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Related Concept Videos

Language Development01:22

Language Development

Children master language quickly and with relative ease, supported by both biological predisposition and reinforcement. B. F. Skinner (1957) proposed that language is learned through reinforcement, while Noam Chomsky (1965) argued that language acquisition mechanisms are biologically determined.
The critical period for language acquisition suggests that the ability to acquire language is at its peak early in life. As people age, this proficiency decreases. Language development begins very...
Language and Cognition01:27

Language and Cognition

Language serves as a bridge between ideas and communication, influencing how individuals perceive and interact with the world. Psychologists have long debated whether language shapes thought or vice versa. This discussion gained grip with Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf in the 1940s, who proposed that language determines thought, a concept known as linguistic determinism. They suggested that the vocabulary and structure of a language influence how its speakers think and perceive reality.
Purposive Learning01:22

Purposive Learning

E. C. Tolman emphasized the purposiveness of behavior — the idea that much of our behavior is goal-directed. For instance, employees who aim for a promotion work diligently to meet their targets. Tolman argued that when classical conditioning and operant conditioning occur, the organism acquires certain expectations. In classical conditioning, a child might fear a dog because they expect it to bite. In operant conditioning, a person might consistently work overtime because they expect a bonus...
Lateralization01:28

Lateralization

Brain lateralization refers to the division of mental processes and functions between the two hemispheres of the brain, a phenomenon that optimizes neural efficiency and underpins complex abilities in humans. This specialization allows each hemisphere to perform tasks where it has a comparative advantage, facilitating more refined cognitive capabilities across different domains.
Associative Learning01:27

Associative Learning

Associative learning is a fundamental concept in behavioral psychology, wherein a connection is established between two stimuli or events, leading to a learned response. This process is critical in understanding how behaviors are acquired and modified. Conditioning, the mechanism through which associations are formed, can be divided into two main types: classical conditioning and operant conditioning, each elucidating different aspects of associative learning.
Classical conditioning, also known...
Observational Learning01:12

Observational Learning

Albert Bandura's observational learning, also known as imitation or modeling, occurs when a person observes and imitates another's behavior. It is a quicker process than operant conditioning. A well-known example is the Bobo doll study, where children who saw an adult acting aggressively towards the doll were more likely to act aggressively when left alone, compared to those who observed a nonaggressive adult. Many psychologists view observational learning as a form of latent learning because...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 26, 2026

Exploring Infant Sensitivity to Visual Language using Eye Tracking and the Preferential Looking Paradigm
06:07

Exploring Infant Sensitivity to Visual Language using Eye Tracking and the Preferential Looking Paradigm

Published on: May 15, 2019

Early gesture selectively predicts later language learning.

Meredith L Rowe1, Susan Goldin-Meadow

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, 5848 S. University Ave, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. rowemer@uchicago.edu

Developmental Science
|January 6, 2009
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Children's gestures at 18 months predict later language skills. Specific gestures forecast vocabulary, while combined gestures predict sentence complexity, offering early insights into language development.

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Last Updated: Jun 26, 2026

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Published on: May 15, 2019

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07:31

Defining the Role Of Language in Infants' Object Categorization with Eye-tracking Paradigms

Published on: February 8, 2019

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Linguistics
  • Child Development

Background:

  • Gesture production is a key component of early child communication.
  • Previous research suggests a link between gesture and spoken language acquisition.
  • The specific predictive power of different gesture types remains underexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether gesture use globally predicts language learning or if specific gestures predict specific language outcomes.
  • To determine the predictive relationship between early gesture characteristics and later lexical and syntactic skills.

Main Methods:

  • Observational study of 52 children during home interactions with caregivers.
  • Analysis of gesture use at 18 months of age.
  • Assessment of language skills (lexical and syntactic) at 42 months of age, controlling for early child speech.

Main Results:

  • The number of distinct meanings conveyed through gesture at 18 months predicted vocabulary size at 42 months.
  • The number of gesture-speech combinations at 18 months, especially those with sentence-like content, predicted sentence complexity at 42 months.
  • Conversely, gesture meanings alone did not predict sentence complexity, and gesture-speech combinations did not predict vocabulary.

Conclusions:

  • Gesture is a selective predictor of specific language milestones, not a global one.
  • Early gesture characteristics can forecast future vocabulary and sentence complexity.
  • Observing children's gestures provides a window into predicting their language development trajectory.