Universal and culturally specific aspects of sensitive responsiveness to young children

ABSTRACTThis article describes the earliest processes involved in socializing infants into cultural beings, that are thought to set the stage for the type of interactions described in this special issue. From birth onwards, infants experience and learn whether their signals will be answered, and in what way, by whom, and when. Infants learn about their own culture from the persons around them through the meaning and interpretations these persons give to their behaviors. Many questions remain about how these processes link to infant brain development, and how insights from cultural and biological anthropology can be used to elucidate the meaning and function of sensitive caregiver–infant interactions.