Infant gaze following and pointing predict accelerated vocabulary growth through two years of age: a longitudinal, growth curve modeling study
Abstract
We found that infant gaze following and pointing predicts subsequent language development. At ages 0 ; 10 or 0 ; 11, infants saw an adult turn to look at an object in an experimental setting. Productive vocabulary was assessed longitudinally through two years of age. Growth curve modeling showed that infants who gaze followed and looked longer at the target object had significantly faster vocabulary growth than infants with shorter looks, even with maternal education controlled; adding infant pointing strengthened the model. We highlight the role of social cognition in word learning and emphasize the communicative-referential functions of early gaze following and pointing.
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Gestures are predictors of children's language development.
“Gestures are predictors of children's language development (e.g., Brooks & Meltzoff, 2008; Rowe et al., 2008; Rowe & Goldin‐Meadow, 2009).”
From The role of dyadic combinations of infants' behaviors and caregivers' verbal and multimodal responses in predicting vocabulary outcomes (2025) · cites this paper as Brooks & Meltzoff, 2008
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Social cognition, joint attention, and communicative competence from 9 to 15 months of age.
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How social contexts support and shape language development☆
HOFF, E. (2006) · Developmental Review · doi:10.1016/j.dr.2005.11.002 · Cited by 1,853 · cited 3× · see citing works
“As a control for socioeconomic factors associated with early language (Hoff, 2006), we also took into account maternal education.”
BackgroundThe importance of eyes: how infants interpret adult looking behavior
Brooks, R., & Meltzoff, A. N. (2002) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/0012-1649.38.6.958 · Cited by 493 · see citing works
Self-citationThe origins of joint visual attention in infants.
Corkum, V., & Moore, C. (1998) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/0012-1649.34.1.28 · Cited by 490 · see citing works
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The relation between pointing and language development: A meta-analysis
Colonnesi, C., Stams, G. J. J. M., Koster, I., & Noom, M. J. (2010) · Developmental Review · doi:10.1016/j.dr.2010.10.001 · Cited by 405 · see citing works
Ramírez‐Esparza, N., García‐Sierra, A., & Kuhl, P. K. (2014) · Developmental Science · doi:10.1111/desc.12172 · Cited by 380 · see citing works
Speaker Gaze Increases Information Coupling between Infant and Adult Brains
Leong, V., Byrne, E., Clackson, K., Georgieva, S., Lam, S., & Wass, S. (2017) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1702493114 · Cited by 299 · see citing works
von Economo neurons in autism: A stereologic study of the frontoinsular cortex in children
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Look at this: the neural correlates of initiating and responding to bids for joint attention
Redcay, E., Kleiner, M., & Saxe, R. (2012) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnhum.2012.00169 · Cited by 124 · see citing works
van der Klis, A., Adriaans, F., & Kager, R. (2023) · Infant Behavior and Development · doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2023.101828 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
van der Klis, A., Junge, C., Adriaans, F., & Kager, R. (2025) · Infancy · doi:10.1111/infa.12626 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“Gestures are predictors of children's language development (e.g., Brooks & Meltzoff, 2008; Rowe et al., 2008; Rowe & Goldin‐Meadow, 2009).”
- Authors
- BROOKS, R., & MELTZOFF, A. N.
- Affiliations
- University of Washington (US)
- ORCID
- MELTZOFF, ANDREW N.
- Venue
- Journal of Child Language
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2008-01-03
- Volume
- 35
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 207-220
- ISSN
- 0305-0009 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-7602
- OpenAlex
- W2033522723
- Cited by
- 404
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 28 · 2024: 28 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 28 · 2020: 51 · 2019: 24 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 23 · 2015: 27 · 2014: 17 · 2013: 27 · 2012: 16
- FWCI
- 25.75
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Child Language (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD22514)
- 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, vocabulary development, language development, social cognition, word learning, maternal education
- MeSH terms
- Child, Preschool, Female, Fixation, Ocular, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Infant, Language Development, Male, Speech Production Measurement, Vocabulary
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