Temporal contingency as an independent component of parenting behavior

Several theoretical conceptions emphasize the importance of prompt response s to infant's signals in providing them with early causal,experiences. The present paper examines if a maternal tendency toward prompt responses can b e identified by distributional analyses of maternal response latencies and: if this response tendency can be shown for different communicative channels (in verbal/vocal, nonverbal,: intermodal communication). In addition, the paper focuses on the relation between the temporal contingency of maternal behavior and measures of maternal interactional quality. Interactional sequ ences of 54 mother and 3-month-old infant dyads were analyzed using microan alytical assessment techniques and ratings of interactional quality. Distri butional analyses of maternal expressions during face-to-face encounters re vealed that promptness of responses toward infant signals with a short late ncy is a typical response tendency in maternal behavior. There are, however , individual differences between mothers, indicating that this response ten dency is expressed in different communicative channels by individual mother s. This is shown by low correlations between the contingency indices of dif ferent communicative channels. The relation between contingency and rated i ndicators of interactional quality turned out to be rather small, indicatin g that maternal contingency may be conceptualized to contribute an independ ent factor to the quality of maternal interactional behavior.