At 10-12 Months, Pointing Gesture Handedness Predicts the Size of Receptive Vocabularies

Katherine H. Mumford; Sotaro Kita

doi:10.1111/infa.12138

At 10-12 Months, Pointing Gesture Handedness Predicts the Size of Receptive Vocabularies

Katherine H. Mumford, Sotaro Kita

Psychology

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8 Citations (Scopus)

173 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The close association between language and gesture has been widely studied (McNeill, Psychological Review, 92, 1985, 350). It remains unclear, however, when and how this relationship originates ontogenetically. This study investigated the relationship between vocabulary development and pointing handedness in 10- to 12-month-old infants. The study used cross-sectional data from 16 infants. Infants took part in a pointing elicitation task and a grasping task to assess their pointing and grasping handedness. Further, parents filled out the Oxford Communicative Development Inventory (Hamilton, Plunkett, & Schafer, Journal of Child Language, 27, 2000, 689) to assess infants’ receptive and productive vocabularies. The result showed a positive, significant correlation between receptive vocabulary development and right-handed pointing. This relationship was not due to age or to vocalizations, which have not been ruled out by previous studies. Possible mechanisms behind this codevelopment are discussed.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	751–765
Journal	Infancy
Volume	21
Issue number	6
Early online date	11 Mar 2016
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/infa.12138
Publication status	Published - 10 Oct 2016

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title = "At 10-12 Months, Pointing Gesture Handedness Predicts the Size of Receptive Vocabularies",

abstract = "The close association between language and gesture has been widely studied (McNeill, Psychological Review, 92, 1985, 350). It remains unclear, however, when and how this relationship originates ontogenetically. This study investigated the relationship between vocabulary development and pointing handedness in 10- to 12-month-old infants. The study used cross-sectional data from 16 infants. Infants took part in a pointing elicitation task and a grasping task to assess their pointing and grasping handedness. Further, parents filled out the Oxford Communicative Development Inventory (Hamilton, Plunkett, & Schafer, Journal of Child Language, 27, 2000, 689) to assess infants{\textquoteright} receptive and productive vocabularies. The result showed a positive, significant correlation between receptive vocabulary development and right-handed pointing. This relationship was not due to age or to vocalizations, which have not been ruled out by previous studies. Possible mechanisms behind this codevelopment are discussed.",

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N2 - The close association between language and gesture has been widely studied (McNeill, Psychological Review, 92, 1985, 350). It remains unclear, however, when and how this relationship originates ontogenetically. This study investigated the relationship between vocabulary development and pointing handedness in 10- to 12-month-old infants. The study used cross-sectional data from 16 infants. Infants took part in a pointing elicitation task and a grasping task to assess their pointing and grasping handedness. Further, parents filled out the Oxford Communicative Development Inventory (Hamilton, Plunkett, & Schafer, Journal of Child Language, 27, 2000, 689) to assess infants’ receptive and productive vocabularies. The result showed a positive, significant correlation between receptive vocabulary development and right-handed pointing. This relationship was not due to age or to vocalizations, which have not been ruled out by previous studies. Possible mechanisms behind this codevelopment are discussed.

AB - The close association between language and gesture has been widely studied (McNeill, Psychological Review, 92, 1985, 350). It remains unclear, however, when and how this relationship originates ontogenetically. This study investigated the relationship between vocabulary development and pointing handedness in 10- to 12-month-old infants. The study used cross-sectional data from 16 infants. Infants took part in a pointing elicitation task and a grasping task to assess their pointing and grasping handedness. Further, parents filled out the Oxford Communicative Development Inventory (Hamilton, Plunkett, & Schafer, Journal of Child Language, 27, 2000, 689) to assess infants’ receptive and productive vocabularies. The result showed a positive, significant correlation between receptive vocabulary development and right-handed pointing. This relationship was not due to age or to vocalizations, which have not been ruled out by previous studies. Possible mechanisms behind this codevelopment are discussed.

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At 10-12 Months, Pointing Gesture Handedness Predicts the Size of Receptive Vocabularies

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