Parent-reported relations between vocabulary and motor development in infancy: Differences between verbs and nouns

Frewin, Kelsey L., Gerson, Sarah A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8710-1178, Vanderwert, Ross E. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2280-8401 and Gambi, Chiara ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1568-7779 2025. Parent-reported relations between vocabulary and motor development in infancy: Differences between verbs and nouns. Infancy 30 (1) , e12638. 10.1111/infa.12638

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Abstract

During early development, increases in vocabulary are related to gains in motor ability, above and beyond the effects of maturation alone. However, little is known about the association between motor development and children's early acquisition of different types of words. We examined whether motor development is differentially associated with concurrent verb and noun vocabulary in 83 infants aged 6- to 24-months-old. We asked caregivers to complete parent-report measures of vocabulary acquisition and motor development. Analyses revealed that the association between word comprehension and motor development significantly differed for verb and nouns. Infants' verb comprehension was more strongly associated with motor development than noun comprehension. We discuss how infants' own motor actions may provide cues that are especially important for narrowing down the meaning of novel verbs.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Psychology
Publisher:	Wiley
ISSN:	1525-0008
Funders:	Economic and Social Research Council
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	8 November 2024
Date of Acceptance:	30 October 2024
Last Modified:	17 Dec 2024 14:13
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/173597

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