Activities and Interaetlens of Mothers and TheirFirstborn Infants in the First Six Months ofLife: Covariation, StabtUty, Continuity,Correspondenee, and Prediction

Marc H. Bonutein and Catherine S. Tamis-LeMonda

covariation, stability, continuity, correspondence, and premction. Generally, mothers' activities did

this time period; some developmentally increased, and some developmentally decreased. Infants'activities were unstable, but most increased over time. Specific mother and infant activities corre-sponded, and over time mothers and infants influenced one another in specific ways. In die criticalperiod of the first half year, infants appear to be flexible and plastic in their behavioral repertoiresand are influenced by their mothers; mothers are somewhat consistent, but they also adapt to the

.. Jis with an endures, independent of later interactions be-a period of tween the two and independent of stability in

, .or the infant, the infent In a second model, mother exerts ast months are unique influenc h i f l

i i l t i t i dthe first months are unique influence ove he n y

critical experiences in later point in development and independentd d f bili i h i f t In a third model,

H

l experiences in later poin nstudy aimed to of stability in

auuu. la.o nature of mother-infant both early and late matemal inHuences exertand its consequences in the period independent ef&ets. In this study, we exam-

of the dyad's initial accommodation during ined these three models of unique influencesthe first half year of the infant's life by ex- between mothers and infents in the period ofamining unique and specific influences of the first 6 months of life. We flrst defined a setmother on infant and of infant on mother. of salient interactive activities in mother-and-

several generic mode , of mutual effect, ^^1^^^^^^^

|££H!?Stra^;of the mother, for example, uniquely affects Domains of Mother and Infant Interaction

the infant at an early time point, and the con- Everyday interactions between motherssequent change in the infent thenceforward and babies are characterized by a melange

M.H.B. was supported by research grants (HD20559 and HD20807) and by a Research Career

Development Award (HD00521) fom the National Institute of Child Health and Human Develop-ment; this paper was partially completed during M.H.B.'s tenure as a Guggenheim FoundationFellow and Professeur Invite at the l^boratoire de Psychologic du D6veloppement et de 1 Educa-

H°e'lbetn Scholarshfe and National Institute of Child Health and Human Development IHTA Fel-lowship. We thank G. Fitzmaurice, J. Suwalsky, J. Tal, and B. Wtight Befluest reprints fom Marc H.Bomstein, ChUd and Family Research, National Institute of Child Health and Human Develop-ment Building 31—Room B2B15, 9000 BockviUe Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892.

Bornstein and Tamis-LeMonda 1207

of activities. This study focused on promi- 1956; MacPhee, Ramey, & Yeates, 1984;nent domains concerned with different ori- Rohner, 1985; Rothbaum, 1986). This viewentations- of visual and vocal exchange. A builds on the infrequently tested assumptionsocial domain describes interactions that, for that parenting reflects personality traits, andmother, encompass physical and verbal strate- therefore that parents behave in consistent

gies used in engaging the infant interperson- ways across domains of interaction, time, andally and, for the infant, have a corresponding context. The term covariation can be used tofocus ofattention on mother. Many published describe consistency in rank-order status ofstudies of mother-infant interaction have different parenting activities within individ-concentrated attention on the social do- uals; covarying activities in parents wouldmain. Even within the first half year of life, therefore include those that parents performhowever, mothers and babies alike are in- frequently relative to one another. Alternativecreasingly concerned to distinguish and positions are that frequently performed activi-incorporate into their interactions the world ties are not psychologically linked, and thatoutside the dyad (see, e.g., Belsky, Gilstrap, & individuals vary in the constellation and pat-Kovine, 1984). A didactic domain of activities tern of their activities such that there is nodescribes interactions that tum outward from monistic organization of parenting.

and verbal ^toate'Jes*' u ° f "stimulating the infant to engage the enment and, for the infant, they imply aspKm mg ocus o a t t t i

_ , it has frequent

been suggested that the prosodic contousueh "motherese" (as opposed to adult con-versational tones) might provoke or potentiateinfant attention, thereby promoting infant in-formation processing (PapouSek, Papouiek, &Bomstein, 1985). Infants, too, vocalize non-

meanin ways. enting' activity, for example, would be „..„;, the activities of mothers and that some parents perform relatively fre-• • '.meshed, so that differ- quently when their infants are young and

lways or again perform relatively frequendy whenone an- their infants are older. The term continuity

' investigators have operation- can be used to describe consistency in the_ 3d the social and didactic do- absolute level of group performance of an ac-

mains as separable and significant, whether tivity over time. A continuous parenting activ-they are called animate versus inanimate, af- ity would be one performed by a group offective versus informational, or social versus parents with approximately the same fre-object-centered (e.g.. Field, 1981; Goldfield, quency when their infants are young and old.1987; Sherrod, 1981; Stem, 1985). In this pa- Stability of individuals and continuity in theper, we set out to assess several characters- group are independent (McCall, 1981).

Characteristics of Mother and Infant monistic view of parenting is that the overall

Despite the dynamic range of individual overall level of development (see Maccoby &activities that mothers naturally engage in Martin, 1983). However, increasing evidencewith their infants, many authorities, including suggests that specific parental activities relatepsychoanalysts and ethologists, have concep- concurrently and predictively to specific as-tualized parental (read: matemal) caretaking pects of child performance (Bomstein, 1989b;as adhering to only one or a small number of Bradley et al., 1988; Vibbert & Bomstein,bipolar^ dimensions,^ cornmonly described as 1989; Wachs & Chan, 1986). The term cor-"good," "sensitive," or "warm" (e.g., Brody, respondence can be used to describe con-

1208 ChiM Deveiopment

sistency in the rank-order status of specific Home Observation Procedureparent and infant activities. In achieving Home observations followed the same

kind of activity' relatively more often, more identical to those we have used previously,appropriately, etc., can be expected to have Briefly, mothers were asked tx) behave in theirinfants who perfomi a specific corresponding usual manner and to disregard the observer'sactivity relatively more frequently or who presence insofar as possible; beside the ob-possess a relatively higher ability of a particu- server, only mother and baby were present atlar kind. home; and observations took place at optimal

f the day for individual babies 'Studies of parent-cl

1985; Tamis-LeM(

sampling technique in which a 0»-̂ ^^ »^^^.

Present Study vation period was followed by a 30-sec re-

The present study was designed to assess cording period (Seitz, 1988). The bounds of--'ation, stability and continuity, and con- each period were signaled to the observer by

i;m,c.it and predictive correspondences in so- a covert automatic timer,

cial and didactic domains of activity and in

different modes of vocalization in mothers The 2-5-month data reported here wereand infents, first, as independent issues in excerpted itora a larger ongoing longitudinal

early development and, second, for the criti- study. Four matemal activities and five infantcal role they play in differentiating unique activities were subjected to analysis. Twoand specific models of early interaction The codes recorded the mother's engagement ofstudy began when infants were 2 months of her infant and organization of infant attentionage because ofthe intentionality and flexibil- socially (i.e., to the mother herself) and di-

ity in behavioral organization that first emerge dactically (i.e., to some property, object, orat about this time (e.g., Emde, Gaensbauer, & event in the environment). Mothers could doHarmon, 1976). Mothers and infents were re- these by physical or verbal means and byvisited at 5 months because by this time the inti-oducing a new topic or elaborating onbaby's scope of apperception has consider- a topic already introduced. Thus, a motherably broadened beyond the dyad, infants look might touch, gestiire toward, or position her

It and reach out and grasp, infent with the expUcit purpose of engaging• '1-baby to herself, or she might demonstrate,

ir̂ fant's visual and/or tactiial exploration of

codes assessed speech to thes infent register (characterized

two home observations. Dyads were first seen jhree of the five infknt activities codedwhen the infants were 2 months of age (M = orientation of visual exploration to mother or66 days) and again when 5 months of age (M to a property, object, or event in the environ-= 161 days). Infents were term at birth (M ^ent and active hand contact with an object,weight = 3.39 kg; M length = 51.2 cm) and xhe final two codes a d i f e t liwere healthy throughout the course of the uon a i h distudy. Households were middle- to upper- initiatSES (M 59 n the Hollingshead Four the i

5 G f r d 1985) D d fton,

During the course of the study, 25% olthe visits were independently coded by twoobservers. Reliability (Pearson r) on the nine

Bomstein and Tamis-LeMonda 1209

categories of mother

spoke to their 2-month-olds in the infant reg-ister in as few as 6% of the intervals of theobservation period, and some in as many as

ic mothers never spoke to their 5-

le 5-month-olds vocalize

Hollingshead SES) was systematically related

to any ofthe measured variables, even thougheach showed variation; moreover, obtainedrelations held equivalently for boys and girls.Statistical analyses collapsed across these fac-

at 2 and at 5 months, and the comparison of

pattems of covariation between the two ages;

stability and continuity of mothers' and of in-

correspondence between mothers' and in-

son"ofp^attem"s''of''these^concurrent''c"mla-

tions between the two ages. These analyseshe evaluation of unique 2- to 5-

•2-and5-r '

infants rather equallyhers engaged th

tween 2 and 5 months, therfchanged the emphasis of theisignificantly reducing interpersonal

Mi M: M

iJlili

STABILITY AND CONTINUITY: FREQUENCY OF 1

r

VlOTHEBS ANDINFA

2 Months

M (Range)

NTS ACTIVITIES AT 2 AND 5 MONTHS

CONTINUITY

M (Range) 1

1212 ChUd Development

portional emphasis on

In infants.—Even though infants tended daetic plus social focito be unstable in their individual ranks over months, r = .48, p = .0the first 6 months. Table 2B shows that infants = .53, p = .0"- ••increased significantly in their orientation to couragement c. . . . . — —the environment between 2 and 5 months. At daetic (as opposed to the soeial) mode re:2 months, infants explored equivalendy in so., positively to infent tactual exploration al 'cial and didactic orientations; al ' ' ' - " " - " - " " — " - --• • "however, they fevored er

At 2 months, infants vocalized nondis- tenuating so

tress and distress equivalently during the

distress vocalization had significantly in-

creased. An analysis of this divergence failedto show a SigniBcant difference across age. ^^^^ - 10 < r s < 09 However mothers-

using the infent register tended to correlate

Table 3 shows concurrent relations be appropriately in developmentaltween organization-of-stimulation variables in their in&nts' changing fbcus of exmothers and orientation-of-exploration vari- with attention to mother at 2 moiables in infants. Mother-infant interacti

Bornstein and Tamis-LeMonda 1213

r, eial exploration at 5 months (Set la), matemald didactic encouragement at 5 months aloneat shared unique variance with infant didactic< exploration (Set 2a), and matemal vocaliza-

• in the infant register a' " - '

second line provides evidence for the unique cipal forms of o ,predictive association between members of and didactic, as well as for matemal speech inthe dyad from 2 to 5 months. These equations the infant register at 5 months. With respect toprovide solutions after both 2- to 5-month sta- Model 1, no infant activity uniquely andbility in the individual and any 5-month con- • alone infiuenced matemal activities from 2 to

social exploration alone shared unique vari-ance with mothers' social encouragement at 5months (Set la), and infant didactic explora-

tion and nondistress vocalization each aloneJ ... — shared unique variance with matemal di-

nth predictive influence daetic encouragement at 5 months (Sets 2a,IS, Model 1 is supported d). Finally, with respect to Model 3, in" '

_, - . , ..__ ... which line 2 alone nondistress vocalization, ta(unique early effect) is significant (e.g.. Set 3ain Table 44); Model 2 is supported by equa-tion sets in which line 3 alone (unique con- ....current effect) is significant (e.g.. Set la); and, (Sets 3cModel 3 is supported by equation sets inwhich both lines 2 and 3 are signiBcant (e.g..Set 3b) In summary the last two lines in eachset refiect solutions for separate and indepen- Few behaviors of mothers or of infants

dent families of predictive equations each covaried positively, suggesting that motherswith three predictor variables. and infants alike tend to specialize in particu-

lar kinds of activities. Notably, social and di-

ports*'moAet°to"n'fant''reTults""for the thr'ec re'utedTt''tiprincipal forms of infant exploration (so- social are nicial, didactic, and tactual) and for infant daetic, and

ss vocalization at 5 months. For necessarily- , - , — j v e purposes, several (but not all) pendence i

matemal predictors are presented; matemal doubt on a :vocalization in adult conversational tones was example, br

these infant activities at the zero-order level,for example, and so it was not included. Withrespect to Model 1, only matemal didactic en-couragement at 2 months alone predicted . ... .^ ^unique variance in infant tactual exploration over the first half year of their in.

hs (Set 3a). With respect to Model 2, (see, too, Belsky et al., 1984; Clarke-Stewart &

Tk Richards'", "wTJ^ Gottfted,' 1984̂

Bornstein and Tamis-LeMonda 1215

Wachs, 1987). Mothers' aetivities varied in predictive relations followed. Only infent tac-continuity, however. Notably, matemal social tual exploration and nondistress vocalization,engagement decreased, while didactic en- and only matemal vocalization in the infentgagement increased (see, too, Belsky et al., register, were uniquely predicted firam 2 to 5

1984). Infents, by contrast, were unstable, al- months. Mother and infent activities sharedthough they regularly increased in explora- unique variance more at 5 than at 2 months,tion and in nondistress vocalization (Belsky et and corresponding relations between partnersal., 1984; Moss, 1967). predominated, such as mother and infent

social and didactic activities and mothers'

speaking in the infent register and infents'

nondistress vocalizing. With respect to pre-

sults overshadowed Model 1, and significant

in tne intant reinsterl and ones '^° * ^ predictive; Model 3 relations areot (social enea^merit) exerted common, and if an association is predictive it

fater direiopmental effects over infants, will be concurrent as well.Thus, matemal activities that fluctuate in time Discontinuities characterize infant devel-(those that are neither stable nor continuous) opment in the first year of life (e.g., Emde etare not automatically random or develop- al., 1976; Fischer, 1980); presumably, if our

mentally ineffectual; rather, they may actually observation times had straddled periods ofdisplay systematic change in level and in pat- reorganization in infency, other pattems of re-tem in relation to developmental changes in suits might have emerged. Also, the resultsthe infent, and on this basis harbor significant reported might apply uniquely to the openconsequences for infknt development. style of interaction we studied but not to other

Mothers and infants specialize, and their 'Vf'"' unstrained situations. The families inspecializations match; that is, mother-infant *'« ^f^^y were relatively restricted in termsinteractions even in the first months can be "f socioeconomic status and educational his-described as mutually corresponding. More- ^'V- different pattems of resulte could

over, the domains of stimulation in mothers ^"^S^ i" mothers (and conceivably in in-and of exploration in infents relate to one an- ™ ) '̂ °'™m8 from other regions of the SESother in increasingly specific ways. In the age f^f- ^hus, the ~«»™1i.«Ki1iK, ^f M,...period studied, niatemal didactic stimulation fndings might b.

pnaie to lnianis aeveiopmenc. t^orrespondences in the longitudinal findings lend addi- mothers with their infknts. Moreover, ntional weight to the specificity hypothesis. " 1 « " i l ! ' ' ' / ' • ^ ' T ' / ' * " " ^ ' '1^^"^^'°

open to one anothers influence from an early Theoreticians and researchers have longperiod in the infant's life. The instability of supposed that the child's earliest interactivetheir individual behaviors over the same time experiences may affect the course of later de-period may indicate additionally that mothers velopment (Plato, ca. 350 B.C.), and the impor-and their new babies are to a certain degree tance and pervasiveness of infant effects onflexible, plastie, and adaptable. The predic- caretakers are generally well recognized (e.g.,tive results bear out both of these inferences. Bell & Harper, 1977). Our analyses convergeLongitudinal data even in the first 6 months to support such a mulUvariate and multi-provide some evidence for unique early, model view of specificity in mother-infentunique later, and combined early and late ex- mutual interactions in the flrst half year oftheperience effects between mothers and infants. infent's life.

The results ofthe predictive models can

which behaviors of infents and mothers werepredicted and, second, what pattems existing

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