Stranger connections The development of infant communication with others

Humans are social creatures, wired for and thriving on connection with others. From early in life, social experiences with diverse interaction partners acquaint infants with the structures and functions of their social world. Yet, despite offering a unique window into the development of social and emotional cognition, little is known about how infants communicate with others beyond the familial. This dissertation revolves around three questions: 1) What communication behaviors characterize interaction with strangers over the first two years of life? 2) How do temperamental reactivity and shyness shape infant communication with strangers throughout development? 3) In which ways do parents’ dispositions and behaviors influence infant communication with strangers? To answer these questions, I employed a mixed-method research design that integrated longitudinal naturalistic observations, experimental paradigms, (manual and automated) microanalytic coding of behavior, and parental reports.
Findings collectively indicate that preverbal communication with strangers is a multifaceted process characterized by both continuity and change throughout the first two years of life; a product of the dynamic interplay between individual, contextual, and parental factors over development. Results implicate the adaptability of early human communication, while shedding new light on how infant temperamental reactivity and shyness, early communication patterns with diverse social partners, and parent socio-emotional dispositions and behaviors all contribute in shaping how infants communicate with strangers. Future directions should account for such complexity when investigating infant development. In particular, researchers should consider the entire family system (parents as well as siblings), and include at-risk populations (e.g., psychopathology; insecure attachment styles; non-traditional families; refugees), across diverse demographics (e.g., low parental education; poverty conditions) and cultures with varying orientations toward strangers.