Serve-and-return conversation
Parent watches for baby's 'serves' (a sound, a gaze, a wiggle) and responds with something similar — the root of all future conversation. Agent coaches the parent to wait, notice, return. Observations track each phase separately: reading the serve, returning in kind, baby's return signal, and sustained exchange.
Opens a guided voice session in TogetherTime.
What you'll need
Lay baby on their back where you can see their face. Position yourself above or beside, within easy eye range.
How it works
- 1~30s
Don't start the conversation. Wait. Watch their face, their hands. they will do something first — a coo, a look, a kick. Tell me when you see it.
Watch for: parent_identifies_baby_signal
- 2~10s
Now return it. Make a similar sound, or a similar face, or move your hand the way they moved their. Match what they gave.
Watch for: parent_responds_in_kind
- 3~20s
Now wait again. See if they gives you something back.
Watch for: baby_produces_second_signal
- 4
Count how many back-and-forths you got. Tell me.
Watch for: dyad_sustains_multiple_exchanges