| Infancy is a particularly critical period for the development of attention and language. Throughout the first year of life infants begin to spend considerable amounts of time looking at and interacting with the world around them. Language skills develop rapidly, paving the way for later communicative competence. The acquisition of these skills is embedded in social context and is supported through adult intervention. This correlational study examined the contribution of maternal interactional behavior (responsivity/sensitivity and synchrony/reciprocity of parent-child interactions) to the early development of attention (Perceptual Sensitivity and Duration of Orienting) and language skills (Vocal Reactivity) in infancy. Sixty five parents of infants ages 6, 9 and 12 months from the San Francisco Bay Area completed questionnaires assessing dimensions of infant temperament, demographic information, and parental depressed mood. In addition, mother-infant dyads were videotaped during a semi-structured play episode. Results indicated that infants whose attentional skills were more advanced also vocalized more frequently, providing support for the importance of attentional skills in explaining language development and vice versa. While maternal responsivity/sensitivity and synchrony/reciprocity of parent-child interactions rated during infant-mother play had a significant association with attentional skills, it did not emerge as a significant predictor of early language skills. That is, although parents who were highly emotionally attuned were more likely to have children who could attend to low intensity stimuli in their environment, they were not more likely to possess advanced verbal communication. In general, hypotheses supporting the moderating role of maternal responsivity/sensitivity and synchrony/reciprocity of parent-child interactions on the development of attention and language were not substantiated. However, one interaction effect was noted, reflecting the joint contribution of Vocal Reactivity and responsivity/sensitivity to the development of Perceptual Sensitivity. Results indicated that children who vocalized more frequently and whose parents were highly responsive/sensitive to their needs were more capable of attending to low intensity stimuli than infants of parents who were less emotionally responsive/sensitive. This finding, emerging in the context of exploratory analyses, suggested that parenting behaviors play a protective function in relation to child temperament characteristics. Taken as a whole, results of the study suggested that early attention and language skills are closely related, and that the development of these skills is supported, in part, by a responsive/sensitive parenting style. |
