How toddlers think with their hands: social and private gestures as evidence of cognitive self-regulation in guided play with objects

Abstract

The role of language as a tool to support the self-regulation has been widely studied, yet there is little evidence on the role of prelinguistic communication in the early development of self-regulation. To address this gap we developed behavioural indicators of preverbal cognitive self-regulation, and described how can parents support it through guided play. We observed 16 children at 14, 16 and 18 months interacting with two complex toys, either independently or with a parent. A microanalytic coding captured a total of 721 gestures, of which 473 were classed as self-regulatory. Children used gestures to support self-regulation in planning monitoring, control, and evaluation. Analysis of parental mediation revealed a relationship between supporting autonomy, providing challenge, responsiveness, effective communication, children's competence with objects, and self-regulatory gestures. We produced reliable indicators of self-regulation through gestures and characterised effective parental mediation, thus making explicit key social mechanisms to foster self-regulation in preverbal development.

Executive function in early childhood: Harnessing the potential of nature-based practices to elevate and equalize outcomes

“…The EF literature provides some possible explanations for this impact of nature-based practices and the blended approach in particular. Through the incorporation of unstructured play in nature or naturalized outdoor settings, the influences on EF such as child autonomy (Basilio and Rodriquez, 2017), imagination (White et al, 2017), social interaction (Ivrendi, 2016), and physical activity (Carson et al, 2016), could individually or 10.3389/feduc.2022.1011912 collectively account for this impact of nature-based practices on EF. And while these elements could also correspond with unstructured play in a typical schoolyard or even indoors, researchers have speculated that the opportunities afforded by the dynamic aspect of nature for problem-solving, risktaking, persisting through challenging tasks, and the potentially greater opportunities for physical activity and autonomy are what support and even enhance EF development (Carr et al, 2017).…”

“…Symbolic skills in particular are related to EF (White et al, 2017), as is the complexity of pretend play (Slot et al, 2017) and likely the social nature of play (Elias and Berk, 2002;Ivrendi, 2016). Other influential aspects of play appear to be the narrative aspects (story-telling and storyacting), which have been associated with increased inhibitory control (White and Carlson, 2021), as well as the child autonomy and lack of adult structure (Basilio and Rodriquez, 2017). Physically active free play has also been associated with selfregulation performance (Becker et al, 2014) and EF (Carson et al, 2016).…”

Toddlers’ Use of Gesture and Speech in Service of Emotion Regulation During Distressing Routines

“…Given that children can use symbolic gestures to represent concepts—including emotions prior to words, we wonder whether children can use symbolic gestures for the purpose of emotion regulation. There has been some evidence that children can use other types of gestures (e.g., pointing and head‐shaking) for regulatory purposes (Basilio & Rodriguez, ; O'Neill & Miller, ). Pea () documented the use of a headshake by toddlers as a form of self‐prohibition, where a child approaches a previously forbidden object and responds to his or her own actions with the headshake or “no” gesture.…”

Emerging coherence and relations to communication among executive function tasks in toddlers: Evidence from a Latin American sample

“…In young preschoolers and toddlers, these communications skills are often developing so relations to language and communication more broadly defined (e.g., joint or shared attention, gesture) have been examined. For example, within the second year a number of studies have linked EF-related abilities to non-verbal communication related to gestures, with authors suggesting: (a) private gestures have the function of directing infants' behavior (Basilio & Rodríguez, 2017;Kuvalja et al, 2013), (b) cognitive abilities common to EF link to gestures and language (Kuhn et al, 2014(Kuhn et al, , 2016, and (c) during joint attention episodes parents scaffold basic components of cognitive control (Brandes-Aitken et al, 2020). In addition, studies have found EF links to initiating joint attention (i.e., IJA, internally motivated sharing of interest and experiences with adults), with authors suggesting infants must represent and reflect on the representation to guide sharing behavior (Miller & Marcovitch, 2015).…”