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About this paper symposium
| Panel information |
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| Panel 15. Perceptual, Sensory, Motor |
| Paper #1 | |
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| Skill acquisition vs. skill expression: Relating infants’ motor development and daily language input | |
| Author information | Role |
| Hailey Nicole Rousey, University of California, Riverside, United States | Presenting author |
| John Franchak, University of California, Riverside, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Abstract | |
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Infants’ motor skill expression has been associated with the speech they receive from caregivers. For example, Karasik and colleagues (2014) found that the content of caregivers' speech input varied according to what their infants were doing at the moment. However, motor skill acquisition, whether infants could only crawl versus walk, did not predict differences in caregivers' speech. In the present study, we expand on this to ask how the frequency of speech (as opposed to the content) differs according to skill acquisition (whether they possess an ability) versus skill expression (how they behave in real-time). Specifically, we investigated whether the frequency of input is better predicted by infants' time spent sitting and upright, versus the acquisition of sitting and walking milestones. To explore this relationship, we used long, naturalistic recordings in the participants' homes, allowing us to capture a more comprehensive view of caregiver-infant interactions. We collected data from 64 infants, from two age groups, who participated in 1 to 4 monthly sessions, with an average of 5.5 hours per session. For infants 4 to 7 months, we tested whether sitting skill/expression related to caregivers’ speech, whereas for 11 to 14 months, we explored how upright time and walking acquisition relates to speech. Inertial sensors were used to classify infants’ body position based on a previously validated machine-learning algorithm (Franchak et al., 2021, 2023). A LENA audio recording device estimated the total number of adult words infants heard. After each session, caregivers were asked whether their child had achieved the motor milestones of sitting or walking. Two separate linear mixed-effect models were conducted to examine the relationship between time spent sitting or upright, motor skill status (sitter or walker), and total adult word count. For younger infants, analyses revealed that the ability to sit independently was a significant predictor of adult word count, whereas time spent sitting was not (Table 1). In contrast, for older infants, both the ability to walk and time spent upright were non-significant. Age was not a significant predictor in either model. These findings suggest that sitting acquisition might be recognized by caregivers as a major developmental shift, providing infants with new ways to engage with their physical and social environments, and spurring increased responsivity from caregivers. Despite past work showing that communicative gestures increase when infants obtain the ability to walk (Clearfield, 2011), which would suggest an increase in speech input, we failed to find an effect linking walking to everyday speech frequency. In conclusion, while early motor skill acquisition plays an important role in shaping the frequency of speech input infants receive, further research is needed to better understand the role of later motor skills and skill expression. |
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| Paper #2 | |
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| Beliefs and behaviors: How mothers support infants’ actions | |
| Author information | Role |
| Dr. Joshua L. Schneider, New York University, United States | Presenting author |
| Catherine S. Tamis-LeMonda, New York University, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Karen E. Adolph, New York University, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Abstract | |
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Caregivers’ behaviors shape their infants’ development. Caregivers provide toys for infant play, arrange spaces for infants to go, and structure infants’ daily activities. Caregivers also provide infants with support—they show infants how to use toys, explore places, and practice their skills. We hypothesized that two factors guide caregiver support of infants’ actions: (1) caregivers’ beliefs about their infants’ abilities (what caregivers think infants can do) and (2) infants’ real-time behaviors (what infants actually do in the moment). We tested connections among caregivers’ beliefs, infants’ moment-to-moment behaviors, and caregivers’ support while infants navigated a potentially risky, everyday situation—descending from a couch. We report preliminary data from eight dyads (total N = 40 crawling infants, 8-12 months of age, and their mothers). First, we quantified mothers’ initial beliefs about their infants’ ability to descend from a high place. On four trials, mothers viewed an adjustable drop-off raised and lowered and verbally indicated when it reached the maximum height they believed their infant could descend independently. Mothers’ initial beliefs ranged from 10.1–44.7 cm (Figure 1, blue lines and symbols). Next, mothers “showed their baby how to get down from a couch” (32.5-cm high) using any method they felt appropriate for 10 minutes (e.g., hands-on, language and gestures, luring with toys). Mothers provided infants with M = 8.5 opportunities to descend (range = 3–15). Only three infants (#1, #4, #6) descended safely and independently at least once (Figure 1, black lines) without mothers’ support (by positioning infants’ bodies, pulling infants toward edge of couch, providing hands-on support during descent, or rescuing infants if they fell). Then, after seeing and supporting their infants’ descent from the couch, mothers again reported their beliefs about infants’ descent ability using the same procedure as for mothers’ initial beliefs (Figure 1, orange lines and symbols). Although mother #5 clearly changed her beliefs, the others did not (overlapping orange and blue symbols for each mother). Finally, we tested infants on the adjustable drop-off at each of their mother’s “belief” heights (averaged across each set of four trials), and at 0-, 5-, 10-, 20-, 32.5-, 50-, and 90-cm drop-offs, with two trials per height. The maximum height for successful infant descent ranged from 10 to 50 cm (M = 21.1 cm; Figure 1, green lines). Infants who crawled headfirst only succeeded at smaller drop-offs (maximum height 10–20 cm) and infants who backed down feet first succeeded at larger drop-offs (maximum height 32.5–50 cm). Preliminary results show gross misalignment between mothers’ beliefs and infants’ abilities in half of the dyads: 4/8 mothers’ initial beliefs did not match their infants’ abilities to descend from a couch or a drop-off (mothers #5, #7, #8 overestimated, #1 underestimated). Mothers’ subsequent beliefs—after observing and supporting their infants’ descent from the couch—were still grossly misaligned (mothers #7, #8 overestimated; #1, #6 underestimated). In ongoing analyses, we are identifying how mothers use communication (action verbs, show gestures) to guide infant descent from the couch in addition to physical, hands-on strategies. |
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| Paper #3 | |
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| Do infants' motor actions support verb learning? Identifying optimal verb learning opportunities using adult raters | |
| Author information | Role |
| Ms. Ramya Manikkan, The Univeristy of Alabama, United States | Presenting author |
| Malerie G. McDowell, University of Alabama, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Catherine S. Tamis-LeMonda, New York University, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Kelsey West, University of Alabama, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Abstract | |
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Caregivers verbally respond to 50-80% of infants’ behaviors within just a few seconds (e.g., Bornstein et al., 2008). Beyond naming the objects of infants’ attention (nouns), caregivers respond to infants’ motor actions with verbs that match the action (e.g., “Nice throwing”, as infant throws a ball!; West et al., 2022; 2023). Embodied learning theories propose that infants’ real-time motor actions function as self-generated cues that help them decipher verb meanings (e.g., connect “throw” to the act of throwing). However, whether temporal alignment between verbs and action indeed helps disambiguate a verb’s meaning requires experimental evidence. We used adult raters to test whether the alignment of input with infant action supports verb learning more than other moments (i.e., times when verbs are not aligned with infant actions). Adult raters (N = 400) watched twenty-four 6-second video clips of caregiver-infant interactions drawn from home observations, in which the caregiver said a whole-body verb—like “jump” or “climb”—or a manual verb—like “press” or “clap”. In half the video clips, the verb was aligned with the infants’ simultaneous action (e.g., the caregiver said “jump” as infant jumped); the other half was not. In every video clip, the verb was omitted. For some participants, the verb was covered by a tone (e.g., “close the lid” was presented as “[TONE] the lid”). For other participants, the video was muted entirely, so participants could not use the sentence frame to decipher the verb. Participants were asked to select one of three options as the missing verb. The alignment between verb and infant action enhanced participants’ ability to identify the missing verb. Figure 1 shows the average percentage of correct guesses for verbs that were aligned (green bars) and not aligned with infant actions (pink bars). For both whole-body and manual verbs, participants identified the correct verb more often when it aligned with the infants’ actions (Ms = 84.17% and 83.33% for whole-body and manual verbs respectively; SDs = 15.17, 16.17) compared to when it did not align with the infant’s action (Ms = 61.0% and 61.33% for whole-body and manual verbs respectively; SDs = 17.5, 20.83). Overall, participants performed worse at guessing the verb when the video was muted (M = 58.39%; SD =16.38) compared to when the verb was omitted with a tone (M = 72.55%; SD =11.31), suggesting that participants benefited from knowing the syntactic context of the verb’s use. [Note: Participants were greater than chance in all conditions, further suggesting that the broader environmental cues, such as the presence of a ball in front of the child, likewise function to support learning.] A growing literature reveals real-time connections between infants’ motor actions and wordlearning opportunities. Specifically, studies highlight a possible behavioral cascade wherein: (1) caregivers tailor their verbs to infant actions, and in turn, (2) the infants’ action serves as a salient clue to the verb’s meaning. Our study uses an experimental design leveraging adult raters to demonstrate that infants’ actions can serve as exceptionally powerful indicators of a spoken verb’s meaning. |
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Early sensorimotor experiences in infant’s language development in diverse contexts using mixed methods
Submission Type
Paper Symposium
Description
| Session Title | Early sensorimotor experiences in infant’s language development in diverse contexts using mixed methods |