The Contribution of Mother–Infant Mutual Influence to the Origins of Self- and Object Representations

Early interaction structures provide an important basis for emerging self- and object representations. Interaction structures are characteristic patterns of mutual regulation which the infant comes to remember and expect. We use recent evidence for early representational capacity to suggest that early interaction structures are represented in a presymbolic form in the first year and provide the basis for emerging symbolic forms of self- and object representations. We specifically address the nature of the interrelatedness that is represented. Patterns of mutual regulation between mother and infant in the early months of life, illustrating matching and derailed exchanges, are described, based on microanalyses of film and videotape. These patterns provide an empirical basis for conceptualizing variations in the quality of the interrelatedness that may be represented. We suggest that the dynamic process of reciprocal adjustments is the substance of these earliest “interactive representations.” What is represented is an emergent dyadic phenomenon, structures of the interaction, which cannot be described on the basis of either partner alone.