Looking Behind vs. Front to Follow Points: The Longitudinal Link between Maternal Pointing and Infant Vocabulary Development
Journal of Child Language, 2026 (SSCI, Scopus)
- Publication Type: Article / Article
- Publication Date: 2026
- Doi Number: 10.1017/s0305000926100580
- Journal Name: Journal of Child Language
- Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, IBZ Online, Child Development & Adolescent Studies, CINAHL, Communication Abstracts, Education Abstracts, Educational research abstracts (ERA), ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Linguistic Bibliography, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, Psycinfo
- Keywords: expressive vocabulary, infant communication development, maternal pointing, point-following, receptive vocabulary
- Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University Affiliated: No
Abstract
The present study examined whether mothers’ pointing and the interaction between maternal pointing and infants’ point-following performance predict infants’ receptive and expressive vocabulary. At each month from 8 to 12, Turkish-speaking mother–infant dyads (N = 56) participated in the decorated room paradigm to determine pointing frequency and the point-following paradigm to determine whether infants follow points to surrounding pictures. Receptive and expressive vocabulary was measured at 14 and 18 months, respectively, using the Turkish CDI. Infants’ point-following performance at 11 months predicted their receptive vocabulary. Moreover, the interaction between maternal pointing and infant point-following at 12 months predicted receptive vocabulary, indicating that maternal pointing frequency predicted infants’ receptive vocabulary only for advanced point-followers, not for visual-field point-followers. We found no significant association between maternal pointing or infants’ point-following performance with expressive vocabulary. These findings suggest that infants’ point-following performance plays a role in their early word learning during mother–infant interactions.