First Communion: The Emergence of Vocal Relationships

Abstract

Human infants engage in vocal communion with their mother and other prospective caregivers as soon as it becomes possible to do so. As the term is used here, ‘communion’ refers to a continuous state or feeling of connectedness owing to the existence of a communications link that is maintained largely by the vocalizations of infants and caregivers. It is proposed that certain types of vocalization that infants place in this channel encourage physical approach and caregiving. Several of the social behaviors that predict lexical learning, including joint attention and vocal imitation, are also, in theory, associated with maternal attachment. Since quality of attachment also predicts language development, research is needed to determine which behaviors are functionally related to language learning and which are only symptomatic of a relationship that is independently influential.