Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Development of Communication in Infants: Implications for Stimulus Relations Research

  • Published:
Perspectives on Behavior Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Early forms of stimulus–response relations are learned by infants to communicate with caregivers. The infant communication abilities begin with the learning of eye gazing, joint attention, social referencing, and naming, among others. Learning to engage in these early communication skills facilitates the development of more advanced phenomena seen in equivalence class formations and derived relational responding research. This article discusses evidence of early communication skills that are often required for the emergence of other, more complex forms of stimulus–stimulus relations. We emphasize the importance of establishing these types of operants early in infancy and their implications for developmental research on stimulus relations.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Auguston, K. G., & Dougher, M. J. (1992). Teaching conditional discrimination to young children. Experimental Analysis of Human Behavior Bulletin, 9, 21–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Charman, T. (2003). Why is joint attention a pivotal skill in autism? Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences, 358, 315–324.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeQuinzio, J. A., Poulson, C. L., Townsend, D. B., & Taylor, B. A. (2016). Social referencing and children with autism. The Behavior Analyst, 39, 319–331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Devany, J., Hayes, S., & Nelson, R. (1986). Equivalence class formation in language-able and language-disabled children. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 46, 243–257.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Dobson, V., & Teller, D. Y. (1978). Visual acuity in human infants: a review and comparison of behavioral and electrophysiological studies. Vision Research, 18, 1469–1483.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dube, W. V., MacDonald, R. P., Mansfield, R. C., Holcomb, W. L., & Ahearn, W. H. (2004). Toward a behavioral analysis of joint attention. The Behavior Analyst, 27, 197–207.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Gewirtz, J. L., & Pelaez-Nogueras, M. (1992a). B. F. Skinner’s legacy to infant behavioral development. The American Psychologist, 47, 1411–1422.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gewirtz, J. L., & Pelaez-Nogueras, M. (1992b). Social referencing as a learned process. In S. Feinman (Ed.), Social referencing and the social construction of reality in infancy (pp. 151–173). Boston, MA: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, S. C., Fox, E., Gifford, E. V., Wilson, K. G., Barnes-Holmes, D., & Healy, O. (2001). Derived relational responding as learned behavior. In S. C. Hayes, D. Barnes-Holmes, & B. Roche (Eds.), Relational frame theory: a post-Skinnerian account of language and cognition (pp. 21–50). New York, NY: Kluwer Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holth, P. (2005). An operant analysis of joint attention skills. Journal of Early and Intensive Behavior Intervention, 2, 160–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holth, P., Vandbakk, M., Finstad, J., Grønnerud, E. M., & Akselsen Sørensen, J. M. (2009). An operant analysis of joint attention and the establishment of conditioned social reinforcers. European Journal of Behavior Analysis, 10, 143–158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horne, P., & Lowe, C. (1996). On the origins of naming and other symbolic behavior. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 65(185–241), 341–353.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, S., & Barnes-Holmes, D. (2014). Associative concept learning, stimulus equivalence, and relational frame theory: working out the similarities and differences between human and nonhuman behavior. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 101, 156–160.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Isaksen, J., & Holth, P. (2009). An operant approach to teaching joint attention skills to children with autism. Behavioral Interventions, 24, 215–236.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, W., & Klin, A. (2013). Attention to eyes is present but in decline in 2-6-month-old infants later diagnosed with autism. Nature, 504, 427–431.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Klin, A., Shultz, S., & Jones, W. (2015). Social visual engagement in infants and toddlers with autism: early developmental transitions and a model of pathogenesis. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 50, 189–203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lipkens, R., Hayes, S. C., & Hayes, L. J. (1993). Longitudinal study of the development of derived relations in an infant. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 56, 201–239.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Luciano, C., Becerra, I., & Valverde, M. (2007). The role of multiple-exemplar training and naming in establishing derived equivalence in an infant. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 87, 349–365.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • McHugh, L., Barnes-Holmes, Y., & Barnes-Holmes, D. (2009). Understanding and training perspective taking as relational responding. In R. A. Rehfeldt & Y. Barnes-Holmes (Eds.), Derived relational responding. Applications for learners with autism and other developmental disabilities: a progressive guide to change (pp. 281–300). New Harbinger: Oakland, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moses, L., Baldwin, D., Rosicky, J., & Tidball, G. (2001). Evidence for referential understanding in the emotions domain at twelve and eighteen months. Child Development, 72, 718–735.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mundy, P., & Newell, L. (2007). Attention, joint attention, and social cognition. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16, 269–274.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Neimy, H., Pelaez, M., Carrow, J., Monlux, K., & Tarbox, J. (2017). Infants at risk of autism and developmental disorders: establishing early social skills. Behavior Development Bulletin, 22, 6–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Novak, G., & Pelaez, M. (2004). Child and adolescent development: a behavioral systems approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Novak, G., & Pelaez, M. (2011). Autism: a behavioral systems approach. In E. A. Mayville & J. A. Mulick (Eds.), Behavioral foundations of effective autism treatment (pp. 13–33). Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY: Sloan Publishing.

  • Pelaez, M. (2009). Joint attention and social referencing in infancy as precursors of derived relational responding. In R. A. Rehfeldt & Y. Barnes-Holmes (Eds.), Derived relational responding: applications for learners with autism and other developmental disabilities (pp. 63–78). Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pelaez, M., & Monlux, K. (2017). Operant conditioning methodologies to investigate infant learning. European Journal of Behavior Analysis, 18, 1–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pelaez, M., Gewirtz, J., Sanchez, A., & Mahabir, N. (2000). Exploring stimulus equivalence formation in infants. Behavior Development Bulletin, 9, 20–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pelaez, M., Virués-Ortega, J., & Gewirtz, J. L. (2011a). Contingent and noncontingent reinforcement with maternal vocal imitation and motherese speech: effects on infant vocalizations. European Journal of Behaviour Analysis, 12, 277–287.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pelaez, M., Virués-Ortega, J., & Gewirtz, J. L. (2011b). Reinforcement of vocalizations through contingent vocal imitation. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 44, 33–40.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Pelaez, M., Virués-Ortega, J., & Gewirtz, J. (2012). Acquisition of social referencing via discrimination training in infants. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 45, 23–35.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Pelaez, M., Virués-Ortega, J., Field, T. M., Amir-Kiaei, Y., & Schnerch, G. (2013). Social referencing in infants of mothers with symptoms of depression. Infant Behavior and Development, 36, 548–556.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pelaez-Nogueras, M. (1996). Thought without naming: a commentary on Horne and Lowe’s article “The Origins of Naming and Other Symbolic Behavior”. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 65, 299–301.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Pelaez-Nogueras, M., & Gewirtz, J. (1997). The context of stimulus control in behavior analysis. In D. M. Baer & E. M. Pinkston (Eds.), Environment and behavior (pp. 30–42). Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pelaez-Nogueras, M., Field, T., Cigales, M., Gonzalez, A., & Clasky, S. (1994). Infants of depressed mothers show less “depressed” behavior with their nursery teachers. Infant Mental Health Journal, 15, 358–367.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pelaez-Nogueras, M., Field, T. M., Hossain, Z., & Pickens, J. (1996a). Depressed mothers’ touching increases infants’ positive affect and attention in still-face interactions. Child Development, 67, 1780–1792.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pelaez-Nogueras, M., Gewirtz, J., Field, T., Cigales, M., Malphurs, J., Clasky, S., & Sanchez, A. (1996b). Infants’ preference for touch stimulation in face-to-face interactions. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 17, 199–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pelaez-Nogueras, M., Field, T., Gewirtz, J. L., Cigales, M., Gonzalez, A., Sanchez, A., & Richardson, S. C. (1997). The effects of systematic stroking versus tickling and poking on infant behavior. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 18, 169–178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pilgrim, C. (1996). Can the naming hypothesis be falsified? Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 65, 284–286.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Rehfeldt, R. A. (2011). Toward a technology of derived stimulus relations: an analysis of articles published in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1992–2009. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 44, 109–119.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Rosales-Ruiz, J., & Baer, D. M. (1997). Behavioral cusps: a developmental and pragmatic concept for behavior analysis. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 30, 533–544.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Sidman, M. (1994). Equivalence relations and behavior: a research story. Boston, MA: Authors Cooperative.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whalen, C., & Schreibman, L. (2003). Joint attention training for children with autism using behavior modification procedures. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 44, 456–468.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Leadership & Professional Studies, College of Arts, Sciences & Education, Florida International University, Miami, FL, 33199, USA

    Martha Pelaez

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA

    Katerina Monlux

Authors
  1. Martha Pelaez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Katerina Monlux
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Martha Pelaez.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they do not have any conflicts of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Pelaez, M., Monlux, K. Development of Communication in Infants: Implications for Stimulus Relations Research. Perspect Behav Sci 41, 175–188 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40614-018-0151-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40614-018-0151-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation