Reciprocity During Play: The Influence of Caregiver-Infant Interactions on Language Development

• In Event: Poster Session 03
  In Poster Session: PS 03 Topic - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Abstract

Introduction
Infancy and early childhood are a prime time for language development and acquisition. It is well established that reciprocal and contingent interactions between a caregiver and a child predict better language outcomes (Weisleder & Fernald, 2013). Despite the wealth of evidence connecting reciprocity between caregivers and children and child language (e.g. Tamis-LeMonda, Bornstein, & Baumwell, 2001), existing observation methods have struggled to capture the nature of these interactions at a microsocial scale. This study utilizes a novel video-coding tool (the Simple Interactions Tool: Reciprocity subscale) to quantify differences between verbally-focused reciprocal interactions and activity-focused play. This project aims to understand how specific characteristics of reciprocal interactions (i.e. verbal-vs.-activity-focused) may predict child language scores.

Study Sample and Methods
This sample includes 134 caregiver-infant dyads based in the Denver metro area and recruited as a part of a larger intervention study. The majority (75.4%, n=101) of the sample included bilingual dyads whose filmed interactions and assessments were conducted in Spanish. Data reported here are from baseline assessments conducted in the family’s home, including filmed caregiver-infant play and two measures of child language: the Preschool Language Scales, Fifth Edition (PLS-5) and the Early Social Communication Scales (ESCS). We utilized a microsocial video-coding protocol (Reciprocity subscale) to evaluate caregiver-infant interactions during a free-play task; coding protocols involved a detailed glossary and decisional flow-chart to evaluate “serve” and “return” behaviors in fifteen-second segments (Figure 1). Videos were coded by a group of bilingual research assistants trained in the measure. Twenty percent of videos were double coded for reliability (Percent Agreement = 81.02%, Kappa = 0.693).

Planned Analyses and Hypothesized Results
We hypothesize that the microsocial nature of the Reciprocity video-coding protocol will allow us to see correlations between verbal-focused interactions, activity-focused play, and child language scores. Specifically, we predict that families with verbal-focused interactions will score higher on measures of auditory comprehension and expressive language (PLS-5, ESCS) than families with more activity-focused play. We will run correlational analyses to evaluate the relationship between interaction-types and language scores as well as linear regression models to predict child language outcomes from coded interaction types (i.e. verbal-focused interactions vs. activity-focused play).

Feasibility
All data presented here has been collected, coded, and cleaned, and we are confident that these pre-registered analyses can reasonably be conducted before the SRCD Biennial Meeting in April. These findings would help elucidate how specific characteristics of caregiver-infant interactions may contribute to word learning and predict language outcomes. We will address the broader impacts and future directions of this work, including implications for early interventions.

Authors

• Alejandro Daniel Valdez-Alvarez, University of Oregon
  Presenting Author

• Carmela Cardama Baez, University of Oregon
  Non-Presenting Author

• Andrea Imhof, University of Oregon
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ana Hernandez, University of Oregon
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sarah E Watamura, University of Denver
  Non-Presenting Author

• Philip Andrew Fisher, University of Oregon
  Non-Presenting Author