Table 1.

Definitions and Examples of Common Input and Gestures for Maternal Responsivity

Maternal Responsivity	Definition	Example
Input Variable
Follow-in Commenting	Talking about the child’s focus of attention without telling the child what to do or directing their behavior	Child is looking at a book about farm animals and points to a pig Mother responds, “That’s a pig”
Follow-in Directing (redirects)	Talking about the child’s focus of attention while suggesting the child change some aspect of their play with the toys, or redirecting the child	Child is doing a puzzle Mother says, “Can you put it in?”
Linguistic Mapping	Translating a child’s nonverbal communication into words	Child is reaching for their cup Mother says, “You want your cup?”
Repeating	Repeating the child’s immediately preceding approximation of a word with adult pronunciation	Child approximates, “All Done” Mother says, “You’re all done?”
Expansion	Adding words or grammatical structure to the child’s immediately preceding spoken utterance	Child says, “Dog in” Mother says, “The dog goes in the box”
Gesture Variable
Deictic	Expressing communicative intent–sharing attention, commenting, requesting
Point	Extension of the index finder toward a proximal or distal person, object, location, or event for the purposes of sharing attention or requesting	Child points to their cup
Show	Holding an object toward a communication partner’s line of sight while making eye contact or orienting their body to the communication partner	Child finds a rock and holds it up to their mother to show it to her
Give	Extension of the arm while holding an object toward the hand of a communication partner with the intent of them taking the object	Extending arm holding a cup toward their mother to request more water
Representational	Referring to a referent with or without the physical object	Drink = bring toy cup to mouth Phone = put palm of hand to ear
Conventional	Form and meaning are culturally defined	Nodding head “yes”