialisation: Secondary Intersubjectivity Older infants (from around 9 months): more sophisticated, pointing, turn-taking, joint attention. Caregiver and infant share experiences and these interactions start to become triadic (the infant and caregiver interacting together with a toy; social referencing). The interactions become intentional, and infants start to assume that others have their own perspective.  Secondary Intersubjectivity (2) Coordinate emotional response with another person. Still Face Experiment (Adamson & Frick, 2003). Parent "freezes" and stops responding The interaction breaks down Attempts to repair the interaction (social engagement cues) The Still Face Experiment https://youtu.be/YTTSXc6sARg  Secondary Intersubjectivity (3) Coordinate emotional response with another person. Still Face Experiment (Adamson & Frick, 2003). Parent "freezes" and stops responding The interaction breaks down Attempts to repair the interaction (social engagement cues) Social referencing and the Visual Cliff example (Sorce et al., 1985). Visual cliff (depth perception) Infants will look to the parent for an emotional cue of how to respond Shared attention to the situation, transfer of information  From Gibson and Walk (1960) The Visual Cliff Social referencing and the Visual Cliff example (Sorce et al., 1985). Visual cliff (depth perception) Infants will look to the parent for an emotional cue of how to respond Shared attention to the situation, transfer of information Supplementary Video: The Visual Cliff Experiment https://youtu.be/p6cqNhHrMJA  Secondary Intersubjectivity (4) Coordinate emotional response with another person. Still Face Experiment (Adamson & Frick, 2003). Parent "freezes" and stops responding The interaction breaks down Attempts to repair the interaction (social engagement cues) Social referencing and the Visual Cliff example (Sorce et al., 1985). Visual cliff (depth perception) Infants will look to the parent for an emotional cue of how to respond Shared attention to the situation, transfer of information Secondary Intersubjectivity (5) Beginnings of intentional communication by the infant signified by: Use of eye contact/pointing to direct another’s attention. Consistent use of vocalisation to indicate specific goal. Evidence of child waiting for response. Persistence if not understood. Lecture 2 Outline Two main stages of early social skills primary and secondary intersubjectivity Two key modes of communication important for language acquisition Turn-Taking. Joint attention. Modes of communication Turn-taking. Joint Attention. Sharing a focus of attention. Following attention. Directing attention. Turn-Taking (1) Young infants (from around 3 months) alternate vocalisations with their caregivers (Stern et al. 1975). By 12 months, very few overlaps between ‘speakers’ (Schaffer et al, 1977). Proto-conversations (Bruner, 1975) - similarities between turn-taking in early vocalisations and later conversation. Turn-Taking: Protoconversations Video https://youtu.be/_JmA2ClUvUY Do infants really have sophisticated turn-taking skills? Interruptions suggest not until 3rd year can children control turn-taking in language (Rutter & Durkin, 1987). In the early stages the caregiver ensures a smooth interaction between speakers. Difficult to establish exactly when mutually intentional.  Initial interactions incorporate either: Joint The child and adult or the child Attention (1) and an object. Joint Attention (2) Joint attention = triadic interaction involving child, adult and object/event. Shared awareness of the shared attention Joint Attention: Supplementary Video https://youtu.be/1Aea8BH-PCs Joint Attention (3) Joint attention = triadic interaction involving child, adult and object/event. Sharing Attention. Following Attention. Directing Attention. Joint Attention: Sharing Attention (1) Social referencing (Sorce et al., 1985). Visual Cliff. By 9 months, children look to adult in unfamiliar or threatening situations to gauge emotional response. Joint attention: Sharing attention (2) Topic Comment At 9 months, child and adult interact over an object. Child switches gaze between adult and object (Carpenter et al, 1997). Caregivers talks about object of joint attention.(West & Iverson, 2017). Joint Attention: Sharing Attention (3) Joint attention: Sharing attention (4) Topic Comment Joint attention skills predict later language skills (e.g., Tomasello & Farrar, 1986). Children better learn the names for objects better when they are attending to the object when it is named (Pereira, Smith & Yu, 2014). Joint attention: Sharing attention (5) Routines (Bruner, 1983) Much of early language is learnt in routines Caregivers structure routines around child. Routines create a shared context. The child knows what comes next. Highly repetitive routines provide a scaffold for language learning. Routines differ in the types of words used (Tamis-LeMonda et a., 2018).  Joint attention: Sharing attention (6) BUT... During 1st year, mothers constantly monitor the child’s line of regard. When child’s attention shifts from desired object of attention, mothers attempt to regain child’s attention (Collis & Schaffer, 1975). Mother initially solely responsible for establishing shared topic and providing relevant language. Mother’s sensitivity to child’s focus of attention related to child’s vocabulary development - children more likely to learn the referent for an object they attend to than for one their attention is directed to (Tomasello & Farrar, 1986). Twins often show language delay – linked to amount of time spent in joint attention episodes with mother (Tomasello et al, 1986), highlighting the mother’s role. Getting into joint attention Following Attention Following points. Following eye gaze. Direction Attention Imperative Pointing Declarative Pointing Joint attention: Following points 9 months: can follows point in front of another person 12 months: begin to check back with pointer 14 months follows point across line of sight. Carpenter et al., 1998 Joint attention: Following attention Gaze Following (1) Gaze following allows us to track where someone else is looking and join them, engaging in joint attention. By 9 months, infants will turn to follow an adult's gaze and share an object of attention with another (Scaife & Bruner, 1975). But why? Joint attention: Following attention Gaze Following (2) Do infants understand that when someone alters their gaze, if it because that person sees something interesting? Joint attention: Following attention Gaze Following (3) Infants aren’t tracking the GAZE specifically until around 18 months (Corkum & Moore, 1995; Moore & Corkum, 1998). Joint attention: Following attention Gaze Following (4) 12-month-olds will follow a head turn….even if the person is blindfolded! 14-month-olds will only follow when the eyes are visible (Brooks and Meltzoff, 2002). Joint attention: Following attention Gaze Following (5) But, 12-moth- olds will gaze follow if the partner has their eyes open, but not if the eyes are closed! (Brooks & Meltzoff, 2002). Joint attention: Following attention Gaze Following (6) Infants follow gaze behind barriers (Moll & Tomasello, 2004). Joint attention: Following attention Gaze Following (7) It can be tricky to determine to motives for infant gaze following. Conflicting evidence about when children are following because they think the looker sees something interesting. 18 months, but some evidence in infants as young as 12 months. Understanding Can children understand that communicative adult intends to communicate intentions (1) information to them? Behne et al. (2005) look at whether 14-, 18-, and 24- month-olds will follow a helper's point. Do they understand that there is a shared goal of finding the toy? Understanding communicative intentions (2) Infants follow both point and gaze direction to retrieve object of interest (Behne et al., 2005).  Understanding communicative intentions (3) Infants do not follow non-communicative points and gaze direction (Behne et al., 2005). Joint attention: Directing attention (1) Pointing Imperative –to get adult to do something. Declarative – to direct adult’s attention to something. 9 months, child points to object then checks mother’s line of regard, by 18 months child checks mother’s line of regard before pointing to an object. Joint attention: Directing attention, Criticisms Imperative pointing: infant learns that if she points, she gets what she wants (Camaioni, 1993). Declarative pointing: infant learns that she gets more attention by pointing at things (e.g. Moore & D’Entremont, 2001). BUT 12month-olds indicate when adult finds ‘wrong’ object (e.g., Liszkowski, et al., 2006) and respond negatively when attention is directed to the infant and not the object (e.g., Boundy et al., 2019) Conclusions Two main stages of social development Primary Intersubjectivity Secondary Intersubjectivity Key communication skills Turn Taking Joint Attention Development of social skills and understanding of communicative intent Critical Evaluations Some evidence that infants understand that others can have thoughts, intentions. Do you think this evidence is strong? Lower-level explanations (just following movements, liking attention)? Why is it difficult to make claims about intents and thoughts in infants? Are these skills necessary precursors for language acquisition? Artificial Intelligence? Social skills and different levels of language acquisition? Word meaning? Syntax? References (1) Adamson, L. B., & Frick, J. E. (2003). The still face: A history of a shared experimental paradigm. Infancy, 4(4), 451-473. Behne, T., Carpenter, M., & Tomasello, M. (2005). One-year-olds comprehend the communicative intentions behind gestures in a hiding game. Developmental Science, 8(6), 492-499. Boundy, L., Cameron-Faulkner, T., & Theakston, A. (2019). Intention or attention before pointing: Do infants’ early holdout gestures reflect evidence of a declarative motive?. Infancy, 24(2), 228-248. Brooks, R., & Meltzoff, A. N. (2002). The importance of eyes: how infants interpret adult looking behavior. Developmental psychology, 38(6), 958. Bruner, J. S. (1975). The ontogenesis of speech acts. Journal of Child Language, 2(1), 1-19. Bruner, J. (1983). Child's talk. Oxford University Press. Carpenter, M., Nagell, K., Tomasello, M., Butterworth, G., & Moore, C. (1998). Social cognition, joint attention, and communicative competence from 9 to 15 months of age. Monographs of the society for research in child development, i-174. Collis, G. M., & Schaffer, H. R. (1975). Synchronization of visual attention in mother-infant pairs. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 16(4), 315-320. Farroni, T., Csibra, G., Simion, F., & Johnson, M. H. (2002). Eye contact detection in humans from birth. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 99(14), 9602-9605. Goren, C. C., Sarty, M., & Wu, P. Y. (1975). Visual following and pattern discrimination of face-like stimuli by newborn infants. Pediatrics, 56(4), 544-549. Kuhl, P. K., & Meltzoff, A. N. (1996). Infant vocalizations in response to speech: Vocal imitation and developmental change. The journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 100(4), 2425-2438. Liszkowski, U., Carpenter, M., Striano, T., & Tomasello, M. (2006). 12-and 18-month-olds point to provide information for others. Journal of cognition and development, 7(2), 173-187. References (2) Meltzoff, A. N., & Moore, M. K. (1977). Imitation of facial and manual gestures by human neonates. Science, 198(4312), 75-78 Moll, H., & Tomasello, M. (2004). 12-and 18-month-old infants follow gaze to spaces behind barriers. Developmental Science, 7(1), F1-F9. Moore, C., & Corkum, V. (1998). Infant gaze following based on eye direction. British journal of developmental psychology, 16(4), 495-503. Moore, C., & D'Entremont, B. (2001). Developmental changes in pointing as a function of attentional focus. Journal of Cognition and Development, 2(2), 109-129. Pereira, A. F., Smith, L. B., & Yu, C. (2014). A bottom-up view of toddler word learning. Psychonomic bulletin & review, 21(1), 178-185. Rutter, D. R., & Durkin, K. (1987). Turn-taking in mother–infant interaction: An examination of vocalizations and gaze. Developmental psychology, 23(1), 54. Schaffer, H. R. (1977). Early interactive development. Studies in mother-infant interaction, 3- 16. Scaife, M., & Bruner, J. S. (1975). The capacity for joint visual attention in the infant. Nature, 253(5489), 265. Senju, A., & Csibra, G. (2008). Gaze following in human infants depends on communicative signals. Current Biology, 18(9), 668-671. Sorce, J. F., Emde, R. N., Campos, J. J., & Klinnert, M. D. (1985). Maternal emotional signaling: Its effect on the visual cliff behavior of 1-year-olds. Developmental psychology, 21(1), 195. References (3) Stern, D. N., Jaffe, J., Beebe, B., & Bennett, S. L. (1975). Vocalizing in unison and in alternation: Two modes of communication within the mother-infant dyad. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 263(1), 89-100. Tamis-LeMonda, C. S., Custode, S., Kuchirko, Y., Escobar, K., & Lo, T. (2018). Routine Language: Speech Directed to Infants During Home Activities. Child development. Tomasello, M. (2003). Constructing a language: A usage-based approach to child language acquisition. Cambridge (MA). Tomasello, M., & Farrar, M. J. (1986). Joint attention and early language. Child development, 1454-1463. Tomasello, M., Mannle, S., & Kruger, A. C. (1986). Linguistic environment of 1-to 2-year-old twins. Developmental Psychology, 22(2), 169. Trevarthen, C. (1979). Communication and cooperation in early infancy: A description of primary intersubjectivity. Before speech: The beginning of interpersonal communication, 1, 530-571. West, K. L., & Iverson, J. M. (2017). Language learning is hands-on: Exploring links between infants’ object manipulation and verbal input. Cognitive Development, 43, 190-200. Supplementary Reading There are some suggested readings for this lecture. Some provide a comprehensive overview of some of the topics, and some are specific research papers that we will go over in the lecture. You are not required to read all of them but should focus on the papers that will most help you understand the material (e.g., topics that you understand less well, topics that you would like to understand in more depth). Overview material: Kuhl, P. K. (2004). Early language acquisition: cracking the speech code. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 5(11), 831-843. (this is an excellent and very in-depth review of the topics we cover here and expends upon them to help you build a clear understanding). available here Ambridge, B., & Lieven, E. V. M. (n.d.). Preface. Child Language Acquisition, xiii– xiv. doi:10.1017/cbo9780511975073.001 (Chapter 2) (this book is available through the library and provides an in-depth look at speech perception and processing in infants). available here Research papers: Kuhl, P. K., Stevens, E., Hayashi, A., Deguchi, T., Kiritani, S., & Iverson, P. (2006). Infants show a facilitation effect for native language phonetic perception between 6 and 12 months. Developmental science, 9(2), F13-F21. (this is a nice example of the change detection paradigm and what happens with perceptual narrowing). available here Bortfeld, H., Morgan, J. L., Golinkoff, R. M., & Rathbun, K. (2005). Mommy and me: Familiar names help launch babies into speech-stream segmentation. Psychological science, 16(4), 298-304. (this is a study we talk about in the lecture with how infants use highly salient words to help segment speech). available here Jusczyk, P. W., & Aslin, R. N. (1995). Infants′ Detection of the Sound Patterns of Words in Fluent Speech. Cognitive Psychology, 29(1), 1–23. doi:10.1006/cogp.1995.1010 (this is a study we talk about in-depth in the lecture with how infants recognize words in fluent speech in their language). Supplementary Reading Research papers: Saffran, J. R., Aslin, R. N., & Newport, E. L. (1996). Statistical Learning by 8-Month-Old Infants. Science, 274(5294), 1926–1928. doi:10.1126/science.274.5294.1926 (this is a study we talk about in-depth in the lecture with how infants use statistical cues to segment words using simple nonsense "languages" ). Thiessen, E. D., Hill, E. A., & Saffran, J. R. (2005). Infant-directed speech facilitates word segmentation. Infancy, 7(1), 53-71. (this is a study we talk about in-depth in the lecture with how infants use the exaggerated prosodic contours of infant-directed speech top help segment words from simple nonsense "language"). Fló, A., Brusini, P., Macagno, F., Nespor, M., Mehler, J., & Ferry, A. L. (2019). Newborns are sensitive to multiple cues for word segmentation in continuous speech. Developmental science, e12802. (this is a research paper by Alissa looking at speech segmentation in newborns using statistical cues and prosody. The intro provides an excellent look at the topics that we discuss here, but don't worry too much about the neuroimaging methods). Shi, R., & Lepage, M. (2008). The effect of functional morphemes on word segmentation in preverbal infants. Developmental Science, 11(3), 407-413. (this is a study we talk about in the lecture with how infants use frequent cues in language to help segment speech). Gervain, J., Nespor, M., Mazuka, R., Horie, R., & Mehler, J. (2008). Bootstrapping word order in prelexical infants: A Japanese–Italian cross-linguistic study. Cognitive psychology, 57(1), 56-74. (this is a study we talk about in the lecture with how infants use frequent cues in language to identify patterns). Marcus, G. F., Vijayan, S., Rao, S. B., & Vishton, P. M. (1999). Rule learning by seven-month-old infants. Science, 283(5398), 77-80. DOI: 10.1126/science.283.5398.77 (this is a study we talk about in-depth in the lecture with how infants identify patterns, specifically repetition based patterns in language ). Supplementary Videos A video of a 10-month-old pointing. Does this seem like declarative or imperative? Supplementary Videos A video of a protoconversation between a 14-month-old and caregiver Supplementary Videos A discussion about what pointing is and why it is important (featuring Ulf Liszkowski). Supplementary Videos A video about pointing and how it develops. Supplementary Videos A discussion about what gaze following is and why it is important (featuring Eugenio Parise).