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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...
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...
Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language01:10

Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language

Language is a system of communication that allows the expression of thoughts, ideas, and feelings. The brain processes language in both hemispheres.
Language formation and comprehension take place in the dominant hemisphere. The dominant hemisphere is responsible for understanding the meaning of spoken, written, or sign language, as well as the ability to communicate. For most people, the left hemisphere is the dominant one. The right hemisphere, then, gives tone and emotional context to the...
Piaget's Stage 1 of Cognitive Development01:14

Piaget's Stage 1 of Cognitive Development

The sensorimotor stage, the initial phase of Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, spans the first two years of a child's life. During this period, infants actively engage with their surroundings, building cognitive awareness through direct interaction with the world. This interaction is primarily based on sensory perception and motor actions, allowing infants to gradually understand basic physical properties and predict how objects interact within their environment.
Exploration...
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...
Components of Language01:24

Components of Language

Language, whether spoken, signed, or written, consists of specific components: lexicon and grammar. The lexicon is the vocabulary of a language, comprising its words. Grammar is the set of rules used to convey meaning through the lexicon. For example, English grammar adds “-ed” to most verbs to indicate past tense. Words are formed by combining phonemes, which are the basic sound units of a language. Different languages have different sets of phonemes (e.g., “ah” vs. “eh”). Phonemes combine to...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 20, 2026

Examining Gesture Production in the Presence of Communication Challenges
07:18

Examining Gesture Production in the Presence of Communication Challenges

Published on: January 26, 2024

Learning words by hand: Gesture's role in predicting vocabulary development.

Meredith L Rowe1, Seyda Ozçalişkan, Susan Goldin-Meadow

  • 1University of Chicago.

First Language
|September 19, 2009
PubMed
Summary

Early child gesture use predicts later vocabulary size. Parent gestures influence child gestures, which then impact vocabulary development, even when controlling for socioeconomic status.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Child Language Acquisition

Background:

  • Children exhibit significant variability in vocabulary growth rates.
  • Predicting individual differences in language development is crucial for early intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether early parent and child gesture use predicts later child vocabulary size.
  • To explore the relationship between parent gestures, child gestures, and child vocabulary development.

Main Methods:

  • Videotaped 53 parent-child dyads during home activities from 14 to 34 months.
  • Assessed child vocabulary using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) at 42 months.
  • Analyzed gesture and word use at 14 months, controlling for socioeconomic status.

Main Results:

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

Published on: February 8, 2019

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 20, 2026

Examining Gesture Production in the Presence of Communication Challenges
07:18

Examining Gesture Production in the Presence of Communication Challenges

Published on: January 26, 2024

Defining the Role Of Language in Infants' Object Categorization with Eye-tracking Paradigms
07:31

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

Published on: February 8, 2019

  • Child gesture use at 14 months significantly predicted vocabulary size at 42 months.
  • Parent gesture use indirectly predicted child vocabulary by influencing child gesture use.
  • These findings remained significant after controlling for socioeconomic factors.

Conclusions:

  • Early child gesture production is a key predictor of later vocabulary acquisition.
  • Parental gesturing plays an indirect role in vocabulary development through its influence on child gesturing.
  • Gesture analysis offers valuable insights for predicting and supporting language development in young children.