Identifying The Role of Caregiver-Infant Coupling in Language Development

这个项目将通过研究1周到2岁婴儿与照顾者之间的互动，揭示行为和神经耦合是如何出现并为语言发展奠定基础的。耦合是指两个人之间协同一致的状态，使建立共同理解成为可能。该项目的具体目标是：1)通过确定行为耦合首次出现的时间，如相互凝视和情感镜像，记录1至9周龄行为耦合的出现，以及联结率在这一时期如何变化。2)记录9个月龄时与单词学习相关的更复杂形式的耦合(例如，声音模仿和联合注意)是如何从镜像中出现的。3)确定所有年龄段的语言使用如何与耦合的频率和持续时间相关。4)确定行为耦合如何与4个月龄时的神经耦合联系起来，这个项目将揭示婴儿和照顾者在互动过程中变得一致的机制，以及语言使用是如何从这个过程中产生的。背景耦合指的是与他人“达成一致”的能力，或者是个人成功地协调他们的注意力、建立共享知识状态并进行合作的状态(Stephens等人，2010年)。语言是产生联结的有力工具，因为它允许共享抽象概念和高度精确的规划。矛盾的是，有证据表明，共享的符号语言首先需要通过联结建立相互理解(Stolk等人，2014)。然而，人们对语言驱动的联结是如何产生的知之甚少。

This project will reveal how behavioural and neural coupling emerge and scaffold languagedevelopment by studying interactions between caregivers and infants across 1 week to 2years of age. Coupling refers to a state of synergetic alignment between two individuals thatmakes it possible to establish shared understanding. The specific aims of the project are to:1) document the emergence of behavioural coupling across 1- to 9-weeks of age bydetermining when behavioural coupling, such as mutual gaze and affect mirroring, firstappears, and how the rate of coupling changes across this period.2) document how more complex forms of coupling at 9 months of age relevant to wordlearning (e.g., vocal imitation and joint attention) emerge from mirroring.3) determine how language use at all ages relates to the frequency and duration ofcoupling.4) determine how behavioural coupling is linked to neural coupling at 4 months of age, andidentify whether the behaviours that most frequently lead to behavioural coupling also leadto the most robust neural coupling, using functional Near-Infra-Red Spectroscopy, or fNIRS.This project will reveal the mechanisms by which infants and caregivers become alignedduring interaction, and how language use emerges from this process.BackgroundCoupling refers to the ability to "get on the same page" with others, or to states in whichindividuals successfully coordinate their attention, establish shared knowledge states, andcooperate (Stephens et al., 2010). Language is a powerful tool for generating couplingbecause it allows sharing abstract concepts and planning with a high degree of precision.Paradoxically, there is evidence that a shared symbolic language requires establishingmutual understanding - via coupling - to emerge in the first place (Stolk et al., 2014).However, little is known about how language-driven coupling emerges.