1,720,995 research outputs found
Verbal and non verbal modalities contribute to building social interaction and the lexicon in at risk and atypically developing children
No full textThis symposium, assuming a neuroconstructivist approach to studying linguistic impairments (LI), aims to discuss how mother’s and child’s verbal and non verbal modalities contribute to building social interaction and the lexicon in at-risk (ARD) and atypically developing (AD) children,: i.e., at risk for LI because of an older sibling with autism (high risk; HR-ASD) or a preterm birth (PB), and delayed in language because of Down Syndrome (DS) or a specific LI (SLI). Different tools, both interactional and individual, such as observations and macro- and micro-analyses of parent-infant interaction and/or a lexical test and the parental questionnaire MacArthur-Bates CDI were used to investigate ARD and AD children’s communicative and linguistic abilities, as well as the dynamics of their interaction with a parent, compared to those of typically developing (TD) children.
The papers contribute to an understanding of differences and similarities among ARD, AD, and TD children with respect to: a) relationships among gestures and words in child’s early language development and child’s verbal and gestural strategies in coping with lexicon (HR-ASD, PB, DS, SLI, TD); b) relationships between child’s and mother’s utterances (vocal and gestural) and mother’s communicative strategies supporting child’s linguistic abilities (HR-ASD, DS, SLI, TD).
The comparison among the obtained results in ARD, AD, and TD children will allow to understand the dynamic complexity of early language development, underscoring how verbal and non verbal abilities contribute to building social interaction and the lexicon and highlighting how mother’s and child’s responses are reciprocally affected at the verbal and non verbal level and mother’s vocal and gestural strategies tune on child’s communicative and linguistic modalities. Methodological issues and clinical implications of these findings are discussed showing the relevance of employing interactional together with individual measures and of considering the integration of gestures and language in communication in order to depict the internal dynamics of contingent conversational responses in ARD, AD and TD children
Do motor skills impact on language development in toddlers?
No full textRecent studies have shown that motor development and language development are more interrelated than it has previously been thought, mostly in the first years of life. It was found that the onset of motor milestones such as sitting and walking predicts both receptive and productive vocabulary at later ages (Libertus & Violi, 2016; West et al., 2019). However, attention has been paid to gross motor skills rather than to gross- and fine motor skills and motor coordination. Furthermore, the language outcome considered was mostly the general vocabulary. This study aims to: (1) deepen the relation between motor development and language development in the 2nd and 3rd year of life, assessing if/how gross and/or fine motor skills predict later receptive and productive vocabulary; (2) analyse if specific motor skills (both gross and fine) predict specific language skills, as the production of non-noun vs noun, and spatial vocabulary. 37 toddlers (23 females) divided in two age-groups: 13-19-month-olds, and 20-30-month-olds. The gross motor and fine motor skills were assessed using the Griffiths Mental Development Scales (GMDS-ER 2-8, 2006), subscales A: Locomotor, and D: Eye & hand coordination. The language skills were assessed using the GMDS, subscale C: Language, the McArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory-Italian vers.(Caselli et al., 2015), and 6 months later the PiNG test, subtests Nouns and Non-nouns (Bello et al., 2010). Hierarchical regression analyses were computed using language outcomes as target and gross and fine motor skills as predictors. The results have shown that fine motor skills combined with child gender in the youngers' group, and general motor coordination in the olders' group, predict non-noun productive vocabulary. These results extend previous evidence showing that in the 2nd and 3rd year of life the relationship between motor and later language skills involves fine motor skills
Language development and motor skills in Italian toddlers
No full textIn recent years many studies have shown a close relationship between language and motor skills in both typical and atypical populations, consistent with the embodied view of cognition (Iverson & Braddock, 2011). However, the association between specific components of language and motor abilities in toddlers with language delay has received little attention, and contrasting results have been reported. The present study aimed to assess the relationship between toddlers’ language development and their motor skills, focusing on motor profile of children with language delay. Thirty Italian children aged 24 to 36 months (M = 29.7 months) from three nursery schools, participated in the study. They were individually tested with the Griffiths Mental Development Scales (Luiz et al., 2006), including scales on both gross and fine motor skills, and on language and cognitive abilities, and the Italian version of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (Caselli et al., 2007). Correlational analysis showed that fine motor skills were related to lexical production [r(30) = .42, p < .05] ]. Among the fine motor skills, visual-motor integration was more strongly related to language production [r(30) = .48; p <.01] than the other skills. However, different motor profiles emerged among children whose lexical production fell below the 10th percentile for age. Three children displayed a widespread delay in fine motor skills, showing lower scores in items involving object-oriented actions, visual-motor integration and complex sequences of fine motor actions; three children displayed a more specific delay in visual-motor integration, while a child did not show any delay in fine motor competence. These first results reflect the complexity of the relationship between language and motor development; furthermore, they could contribute to describe early indicators of developmental risk in a larger sample of children
La motricità fine influenza lo sviluppo linguistico nella prima infanzia?
No full textIntroduzione. Recenti studi hanno evidenziato una stretta relazione tra competenze motorie e competenze linguistiche nei primi anni di vita. In particolare, è emerso che l'età di comparsa di milestones grosso-motori (sitting e walking) predice il successivo vocabolario recettivo e produttivo (Libertus & Violi, 2016), in particolare vocabolario spaziale (Oudgenoeg-Paz, Volman, & Leseman, 2016) e predicati (He, Walle, & Campos, 2015). Il nostro studio ha analizzato se le abilità locomotorie e anche fino-motorie che si sviluppano nel 2° anno possono predire successive abilità lessicali in comprensione e produzione, in particolare predicati e vocabolario spaziale. Metodo. Hanno partecipato allo studio 37 bambini italiani (23 femmine) frequentanti 3 asili nido del Trentino, suddivisi in 2 fasce d’età: 13-19 mesi (M=16,93; DS= 1,73) e 20-30 mesi (M= 23.04; DS=3,14). Le loro abilità motorie sono state valutate con le Scale Griffiths A (ab.locomotorie) e D (coordinazione oculo-manuale); le abilità lessicali con Scala Griffiths-C, PVB, e 6 mesi dopo attraverso le prove PING (subtest Nomi e Predicati). Un set di correlazioni bivariate tra punteggi di abilità grosso- e fino-motorie, variabili sociodemografiche e punteggi di comprensione e produzione lessicale alle prove PING ha permesso di identificare associazioni significative e, quindi, potenziali predittori di abilità lessicali che sono stati utilizzati in analisi di regressione gerarchica. Risultati. Le analisi di regressione gerarchica realizzate inserendo le abilità fino-(non grosso-)motorie e il genere del bambino come predittori di abilità lessicali (punteggi PING in comprensione e produzione) mostrano che la combinazione di queste due variabili spiega: (a) un’elevata percentuale di varianza nella produzione lessicale dei bambini più piccoli, sub-test Predicati (non Nomi) [Adj.R2= .55; F(2, 11)= 8.77, p =.005; MotFineβ =.68, p =.004; Genereβ =.52, p =.020]; (b) il 28% della varianza negli errori di comprensione di Predicati dei bambini più grandi [Adj.R2= .28; F(2, 20)= 5.24, p =.015; MotFineβ =-.41, p =.038; Genereβ =.37, p =.058]. Le altre variabili e il genere del b. considerato singolarmente non risultano predittive. Conclusioni. Questi risultati ampliano i precedenti studi mostrando che nel 2° e 3° anno di vita la relazione tra abilità motorie e successivo sviluppo del linguaggio coinvolge la manualità fine. L’ulteriore analisi in corso permetterà di far luce sulla relazione con specifiche categorie lessicali
Relazioni tra milestones motori e abilità linguistiche nei primi 12 mesi di vita: nuove cascate di sviluppo
No full textIntroduzione. Recenti studi hanno evidenziato strette relazioni tra competenze motorie e linguistiche nei primi anni di vita. I risultati più robusti riguardano due milestones, uno posturale - il sitting - e uno motorio il walking - che risultano essere predittivi del successivo vocabolario recettivo e produttivo (Libertus & Violi, 2016; Oudgenoeg-Paz et al., 2012; Walle & Campos, 2014). Questo studio (parte di uno studio longitudinale più ampio) ha considerato altri due milestones non ancora indagati, il crawling e lo standing, per mantenere l'attenzione su entrambi gli aspetti dello sviluppo motorio - posturale e dinamico - nel periodo che intercorre tra la conquista del sitting e quella del walking. Metodo. Hanno partecipato allo studio 50 bambini italiani (27 femmine). Lo sviluppo motorio è stato misurato rilevando l'età di comparsa dei milestones considerati e somministrando la versione italiana dell'Early Motor Questionnaire (EMQ) a 4, 8 e 12 mesi. Lo sviluppo linguistico è stato misurato utilizzando il PVB (forma breve) a 8 e 12 mesi. Un set di correlazioni bivariate tra scores motori e linguistici ha permesso di identificare potenziali predittori di abilità linguistiche utilizzati in successivi modelli di regressione. Risultati. Il modello più interessante mostra che il vocabolario produttivo a 12 mesi è predetto, oltre che dalla competenza linguistica a 8 mesi, dallo score del crawling a 8 mesi combinato con l'età di comparsa dello standing; questo modello spiega il 40% della varianza [Adj.R2= .40; F(3, 34)= 9.09, p = < .001; Langβ=.51, p = < .001; Standβ = -.48, p =.006; Craw8mβ = -.40, p =.012]. Il segno negativo dello standing indica un’età di comparsa più precoce (minore), mentre quello del crawling una minore competenza a 8 mesi. Conclusioni. I risultati evidenziano che aspetti posturali e dinamici del movimento possono avere anche effetti opposti sulle successive competenze linguistiche: un effetto positivo dello standing che, come il sitting, garantisce al bambino la possibilità di guardarsi intorno, guardare chi parla e dove guarda chi parla; un effetto negativo del crawling, che consente di muoversi autonomamente nello spazio, ma obbliga a mantenere lo sguardo rivolto verso il basso. Ulteriori analisi in corso consentiranno di verificare se gli effetti dello standing si mantengono nel tempo (misure linguistiche a 16 mesi) e se viene confermato l'effetto predittivo del walking già evidenziato in letteratura
Digital reading in beginner readers: Advantage or disadvantage for comprehension of narrative and informational linear texts?
No full textBackground: Text comprehension research in relation to the reading medium showed that digital-based reading represents a disadvantage compared with paper-based reading. Most paper versus screen research; however, was conducted with university students. Objectives: This study investigated the contribution of reading medium to text comprehension and medium preference in beginner readers who use technology for school learning. The moderating role of text genre, word reading and medium preference on the reading medium effect on text comprehension was also analysed. Methods: First graders (N = 115; mean age = 6;8 years) read narrative and informational linear texts on paper and computer screen and answered main idea, literal and inferential comprehension questions. Medium preference questions and a word reading task were administered. Results and Conclusions: Logistic mixed models showed that the main idea and literal comprehension of narrative and informational linear texts were greater on screen and for higher word reading skills. Inferential comprehension was lower on screen at lower levels of word reading skills but became similar for the two media as word reading increased. Children had no clear medium preference and medium effect on text comprehension was independent of children's medium preference. The main results show that beginner readers who use technology for learning and are fast and accurate in word reading display no comprehension disadvantage in digital reading. Takeaways: Our results add to existing knowledge by clarifying how reading medium effects on beginner readers' text comprehension interact with factors such as fundamental reading skills and experience with technology
Osservazione e analisi delle prime produzioni linguistiche in contesto naturalistico: sperimentazione di un dispositivo per la raccolta dati a distanza
No full textIntroduzione: La situazione pandemica ha limitato l’utilizzo delle tecniche di ricerca osservative – essenziali nell’analisi dei processi di interazione adulto-bambino – rendendo necessari specifici adattamenti e nuovi strumenti per la raccolta dati a distanza. Nell’ambito di un progetto sui primi processi di acquisizione lessicale nell’ambiente familiare, questo studio affronta il problema utilizzando un approccio osservativo multi-metodo che include un dispositivo di raccolta e analisi di dati linguistici in contesto naturalistico (LENA, Language ENvironment Analysis System) e si propone una prima sperimentazione dello stesso nel contesto italiano. Metodo: I partecipanti sono 35 bambini (16 F) tra i 9 e i 15 mesi (M= 11.4, SD= 2.12). Lo studio ha utilizzato tre modalità di raccolta dati, adattate secondo le regole di emergenza sanitaria: a) il dispositivo LENA per rilevare le caratteristiche dell’ambiente acustico (parlato rivolto al bambino, rumore, silenzio, presenza dispositivi elettronici) e le produzioni vocali dei bambini in assenza di un osservatore (lo strumento, sterilizzato, veniva consegnato alle famiglie, precedentemente preparate, con foglio di istruzioni illustrate); b) due videoregistrazioni di 10 min di interazione adulto- bambino a casa, realizzate dai genitori appositamente istruiti via Zoom; c) il questionario PVB (vers. it. Del MacArthur-Bates CDI), compilato in modalità remota dai genitori. Le registrazioni sono state trascritte e analizzate utilizzando, rispettivamente, i software ELAN e CLAN. Risultati: Le produzioni vocali dei bambini e le caratteristiche dell’ambiente acustico sono state registrate con LENA per una media di 737 min (12.5 ore) di una o più giornate del bambino. L’analisi semi-automatica di LENA mostra che il parlato rivolto al bambino corrisponde al 21.91% del tempo (DS = 4.83); l’esposizione a TV o dispositivi elettronici al 2.86% (DS = 3.31); il parlato non significativo/rumori al 75.23%. Riguardo al parlato del bambino (Child Vocalization Count o CVC), il dispositivo stima 3.24 produzioni al minuto (DS = 1.22), media che aumenta con l’età. Per calcolare l’accuratezza di questa misura calcolata da LENA, segmenti di registrazioni LENA di 12 bambini sono stati trascritti manualmente per un totale di 90 min per bambino. Le analisi mostrano che il numero di produzioni vocali calcolate dall’algoritmo di LENA correla significativamente con quello della trascrizione manuale (p = .04). Inoltre, il numero di parole prodotte rilevate con il PVB correla sia con il CVC (p = .05) sia con i tokens calcolati dalle videoregistrazioni (p = .009). Discussione: L’utilizzo di un approccio multi-metodo inclusivo di LENA permette una stima attendibile del parlato del bambino anche in assenza dell’osservatore nel contesto. L’utilizzo di LENA offre nuove risorse per la ricerca in contesto naturalistico, sebbene un’approfondita analisi di validità e affidabilità dello strumento sia necessaria nel contesto italiano
Linguistic interactions at nursery school as a protective factor for promoting language development of toddlers from low-income families
No full textToddlers from low-income and language-minority immigrant families are at risk for difficulties in the acquisition of the majority or societal language due to early disparities in the quality of communicative and linguistic interactions in the home environment (Hoff, 2013; Leung et al., 2020). However, little is known about the linguistic interactions of these toddlers in the school environment. The present longitudinal study extends previous research by investigating communicative modalities and functions used by nursery teachers with monolingual and bilingual toddlers from low-income families (Aim 1), and their effectiveness in promoting toddlers’ linguistic production (Aim 2) and vocabulary development (Aim 3) between 18 and 30 months. Participants were equivalent low-income monolingual (n = 20) and bilingual (n = 22) toddlers and their nursery teachers (n = 20). Linguistic interactions between teachers and small groups of toddlers at 18, 24, and 30 months at nursery school were videotaped and coded for communicative modalities and functions in CHILDES. Children’s vocabulary in the majority language was assessed at 30 months by nursery teachers, using the Italian version of the MacArthur-Bates CDI. Data were analyzed through linear mixed models (Aims 1 and 3) and sequential analyses (Aim 2) Main results showed that teachers used bimodal utterances (gesture + speech) to a higher extent with bilinguals and language scaffolding strategies to a higher extent with monolinguals from 18 to 30 months (p < .01; Aim 1). Bimodal utterances and language scaffolding strategies used by teachers promoted toddlers’ initiatives at all ages and in both groups (p =. 01; Aim 2) and vocabulary development from 18 to 30 months (p < .01; Aim 3). Linguistic interactions in the school environment act as protective proximal environmental factor for stimulating and favoring the acquisition and development of the majority language by toddlers from low-income and language minority families
Culture-specific development of early mother-infant emotional co-regulation: Italian, Cameroonian, and West African immigrant dyads
No full textStudies conducted in Western countries document the special role of mother-infant face-to-face exchanges for early emotional development including social smiling. A few cross-cultural studies have shown that the western pattern of face-to-face communication is absent in traditional rural cultures, without identifying other processes that promote emotional co-regulation. The present study compared three different samples: Western middle-class families in Italy, rural traditional Nso farmer families in Cameroon, and West African sub-Saharan immigrant families in Italy using biweekly observations of 20 mother-infant dyads from each cultural context from age 4 to 12 weeks. Longitudinal sequential analysis of maternal and infant behaviors showed that from as early as 4 weeks, in Italian dyads maternal affectionate talking is linked with infant active attention to mother in sequences of face-to-face contact; this link fosters the subsequent emergence of infant smiling/cooing, and then sequences of positive feedback between infant and maternal emotional expressions that, by the 3rd month, dynamically stabilize. In contrast, for Cameroonian/Nso dyads over the 2nd and 3rd month, maternal motor stimulation marked by rhythmic vocalizing is linked with infant active attention to surroundings. The relatively few smiling/cooing actions of Nso babies at their mothers were answered mainly with tactile stimulation that did not foster the maintenance of face-to-face visual contact. Finally, West African immigrant dyads showed a combination of both face-to-face and sensorimotor co-regulated exchanges observed in their new and native cultures. These findings suggest that emotional co-regulation in early infancy can occur via multiple, culture-specific pathways that may be substantially different from the western pattern of face-to-face communication
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