Emotional and referential communication are the two most significant manifestations of social engagement from early infancy. However, little is known about the synchrony and the developmental interplay of these abilities, and about their predictive value of later social-communicative functioning.

This project will use longitudinal and experimental designs to explore the stability and synchrony between emotional communication and pointing gesture from 4 to 18-months in a normal and in at-risk population. Systematic micro-level coding systems will be used. Results will not only contribute to our knowledge on socio-cognitive development, but they will also advantage the development of screening tools and interventions.

This project is part of the NWO Research Talent Programme.