In this chapter we intend to show how interpersonal relationships can be conceptualized as dynamically developing systems. We first define relationships as systems of organized and patterned flows of communicative co-activity called frames. Next, we describe relational-historical research on developmental change, hypothesizing three main processes by which frames re-organize to make way for the emergence of new frames. Finally, we discuss implications of this approach for understanding the developmental transition in the mother-infant relationship from face-to-face to mother-infant-object play.

Relationship frames and transitions

A relationship is a developing communication system encompassing action, physiological processes, and the psychological meaning of those processes to each individual. When we use the word relationship, therefore, we are talking about a living, developing system. Relationships have been observed to move through various phases of development including initial attraction, familiarization, intimacy, commitment, distancing, rejuvenation, and dissolution (Altman & Taylor, 1973; Bowlby, 1969; Gottman et al., 2002; Knapp, 1984; VanLear & Trujillo, 1986). Part of the developmental process is the emergence of new dynamically stable attractors (see Chapter 2) of patterned communicative action called frames.

The ability to identify frames seems to be part of the basic social perceptual abilities with which humans, and most social animals, are endowed. Research on social perception suggests that observers are better at detecting the global aspects of communication than at identifying the precise beginnings and endings of discrete action units (Ginsburg, 1985; Newtson, 1993).