A parent gesture intervention as a means to increase parent declarative pointing and child vocabulary

Abstract

This study examined whether a brief parent gesture training resulted in a change in the communicative intent of pointing gestures used by parents of infants from age 10–12 months and whether specific types of points (declarative vs. imperative) were more or less likely to predict later child language skill at 18 months. Compared to parents who were randomized to the control group, parents in the intervention group produced significantly more declarative pointing gestures as a result of the intervention. Moreover, parents’ use of declarative points at 12 months was predictive of later child vocabulary comprehension at 18 months. These findings suggest that a short‐term parent training can have important effects on the communicative intentions conveyed through gesture which predict vocabulary development.

Experience with pointing gestures facilitates infant vocabulary growth through enhancement of sensorimotor brain activity.

“…The most consequential limitation of the current study is that the intervention effect herein is seen as compared to change in a relatively passive control group—the control group received the same set of toys as the families in the pointing training group but did not receive any specific instructions. The results of the current study align with and extend upon those from Rowe and Leech (2019) and Choi and Rowe (2021), which utilized the same intervention paradigm. However, it is possible that infants in the training group were not only exposed to more pointing gestures but also spent more time with their parents or had some other experience which drove the changes observed.…”

“…Previous work utilizing the Pointing to Success intervention also did not find a main effect on infant vocabulary growth, rather finding a benefit to vocabulary only for those infants whose parents were in the training group and also endorsed a fixed mindset about learning and development (Rowe & Leech, 2019). Importantly, they also found a positive association between parents’ pointing at follow-up and their child’s vocabulary 6 months later (Choi & Rowe, 2021). Similar to the suggested explanation above, it is possible that the direct effect of an increase in pointing experience on vocabulary growth, particularly during such a short observation period, can only be detected when that experience is extremely concentrated and crosses a certain threshold of change compared to what a child naturally experiences.…”

“…Mirroring the previous iterations of the Pointing to Success protocol (Choi & Rowe, 2021; Rowe & Leech, 2019), parents in the control group were given the same set of toys to bring home but were not given any information regarding pointing. During the time between the initial and follow-up lab visits, parents in the control group were contacted once to remind them about their upcoming visit.…”

Von der Hand in den Mund – Das Potenzial von Gesten im Spracherwerb

“…Auch der Gebrauch von Zeigegesten durch die Eltern kann förderlich wirken, da das Zeigen zu gemeinsamer Aufmerksamkeit und zur Verknüpfung mit einem Referenten führt und überdies die Kinder wiederum zum Gebrauch von Zeigegesten anspornt [8]. So entdecken Kinder, dass sie Einfluss auf ihre Umgebung nehmen können, und die an das Umfeld gerichtete Kommunikation sowie das kommunikative Potenzial nehmen zu.…”

The BabyTok Project: Examining the Feasibility and Acceptability of a Light-Touch Social Media Project for Infant–Toddler Teachers

“…Light touch interventions are typically low-cost to the user and are widely accessible to recipients. Examples include the use of video clips sent via text messages to help parents use and respond to gestures with their infants (Choi & Rowe, 2021 ; Rowe et al, 2019 ), to improving nutrition (Chau et al, 2018 ), breastfeeding rates (Dauphin et al, 2020 ), and vaccine usage (O’Leary et al, 2019 ). Social media platforms offer a potential avenue for light-touch interventions, and their potential for PD grew during the COVID-19 pandemic.…”