In the last two decades, findings have been made that contradict traditional theories of child development and invite a new understanding of man’s social nature and levels of early cultural learning. Examples are newborns’ capacities for imitation of facial gestures, proto-conversation and attunement to adult speech in early infancy, and prosocial and dialogical interplay in young peers. Scientists who first reported the findings or made explanatory proposals, convened in August 1994 in The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters to take stock of and discuss each other’s’ findings and theory proposals. Contributing to a sourcebook in preparation, they have joined the Theory Forum network on communicative development, anchored in Oslo.

The research group at CAS is recruited from this network. Diverging in their views on the intricate nature-nurture interplay of social, emotional and cognitive-perceptual mechanisms in early imitative and linguistic attunement, they will continue the dialogue. A specific aim is to differentiate levels of intersubjective communication and cultural learning – as a basis for further testing upon return to research sites and laboratories.

A question the research group devoted a great deal of time for discussing has been: What are the empirical-operational divides and developmental transitions between, on the one hand, subject-subject interaction in a mutually felt immediate sense, as evident in early infancy (infant intersubjectivity), and, on the other hand, intersubjective understanding conveyed by notions, concepts, and perhaps even by the mental simulation (theory of mind), which some would attribute to older children’s understanding of other’s feelings and perceptions?