MPI COLLOQUIUM: ASSOCIATE PROF.DR. RICCARDO FUSAROLI

TITLE:

The development of turn taking in child-caregiver interactions

ABSTRACT:

How do children learn to tightly time their contributions to a conversation (in child-caregiver conversations)? How do we build a scientific understanding of the development of such turn-taking abilities? In this talk I will present a series of studies with a strong meta-scientific undertone. Through a systematic review and evidence synthesis of the field I will build a critical map for further well-motivated research: identifying outstanding questions and current pitfalls. The map will be put to use in designing the analysis of a longitudinal study involving autistic and typically developing children (2-5 years of age). In particular, I will discuss adequate statistical modeling of response latencies, the inclusion of meaningful individual differences in social, linguistic, and motor development and a focus on multiple time-scales of turn taking, including turn-by-turn dynamics. The generalizability of the findings will be put to test on a separate corpus of older children. Finally, I will sketch ongoing research on how we achieve a more mechanistic understanding of the development of turn taking in a dialogue between human and non-human animal research; and reflect on how we can collectively build critical and cumulative scientific practices.