Infant-Directed Improvised Performances, Protoconversations, and Action Songs During the First Year of Life

Abstract

The connection between babies and adults is permeated by a communicative musicality that manifests in different ways. Three of these manifestations are relevant to social cognitive development: infant-directed improvised performances, protoconversations, and action songs. They typify the first social and multimodal exchanges that allow adults and babies to share moments of deep intimacy and affection. While protoconversations are extensively studied interaction in developmental psychology and action songs are widely known, infant-directed improvised performances have only recently been identified. The three variants of these exchanges are brought together as a unitary category under the name of emergent organizations of early communicative musicality. The chapter presents a longitudinal case study of a mother–baby dyad between the 2nd and 9th month of the baby, analyzing the structure, frequency, and developmental trajectory of these three emergent organizations. It also describes the various ways in which multimodal stimulation is organized in each of them.