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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 28, 2026

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

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

Published on: February 8, 2019

Individual differences in object-processing explain the relationship between early gaze-following and later language

Yuko Okumura¹, Yasuhiro Kanakogi¹, Tessei Kobayashi¹

¹NTT Communication Science Laboratories, Kyoto, Japan.

|June 19, 2017

Summary

Infants who follow others' gaze toward objects develop better object processing skills and larger vocabularies. This early gaze-following ability influences language development by enhancing object processing in infants.

Keywords:

Cognitive development Gaze-following Language development Object-processing

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Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Feb 28, 2026

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

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

Published on: February 8, 2019

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

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

Published on: May 15, 2019

Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization

Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization

Published on: April 19, 2017

Area of Science:

Developmental Psychology
Cognitive Neuroscience
Linguistics

Background:

Gaze-following is crucial for language acquisition.
The precise mechanisms linking gaze-following to language development are not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how gaze-following direction and object-processing abilities interact to influence infant language development.
To examine this relationship longitudinally in infants aged 9 to 18 months.

Main Methods:

Longitudinal study tracking infants from 9 to 18 months of age.
Assessed gaze-following behaviors and object-processing efficiency.
Analyzed vocabulary size at 18 months.

Main Results:

Infants with greater gaze-following toward objects showed enhanced object processing at 9 months.
These infants also exhibited larger vocabularies by 18 months.
Object-processing ability mediated the link between early gaze-following and later vocabulary size.

Conclusions:

Following another's gaze shift towards an object enhances object processing.
This improved object processing is a key factor contributing to vocabulary development.
Gaze-following is a critical precursor to language development in infants.