What developmental stage comes after cooing and babbling in infants?

The developmental stage that follows cooing and babbling in infants is jargoning. Jargoning occurs when infants begin to produce longer, more complex strings of sounds that resemble speech but do not carry specific meaning. This stage is characterized by the use of varied pitch, intonation, and tempo, and infants often engage in this stage as they experiment with their vocal abilities and communicate with caregivers.

During jargoning, infants may combine recognizable sounds and syllables into patterns that mimic the rhythms and melodies of actual conversation, even though they are not yet forming coherent words or sentences. This phase is crucial for the development of later linguistic skills, as it helps infants learn to control their vocalizations and practice the social aspects of communication.

The stages following cooing and babbling develop their communication capacity, ultimately paving the way for the transition into the first word period, where infants start to use actual words to convey meaning. Thus, recognizing jargoning as the appropriate next stage following cooing and babbling highlights its role in the progression of speech and language development.