Summary

The study was designed to describe the functional significance of gaze and mutual gaze in the context of the free-play conversation of preschool children. It was hypothesized that mutual gaze is not a fortuitous event in young children but a result of a gaze-action-gaze-reaction sequential process. Eleven high- and 11 low-friendship dyads were formed on the basis of the frequency of interaction in freeplay. Each dyad was videotaped for 15-minute play sessions. The videotapes were analyzed for the occurrence of gaze-related utterances and the occurrence of mutual gaze. When the speaker gazed at the listener the contingent probability of gaze response in the listener was 45% (as compared to a base rate of 3% gaze-related utterances). When the listener gazed at the speaker, the probability of gaze response was 38%. Gaze-related utterances were longer, more likely to result in a relevant response from the listener and less likely to result in nonresponse than utterances unaccompanied by gaze. Friendship between dyad members had no effect on any of the measures. It was concluded that gaze and mutual gaze are systematic components of the conversational behavior of preschool children.