EFFECTS OF FAMILIAR AND UNFAMILIAR OBJECTS ON MOTHER-INFANT INTERACTION

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the dynamics and st ructure of mother-child interactions around toys vary with the familia rity of toys. Twelve mother-child dyads with a 5- or 9-month-old infan t were filmed two consecutive 5-minute sessions in the presence of fam iliar or novel objects. By relating the mother's behaviour to her infa nt's, we were able to define episodes consisting of phases of joint en gagement of the two partners on the same topic or reference object. In a context involving familiar objects, mothers more often took the ini tiative to introduce a topic, and they kept the child's attention focu sed on the object for longer periods, by means of various manipulation s. In contrast the attractiveness of the novelty gave the infants more initiative, and the mothers followed the child by providing mostly ve rbal support.