Attention & Communication

At friends' family picnic, I noticed some things about attention. The first example was easy to see--a baby, less than a year old. She smiled and handed her grandmother a book. Grandmother smiled, vibrantly read a page, and handed the book back. The child smiled and laughed, and again offered the book. Grandmother smiled, vibrantly read another page, and again handed the book back. This continued for several minutes.

Later, when tired, the child was fussy. She would fuss or cry, and someone would pick her up and offer her attention, food, and ultimately, rest. If the child didn't sleep after a time, an adult would return to the child to see if something else was needed.

The second example was also easy to see--a kitten, an unexpected guest of the party. When lively, people would play with the kitten with bits of string, carrying the animal around, stroking and petting it. Being cute and playful went a long way. When tired, adults would put the kitten down for a nap. When the kitten was done napping and wanted attention, it would start yowling. Within a minute or two, someone would go to the kitten, remove it from its kennel, and play with it or offer it food.

These two examples have something in common. Obviously both the child and the kitten were infants. More interesting than age is that neither could use language and both had a limited repertoire of behaviors that could elicit attention.

How is it that infants, one human one feline, can be so successful in their non-linguistic communications, whereas many of us adept with using language struggle greatly to make ourselves understood?