The interrelatedness between infants’ communicative gestures and lexicon size: a longitudinal study

• Main Author: Cadime, Irene Maria Dias
• Publication Date: 2017
• Other Authors: Silva, Carla, Santos, Sandra Cristina Silva, Ribeiro, Iolanda, Viana, Fernanda Leopoldina
• Format: Article
• Language: eng
• Source: Repositórios Científicos de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (RCAAP)
• Download full: https://hdl.handle.net/1822/50065
• topic: MacArthur-Bates communicative development inventory; Gestures; Word production; Word comprehension; Ciências Sociais::Psicologia; Social Sciences

Research has shown a close relationship between gestures and language development. In this study, we investigate the cross-lagged relationships between different types of gestures and two lexicon dimensions: number of words produced and comprehended. Information about gestures and lexical development was collected from 48 typically developing infants when these were aged 0;9, 1;0 and 1;3. The European Portuguese version of the MacArthur–Bates Communicative Development Inventory: Words and Gestures (PT CDI:WG) was used. The results indicated that the total number of actions and gestures and the number of early gestures produced at 0;9 and at 1;0 year predicted the number of words comprehended three months later. Actions and gestures’ predictive power of the number of words produced was limited to the 0;9–1;0 year interval. The opposite relationship was not found: word comprehension and production did not predict action and gestures three months later. These results highlight the importance of non-verbal commu- nicative behavior in language development.