Capelli Elena, Grumi Serena, Vercellino Luisa, Provenzi Livio
Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
Developmental Psychobiology Lab, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy.
Front Psychol. 2025 Apr 17;16:1516587. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1516587. eCollection 2025.
Early attentional processes are inherently linked with early parent-infant interactions and play a critical role in shaping cognitive and linguistic development. This study explored how specific early attention mechanisms-namely, exogenous attention allocation and joint attention initiation-during mother-infant interactions at 12 months may influence language development at 24 months.
A sample of 46 typically developing children was observed at 12 months during mother-infant interactions obtained through remote videotaping. Quantitative measures of exogenous attention allocation to external auditory stimuli and joint attention initiation by the infant were obtained through micro-analytical coding. Language outcomes were assessed at 24 months, with a focus on vocabulary composition (i.e., percentage of predicates).
Findings showed significant negative associations between early life exogenous attention allocation and later vocabulary composition (i.e., predicate percentage). This association was modulated by joint attention initiation: infants displaying lower levels of joint attention initiation showed a negative association between exogenous attention allocation and language development.
The findings are suggestive of a complex relationship among different forms of early attention skills and language development in the first 2 years of life.
早期注意力过程与早期母婴互动有着内在联系，并且在塑造认知和语言发展方面起着关键作用。本研究探讨了12个月大的母婴互动过程中特定的早期注意力机制，即外源性注意力分配和共同注意力发起，如何影响24个月大时的语言发展。
通过远程录像获取46名发育正常儿童在12个月大时母婴互动的样本。通过微观分析编码获得婴儿对外界听觉刺激的外源性注意力分配和共同注意力发起的定量测量。在24个月大时评估语言结果，重点是词汇构成（即谓语百分比）。
研究结果显示，早期外源性注意力分配与后期词汇构成（即谓语百分比）之间存在显著的负相关。这种关联受到共同注意力发起的调节：共同注意力发起水平较低的婴儿，其外源性注意力分配与语言发展之间存在负相关。
研究结果表明，在生命的头两年中，不同形式的早期注意力技能与语言发展之间存在复杂的关系。
