title: Infant twins' social interactions with caregivers and same-age siblings.
abstract: The study of twin behavior offers the opportunity to study differential patterns of social and communicative interactions in a context where the adult partner and same-age peer are equally familiar. We investigated the development of social engagement, communicative gestures, and imitation in 7- to 25-month-old twins. Twin dyads (N=20 pairs) participated in 10-min, semi-structured play sessions, with the mother seated in a chair completing paperwork for half the session, and on the floor with her children for the other half. Overall, twins engaged more with their mothers than with their siblings: they showed objects and imitated speech and object use more frequently when interacting with their mothers than with their siblings. When the mother was otherwise engaged, the twins played with toys separately, observed each other's toy play, or were unengaged. These results demonstrate that adult scaffolding of social interactions supports increased communicative bids even in a context where both familiar peers and adults are available as communicative partners.
authors.affiliation: Grand Valley State University, United States. Electronic address: aldrichn@gvsu.edu.
authors.forename: Naomi J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Aldrich
authors.affiliation: The College of Staten Island and the Graduate Center, City University of New York, United States.
authors.forename: Patricia J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Brooks
authors.affiliation: The College of Staten Island and the Graduate Center, City University of New York, United States.
authors.forename: P Ozlem
authors.initials: PO
authors.lastname: Yuksel-Sokmen
authors.affiliation: Hunter College, City University of New York, United States.
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ragir
authors.affiliation: New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, United States.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Flory
authors.affiliation: New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, United States.
authors.forename: Elizabeth M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Lennon
authors.affiliation: New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, United States.
authors.forename: Bernard Z
authors.initials: BZ
authors.lastname: Karmel
authors.affiliation: New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, United States.
authors.forename: Judith M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Gardner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007100:Imitative Behavior; D007223:Infant; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D009633:Nonverbal Communication; D010988:Play and Playthings; D035781:Siblings / Q000523:psychology*; D013060:Speech; D014427:Twins / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Gesture; Imitation; Infancy; Joint attention; Twins