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Sit to Talk: Relation between Motor Skills and Language Development in Infancy
Klaus Libertus1, Dominic A Violi1
1Department of Psychology, Learning Research and Development Center, University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Frontiers in Psychology
|April 12, 2016
Summary
Early sitting skills significantly predict later language development in infants. This study highlights how motor milestones, like sitting, can enhance language learning opportunities and demonstrates remote assessment feasibility.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Infant Motor Development
- Language Acquisition
Background:
- Previous research linked walking to language skills in infants.
- The impact of earlier motor milestones, such as sitting and reaching, on language development remained unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between early reaching and sitting skills and subsequent language development in infants.
- To determine if sitting emergence predicts language skills beyond concurrent motor abilities.
Main Methods:
- Infants (N=29) were assessed remotely via videoconference for reaching and sitting skills from 3 months of age.
- Parent questionnaires (Communicative Development Inventies, Early Motor Questionnaire) measured language and motor skills at 10 and 14 months.
Main Results:
- A significant correlation was found between the emergence of sitting skills and receptive vocabulary size at 10 and 14 months.
- Sitting emergence was identified as a significant predictor of language development, independent of concurrent motor skills.
Conclusions:
- Independent sitting may trigger a developmental cascade, increasing language learning opportunities for infants.
- Remote assessment of infant motor skills via videoconference is a viable method.
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