Intersubjectivity and the Emergence of Words

Abstract

Intersubjectivity refers to two non-verbal intersubjective relations infants experience during their first year that are precursors to the emergence of words. Trevarthen, a pioneer in the study of intersubjectivity, referred to those relations as primary and secondary intersubjectivity. The former, a dyadic coordination between the infant and her caregiver, begins at birth. The latter, a triadic coordination that develops around 9 months, allows the infant and a caregiver to share attention to particular features of the environment. Secondary intersubjectivity is crucial for an infant's ability to begin to produce words, at around 12 months. Much research on the social and cognitive origins of language has focused on secondary intersubjectivity. That is unfortunate because it neglects the fact that secondary intersubjectivity and the emergence of words are built on a foundation of primary intersubjectivity. It also ignores the evolutionary origins of intersubjectivity and its uniquely human status. That unique status explains why only humans learn words. This article seeks to address these issues by relating the literature on primary intersubjectivity, particularly research on bi-directional and contingent communication between infants and mothers, to joint attention and ultimately to words. In that context, we also discuss Hrdy's hypothesis about the influence of alloparents on the evolution of intersubjectivity.

Keywords: bi-directional communication; contingency; dyadic relationship; intersubjectivity; joint attention; triadic relationship; words.

Figure 1

Illustration of multiple channels of protoconversation between an infant and her mother (Trevarthen et al., 2006, Figure 12).

Figure 2

The joint attention triangle. The bold arrow represents how two individuals “know together” that they are sharing attention to the same object. Adapted from Figure 2.1 of Carpenter and Call (2013).

Figure 3

Second-by-second ratings of mother and infant facial affect during sessions (150 s) of mother–infant dyads. This illustration of mothers and infants following the others’ direction of affect change is based on an across-group (n = 132) documentation of bi-directional contingent coordination via multi-level time-series modeling (Beebe et al., 2016). See text for additional details. Data obtained from Table 1 of Beebe et al. (2016).

Figure 4

(A) and (B) represent two partners. The individual gains the turn the instant she/he vocalizes unilaterally. The switching pause (SP), which occurs as turns are exchanged, regulates the timing of turn-taking. Courtesy of Beatrice Beebe, New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University.