ABSTRACT
Even in the earliest stages of communication, there is a fine balance between following and initiating. When a small infant looks up at its mother and smiles, one could say that it is imitating its mother's smile. Alternatively, the infant may be expressing contentment and seeking to share that contentment in some basic way. Later, when a baby starts cooing and babbling it may well merely be experimenting with sound but it may also be consciously or unconsciously copying the sounds it has heard. The actions of following and initiating are often so closely intertwined that in many instances it is impossible to say who is the leader and who is the follower.
