Blinking when talking depends on the receiver: The case of mothers feeding infants

Figures & data

Table 1. Features of sampled dyads

Sample size (Boys : Girls)	10:12
Mother’s socioeconomic status	Middle or upper
Mother’s age M ± SD (years)	29 ± 4
Newborn’s rank among siblings (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th)	(10, 10, 0, 2)
Pregnancy age M ± SD (weeks)	30.2 ± 2.5
Infant weight at term session (KG)	3.26 ± 0.51
Infant/Mother pathologies before six months	None

Figure 1. Frame examples showing mothers in three interpersonal contexts.

Notes: Upper panels: eyes were visible, so blinks were countable; Bottoms panels: eyes were hidden, so blinks were not countable; Left panels: mother silent with her infant; Middle panels: mother talking to her infant (with visible eyes); Right panels: mother talking to a third person.

Table 2A. Time-stamped total duration of sequences per mother

Interpersonal context	Duration of sampled sequences
	Silent with infant	Talking with infant	Talking with adult
Total duration M ± SD (N = 22)	18′35′′ ± 7′10′′	11′14′′ ± 6′22′′	1′22′′ ± 2′47′′
Mean duration M ± SD(N = 22)	40′′24′′′ ± 68′′52′′′	18′′52′′′ ± 18′′13′′′	13′′20′′′ ± 12′′23′′′

Table 2B. Sample size of session records with usable sequences

Session records including…	Interpersonal context
	Silent with infant	Talking with infant	Talking with adult
Sequences totalizing more than 5 min:	60	26	1
At least one usable sequence:	70	70	47

Figure 2. Correlation between feeding mothers’ spontaneous blinking rates (SBR) in blinks per minute when talking with their infant, and: top, when silent with the infant; bottom, when talking with another adult.