Fine motor abilities and parental input of spatial features predict object word comprehension of Turkish‐learning children

Abstract

Object word learning can be based on infant‐related factors such as their manual actions and socio‐linguistic factors such as parental input. Specific input for spatial features (i.e., size, shape, features of objects) can be related to object word comprehension in early vocabulary development. In a longitudinal study, we investigated whether fine motor abilities at 14 months and parental input for spatial features at 19 months predicted object word comprehension at 25 months. Twenty‐seven Turkish‐learning children were tested at three time points (Time 1: Mage = 14.4 months, Time 2: Mage = 18.6 months, Time 3: Mage = 25 months). We measured word comprehension through the parental report and fine motor abilities with Mullen at Time 1. We used a puzzle play session to assess parental input for spatial features at Time 2 and a standardized receptive vocabulary test at Time 3. We found that fine motor abilities were related to object word comprehension. However, parental input for spatial features at 19 months predicted object word comprehension at 25 months beyond fine motor abilities at 14 months. Early fine motor abilities and using different words for spatial features may foster infants' visual experiences in play and exploration episodes, leading to better object word learning.

Eliciting parents' insights into products for supporting and tracking children's fine motor development

“…Fine motor skills refer to the performance of manual actions like grasping, rolling, throwing, reaching, pinching by smaller muscles, hands, and fingers [1,2,21]. The development of these skills starts early on and continues through adolescence [1,5].…”

“…Therefore, this age period is critical for supporting fine motor skills of young children [7]. Fine motor skills play a crucial role in children's daily activities such as dressing, eating, drawing, and self-care (e.g., [5,6,25]) Early fine motor skills are also related to children's cognitive and language skills (e.g., [17,21,33]). For example, exploring objects manually is associated with infants' word learning [33].…”

“…Similarly, a longitudinal study indicated that fine motor skills at 14 months are related to infants' object feature naming at 25 months. However, parents' vocabulary input in object feature naming also interacts with this process [21,26]. Intervention studies indicate that training motor skills can be effective on later object exploration of infants [23].…”

“…Fine motor skills, such as holding and grasping objects, are one of the fundamental developmental milestones for young children. The acquisition of these skills should be supported early on because children's developmental trajectories in the early years of their lives are related to their cognitive and language development (e.g., [17,21,29]) Parents play a significant role in monitoring and supporting their children's early motor development [11,35]. However, they might experience difficulties during this process due to various reasons [19].…”

Fine motor skills and their link to receptive vocabulary, expressive vocabulary, and narrative language skills

“…Webster et al (2006) have shown that motor skill deficits and language deficits often coincide. Furthermore, various studies have found links between Fine Motor Skills (FMS) and different language outcomes (Houwen et al, 2016; Kobaş et al, 2021; Muluk et al, 2014; Suggate & Stoeger, 2014; see Gonzalez et al, 2019 for an overview) and that speech production (Tokimura et al, 1996) and language perception (Flöel et al, 2003) activate the hand area of the motor cortex.…”