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Cited by 35Language Development and DisordersChild and Animal Learning DevelopmentHearing Impairment and Communication

The relationship between infant pointing and language development: A meta-analytic review

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Kirk, Elizabeth, Donnelly, Seamus, Furman, Reyhan, Warmington, Meesha, Glanville, Julie, Eggleston, Adam·2022·Developmental Review
DOI 10.1016/j.dr.2022.101023
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Abstract

Infant pointing has long been identified as an important precursor and predictor of language development. Infants typically begin to produce index finger pointing around the time of their first birthday and previous research has shown that both the onset and the frequency of pointing can predict aspects of productive and receptive language. The current study used a multivariate meta-analytic approach to estimate the strength of the relationship between infant pointing and language. We identified 30 papers published between 1984 and 2019 that met our stringent inclusion criteria, and 25 studies (comprising 77 effect sizes) with samples ≥10 were analysed. Methodological quality of the studies was assessed to identify potential sources of bias. We found a significant but small overall effect size of r = 0.20. Our findings indicate that the unique contribution of pointing to language development may be less robust than has been previously understood, however our stringent inclusion criteria (as well as our publication bias corrections), means that our data represent a more conservative estimate of the relationship between pointing and language. Moderator analysis showed significant group differences in favour of effect sizes related to language comprehension, non-vocabulary measures of language, pointing assessed after 18 months of age and pointing measured independent of speech. A significant strength of this study is the use of multivariate meta-analysis, which allowed us to utilise all available data to provide a more accurate estimate. We consider the findings in the context of the existing research and discuss the general limitations in this field, including the lack of cultural diversity.

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  • Children's points strongly predict their concurrent and longitudinal language outcomes.

    “Children's points have been particularly well‐studied in a broad age range of children and strongly predict their concurrent and longitudinal language outcomes (for meta‐analyses, see Colonnesi et al., 2010; Kirk et al., 2022)”

    From The role of dyadic combinations of infants' behaviors and caregivers' verbal and multimodal responses in predicting vocabulary outcomes (2025) · cites this paper as Kirk et al., 2022

    The Results report small associations for both concurrent and longitudinal studies, supporting a relationship with language outcomes. The Discussion reports a small overall effect (r = 0.20) and says pointing’s contribution is less substantial than previously thought, so this source does not support describing the prediction as strong. (LLM, conf=0.89)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • The relationship between infants' points and children's vocabulary becomes stronger with age.

    “The meta‐analyses revealed that the relationship between infants' points and children's vocabulary becomes stronger with age (Colonnesi et al., 2010; Kirk et al., 2022).”

    From The role of dyadic combinations of infants' behaviors and caregivers' verbal and multimodal responses in predicting vocabulary outcomes (2025) · cites this paper as Kirk et al., 2022

    The Results (page unavailable) report a stronger association between pointing and language outcomes when pointing was assessed after 18 months rather than before. But that age analysis spans language measures; it does not establish that the association with vocabulary specifically becomes stronger with age. The Discussion also notes that the pooled pointing–vocabulary association was not significant. (LLM, conf=0.87)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Infants' points have often been found to predict children's concurrent and longitudinal vocabulary outcomes.

    “The finding that infants' points are a robust predictor of children's longitudinal vocabulary outcomes agrees with previous studies, as infants' points have often been found to predict children's concurrent and longitudinal vocabulary outcomes (for meta‐analyses, see Colonnesi et al., 2010; Kirk et al., 2022).”

    From The role of dyadic combinations of infants' behaviors and caregivers' verbal and multimodal responses in predicting vocabulary outcomes (2025) · cites this paper as Kirk et al., 2022

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Authors
Kirk, E., Donnelly, S., Furman, R., Warmington, M., Glanville, J., & Eggleston, A.
Affiliations
  • Anglia Ruskin University (GB)
  • Australian National University (AU)
  • University of Sheffield (GB)
  • University of York (GB)
Corresponding author
Kirk, Elizabeth
ORCID
Venue
Developmental Review
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2022-06
Volume
64
Pages
101023
ISSN
0273-2297 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.dr.2022.101023
OpenAlex
W4220883258
Cited by
35
References
70
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 2 · 2016: 1
FWCI
8.76
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Developmental Review (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) (acceptedVersion)
  • Research at York St John (York St John University) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
  • CLOK (University of Central Lancashire) (acceptedVersion)
  • Anglia Ruskin Research Online (Anglia Ruskin University) (submittedVersion)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Funders
Australian Research Council (CE140100041)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Language Development and Disorders
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Hearing Impairment and Communication
Keywords
infant pointing, language development, language comprehension, vocabulary, receptive language

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