A doer doing and the core sense of self

This chapter proposes that an infant’s core sense of self develops in conjunction with the experience of being a doer doing across a spectrum of repetitive activities with a caregiver or alone — feeding, awakening, being picked up, carried, put down, crying, watching changes in lights and shadows while lying in the crib. Central to the infant’s success as a doer doing is his/her ability to pick up cues to guide his/her implicit and explicit choices during their reciprocal interactions. In face-to-face conversational interactions infants look intently at their mother’s face — especially eyes and mouth. The infant is picking up on subtle fleeting cues that orient him/her to be an effective engaging doer doing.