PRECURSORY FORM

Place a (+) to indicate mastered behaviors, (+/-) for emerging behaviors, and (-) for
absent behaviors.

CONTENT +, +/-, - Comment/s

Object Search
1. Gaze at moving object +
Visually tracking an object’s movement
2. Gaze at moving object and search for appearance +
Look after an object after it disappears
3. Partially hidden +
Gaze at a moving object that is partially hidden
4. Entirely hidden +
Gaze at a moving object that is then entirely hidden
5. Visibly displaced +
Watch as the object is being hidden
6. Invisibly displaced +
Look for an object behind an obstacle as it was hidden
without the child’s knowledge
7. Search actively during play +
Search for an object that was focus of attention during free
play
8. Search actively to relate to another object +
Search for an object to relate to another object
Disappearance
1. Drop objects inside and cover the box +
2. Hide under a screen
3. Hide several objects in one place +
4. Several objects in different places +
Action on object
1. Attend to adult manipulation of objects
2. Imitate object specific action +
Imitate with few familiar objects
3. Limited repertoire
Appropriate actions with few familiar objects without an
immediately prior model
4. Wide repertoire
Appropriate actions more frequently with a wider variety of
familiar objects
Object-to-object relation
1. Separate object +
e.g. take nesting blocks apart, take peg out of seesaw
2. Join objects, as presented +
e.g. putting nesting blocks together, put peg people back in
seesaw
3. Join objects, non-specific way +
e.g. put peg people in nesting blocks
4. Join objects, specific way +
Join objects in relation not just seen. e.g. feeding doll with
spoon

FORM
Imitation
1. Copies of child motor behavior +
Imitate body movements of an behavior
2. Copies of child vocal behavior +
Imitate vocalizations of an adult
3. New behaviors that can be observed on self +
Imitate vocalizations or body movements that child can see
on himself
4. New behaviors that cannot be observed on self +
Imitate new models that child has not made and child cannot
see himself/herself (tongue side to side)
Approximating adult linguistic forms
1. Reduplicated CV sequences +
e.g. “adada dada”
2. Non-reduplicated sequences +
e.g. “bada beda bipo”
3. Non-segmental features
Produce suprasegmantal feature of adult model

Use
Gazing interpersonally +
Frequent exchanges of gaze (e.g. smiling, touching, feeding
and vocalizing)
Focusing using joint attention +
Focus on an object when directed by gesture, vocalization,
and gaze shift of another
Taking turns +
Partake in one or two routine sequences (e.g. peek-a-boo,
give-and-take, book reading) and eventually take either role
Making reference
1. Show object +
2. Give object +
3. Point object +
4. Point object while vocalizing +

Regulating
1. Reach toward +
perhaps with fretting sounds
2. Reach for object and vocalize +
While gazing toward the person holding the object
3. Gesture to request help +
With gazing toward the adult and vocalizing
4. Gesture to request action +
e.g. to be picked up
5. Protest or reject an object or action +
With gesture and vocalization

Adapted from Lahey’s Precursory Skills