Exploring the relation between memory, gestural communication, and the emergence of language in infancy: a longitudinal study

Heimann, Mikael; Strid, Karin; Smith, Lars; Tjus, Tomas; Ulvund, Stein Erik; Meltzoff, Andrew N.

doi:10.1002/icd.462

Cited by 64 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 52 publications

(70 reference statements)

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“…In a previous study, Heimann et al (2006) documented a relationship between recall memory at 9 months (deferred imitation), communication skills at 14 months (joint attention (JA)), and gestural communication at 14 months. The current study investigates whether a similar relationship exists between these infant skills and linguistic/cognitive performance measured long after the infancy period-at 4 years of age.…”

Section: Recall Memory; Deferred Imitation; Joint Attention; Pre-verbmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Recently, Heimann et al (2006) reported a short-term longitudinal study showing that deferred imitation and joint attention both influence the development of language and communication skills in infancy. Deferred imitation at 9 months was the single strongest predictor of nonverbal communication at 14 months, but the predictive power increased substantially when deferred imitation and joint attention were used in combination.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Infant recall memory and communication predicts later cognitive development

Strid

Tjus

Smith

et al. 2006

Infant Behavior and Development

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This longitudinal study investigates the relation between recall memory and communication in infancy and later cognitive development. Twenty-six typically developing Swedish children were tested during infancy for deferred imitation (memory), joint attention (JA), and requesting (nonverbal communication); they also were tested during childhood for language and cognitive competence. Results showed that infants with low performance on both deferred imitation at 9 months and joint attention at 14 months obtained a significantly lower score on a test of cognitive abilities at 4 years of age. This long-term prediction from preverbal infancy to childhood cognition is of interest both to developmental theory and to practice. Keywords Recall memory; Deferred imitation; Joint attention; Pre-verbal communication; Cognitive development; PredictionThe present study explores whether early indices of declarative memory and nonverbal communication skills predict performance later in childhood. In a previous study, Heimann et al. (2006) documented a relationship between recall memory at 9 months (deferred imitation), communication skills at 14 months (joint attention (JA)), and gestural communication at 14 months. The current study investigates whether a similar relationship exists between these infant skills and linguistic/cognitive performance measured long after the infancy period-at 4 years of age.Theories of memory development originally proposed at least two major subsystems (e.g. Schacter & Moscovitch, 1984)-a procedural system available from birth and a declarative system that develops later in childhood. However, new test paradigms, such as deferred imitation, reveal that infants have some sort of nonverbal declarative memory already at 6-9 months, and possibly earlier (Barr, Dowden, & Hayne, 1996;Collie & Hayne, 1999;Hayne, Boniface, & Barr, 2000;Heimann & Nilheim, 2004;Meltzoff, 1988Meltzoff, , 1995Meltzoff & Moore, 1998 In the deferred imitation procedure developed by Meltzoff (1988), children are briefly exposed to a target action; the object is then removed without letting the participants touch or play with it. This means that in order to be successful in a deferred imitation task, children need to form an internal representation of the adult's act and store that representation in memory. Because the participants are not allowed to handle the object prior to the delay, they cannot rely on a previously executed motor pattern in order to remember the action. After a delay, the object is re-presented and the children have the opportunity to produce the target action without any verbal cues. Tests of deferred imitation under these strict conditions have been proposed to measure preverbal representational ability (Meltzoff & Moore, 1998;Piaget, 1952), recall memory (Bauer, Wiebe, Carver, Waters, & Nelson, 2003;Carver & Bauer, 2001;Courage, Howe, & Squires, 2004;Gross, Hayne, Herbert, & Sowerby, 2001;Meltzoff, 1995), and individual differences (Heimann & Meltzoff, 1996). Additionally, by means of this procedure...

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Section: Recall Memory; Deferred Imitation; Joint Attention; Pre-verbmentioning

confidence: 96%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Infant recall memory and communication predicts later cognitive development

Strid

Tjus

Smith

et al. 2006

Infant Behavior and Development

Self Cite

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“…Studies have found considerable variation in children's rates of elicited imitation during experimental tasks (e.g., Heimann, Strid, Smith, Tjus, Ulvund, & Meltzoff, 2006) as well as in their rates of spontaneous imitation, or "matching behavior" (Uzgiris, Benson, & Vasek, 1983, p. 1), occurring during natural dyadic interactions without direct elicitation (Hwang, & Windsor, 1999;Masur & Rodemaker, 1999;Snow, 1989). Such individual differences in vocal/verbal imitation rate are also associated with consequences for vocabulary acquisition, a critical measure of language development and a predictor of early literacy (Bornstein, Tamis-LeMonda, & Haynes, 1999).…”

Section: Abstract Imitation; Mother-infant Interaction; Vocabulary; Rmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mothers’ and infants’ responses to their partners’ spontaneous action and vocal/verbal imitation

Masur

Olson

2008

Infant Behavior and Development

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Twenty mother-infant dyads (10 boys, 10 girls) were videotaped longitudinally at ages 10, 13, 17, and 21 months during in-home free play and bath sessions. Mothers' and infants' responses to their partners' naturally occurring action and vocal/verbal imitations were described, and relations to infants' imitation rates and vocabularies were examined. Mothers' response rates were consistently high and unrelated to infants' imitation rates. As early as 10 months, infants responded to the great majority of maternal imitations, especially action imitations, often with actions. Infants' return imitations to action matching indicated increasing awareness of being imitated. Infants' responses to mothers' vocal/verbal imitation were associated with their later vocabulary levels. Children who would be more lexically advanced at 17 and/or 21 months provided more social responses at 10 months, more socially responsive actions and return verbal imitations at 13 months, and more nonimitative socially responsive words at 17 and 21 months. Keywords imitation; mother-infant interaction; vocabulary; responses to imitationInfants' imitation has been proposed as a significant contributor to their cognitive and language development. Studies have found considerable variation in children's rates of elicited imitation during experimental tasks (e.g., Heimann, Strid, Smith, Tjus, Ulvund, & Meltzoff, 2006) as well as in their rates of spontaneous imitation, or "matching behavior" (Uzgiris, Benson, & Vasek, 1983, p. 1), occurring during natural dyadic interactions without direct elicitation (Hwang, & Windsor, 1999;Masur & Rodemaker, 1999;Snow, 1989). Such individual differences in vocal/verbal imitation rate are also associated with consequences for vocabulary acquisition, a critical measure of language development and a predictor of early literacy (Bornstein, Tamis-LeMonda, & Haynes, 1999). Several investigations have now demonstrated that infants who produce more vocal/verbal imitation during the second year have larger lexicons later on (Bates, Bretherton, & Snyder, 1988;Masur, 1995;Masur & Eichorst, 2002;Snow, 1989). Thus, factors that might influence children's imitation rates deserve investigation.One factor that merits examination is the kind of response children receive from their mothers after their imitations. Although the frequencies and characteristics of children's initial Corresponding author: Elise Frank Masur, Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois, University, DeKalb, IL 60115. email: efmasur@niu.edu;.. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. Two other findin...

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“…For example, infants' gaze following behavior at 10 to 11 months of age significantly predicts accelerated vocabulary growth through to 2 years of age (Brooks and Meltzoff 2008). In addition, Heimann et al (2006) showed that in typically developing children, visual recognition memory, deferred imitation, and turn taking skills predicted communicative gestures, while deferred imitation at 14 months also predicted vocal comprehension.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Understanding of Intentions in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Intellectual Disability

Peters-Scheffer

Didden

Korzilius

2018

Adv Neurodev Disord

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This study investigates the understanding of intentions in 100 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID; mean IQ 36) between 2 and 10 years of age. A within-subject design with two conditions was used. In the target condition, the experimenter successfully performed the task; while in the unfulfilled attempt condition, the experimenter attempted but did not successfully completed the task. Children with ASD and ID completed the tasks significantly more frequent and showed less off-task behavior in the target condition than in the unsuccessful attempt condition, which might indicate that children with ASD and ID experience difficulty in understanding the intentions of others. Successful completion of the task after an unsuccessful attempt is predicted by the ability to imitate and behavioral inflexibility and is associated with better performance on receptive and expressive language tests. The latter results are in line with several other studies suggesting a relation between the understanding of intentions and early social communication and language.

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Exploring the relation between memory, gestural communication, and the emergence of language in infancy: a longitudinal study

Cited by 64 publications

References 52 publications

Infant recall memory and communication predicts later cognitive development

Infant recall memory and communication predicts later cognitive development

Mothers’ and infants’ responses to their partners’ spontaneous action and vocal/verbal imitation

Understanding of Intentions in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Intellectual Disability

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