ABSTRACT
By approximately 2 months of age the kinds of social acts reviewed in chapter 4 have become well enough established that infants can participate in social interactions. In early development, social interactions may be defined as sequences of social acts performed by the infant and an interactive partner that are contingently structured. As such they involve the two participants acting socially in response to the social acts of the other. The sequences need not be very long or very smooth initially. The critical feature is that each participant responds to the acts of the other by producing acts that themselves tend to elicit further social acts. Because the mother is the most common participant with whom the infant interacts, I typically refer to the mother as the other participant. It should be understood, however, that early interactions can occur with any other person who is willing to engage the infant appropriately.
