Department of Psychology, Center for Innovative Research in Autism, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA.
Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, New York, USA.
Dev Sci. 2023 Nov;26(6):e13397. doi: 10.1111/desc.13397. Epub 2023 Apr 20.
Caregivers often tailor their language to infants' ongoing actions (e.g., "are you stacking the blocks?"). When infants develop new motor skills, do caregivers show concomitant changes in their language input? We tested whether the use of verbs that refer to locomotor actions (e.g., "come," "bring," "walk") differed for mothers of 13-month-old crawling (N = 16) and walking infants (N = 16), and mothers of 18-month-old experienced walkers (N = 16). Mothers directed twice as many locomotor verbs to walkers compared to same-age crawlers, but mothers' locomotor verbs were similar for younger and older walkers. In real-time, mothers' use of locomotor verbs was dense when infants were locomoting, and sparse when infants were stationary, regardless of infants' crawler/walker status. Consequently, infants who spent more time in motion received more locomotor verbs compared to infants who moved less frequently. Findings indicate that infants' motor skills guide their in-the-moment behaviors, which in turn shape the language they receive from caregivers. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Infants' motor skills guide their in-the-moment behaviors, which in turn shape the language they receive from caregivers. Mothers directed more frequent and diverse verbs that referenced locomotion (e.g., "come," "go," "bring") to walking infants compared to same-aged crawling infants. Mothers' locomotor verbs were temporally dense when infants locomoted and sparse when infants were stationary, regardless of whether infants could walk or only crawl.
照顾者通常会根据婴儿的持续动作来调整他们的语言（例如，“你在堆叠积木吗？”）。当婴儿发展出新的运动技能时，照顾者的语言输入是否会相应地发生变化？我们测试了 13 个月大爬行（N=16）和行走婴儿（N=16）的母亲，以及 18 个月大经验丰富的行走婴儿（N=16）的母亲，她们是否会使用动词来指代动作（例如，“来”、“带”、“走”）。与同龄的爬行婴儿相比，母亲对行走婴儿使用的动作动词多了一倍，但对于年龄较小和较大的行走婴儿，母亲的动作动词是相似的。在实时环境中，无论婴儿是爬行还是静止，当婴儿在运动时，母亲使用动作动词的频率会更高，而当婴儿静止时，母亲使用动作动词的频率会更低。因此，与运动频率较低的婴儿相比，经常运动的婴儿会接收到更多的动作动词。研究结果表明，婴儿的运动技能指导着他们当下的行为，进而影响他们从照顾者那里接收到的语言。研究亮点：婴儿的运动技能指导着他们当下的行为，进而影响他们从照顾者那里接收到的语言。与同龄的爬行婴儿相比，母亲会更多地向行走婴儿发出与运动相关的动词（如“来”、“去”、“带”）。无论婴儿是行走还是爬行，当婴儿运动时，母亲使用的动词频率更高，而当婴儿静止时，母亲使用的动词频率更低。
