Does Caregivers' Responsiveness Influence the Early Development of Deictic Gestures? Longitudinal and Training Evidence in Relation to Subsequent Language Development

ABSTRACT

Infants' deictic gestures, like hold‐out‐give (HoG) and pointing, are early manifestations of intentional, referential communication and predict later language acquisition. But what factors predict the early emergence of these deictic gestures? The present study investigated the longitudinal and cross‐sectional influence of caregivers' responsiveness and pointing, beginning at 7 months, on infants' HoG and index‐finger pointing gestures at 10 months, and infants' language abilities at 24 months. Utilizing a longitudinal design, we assessed 82 typically developing German infants, 42 of whom were randomly assigned to an intervention group targeted to increase caregivers' responsiveness to their infants' communicative signals and object‐directed interactions. We hypothesized that in a process of social co‐construction caregivers' responsiveness would enhance infants' gesture and language development. In addition, we examined the hypothesis that infants learn about reference by observing caregivers' initiative pointing gestures, in which case we expected positive associations between caregivers' initiative pointing frequency and infants' communicative development. Group comparisons at 10 months revealed increased HoG frequency in the responsiveness training group. Pointing frequency or subsequent language skills at 24 months did not differ between groups. Regression analyses revealed a positive association between caregivers' responsiveness at 10 months and infants' HoG frequency across groups. Analyses revealed no association between caregivers' initiative pointing and infants' communicative development. A predictive relation between infants' pointing frequency and their subsequent language abilities was confirmed. In support of social constructivist positions, these findings indicate that already infants' early deictic gesture use, specifically their HoGs, is influenced by caregivers' responsiveness.