Pathways from social contingency to infant language learning

Abstract Social contingencies—the timely responses that follow infant action—facilitate learning in the moment and over developmental time. Although links between social contingencies and infant learning are well documented, the mechanisms of influence remain underspecified. We draw on a growing body of research to propose several pathways that lead from infant action to social contingency to infant learning, with a focus on early word learning as a model system. Specifically, we contend that social contingency: (i) builds on infant attention, (ii) creates multisensory experiences, (iii) spurs a self-sustaining feedback loop that engenders continued engagement by the infant, (iv) facilitates connections among events in memory, and (v) supports infants’ learning of the pragmatics of human communication. We conclude with consideration of the role of social contingency beyond infancy, across domains, and across nested timescales. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Mechanisms of learning from social interaction’.