The Roots of Turn-Taking in the Neonatal Period

Human newborns are cognitively and socially competent. Although they are sensitive to the presence of a social partner, little is known on the emergence of the ability to partake in social interaction. In this study we aimed to explore the roots of turn-taking in the neonatal period. We wished to highlight the way mothers' and newborns' vocalizations are organized in relation to each other in a face-to-face communication situation. We observed 15 mothers and their 2 to 4-day-old newborns while mothers were instructed to speak to them and infants were in a receptive behavioural state. We examined the temporal organization of maternal and newborn vocalization. Our results show that of all newborn vocalizations analysed, one third consisted of overlapping vocalizations with a maternal vocalization. Furthermore, among the 119 newborn vocalizations that followed a maternal vocalization, 68.9% occurred within the first second, and 26.9% were latched (occurring within the first 50 ms). Indeed our study suggests that a 1-s window would be the correct window to appreciate social contingency in the neonatal period. Our study provides evidence that a turn-taking ability is already present at birth suggesting that turn taking, which depends on a tight coordination between interacting individuals, is a precocious human ability.