| The purpose of this project was to determine if there was a relationship between gaze direction and later development of expressive and receptive vocabulary. We hypothesized that there would be a relationship between gaze (before, during, and after infant vocalization) and later vocabulary development. Data was extracted from a longitudinal study comparing gaze direction in 15 infants at 8, 10, 12, 14, and 16 months of age and how that related to expressive and receptive vocabulary development in the same children at 1.5, 2, and 3 years of age. Gaze direction was coded with an observer-based classification system, while vocabulary was documented through standardized parent report. The results indicated a clinically relevant relationship between 8, 10, 12, 14, and 16-month-old infants’ gaze direction before, during, and after spontaneous vocalizations and their later expressive and receptive vocabulary development from 1.5 to 3 years. If studied further, these results could be used in establishing additional factors that impact later development, therefore aiding in early identification and intervention. Strategies to facilitate vocabulary development through early gaze direction could also be established in future work. Clinical implications, study limitations, and future directions will be discussed.
Key Words: infant, toddler, prelinguistic, vocabulary, communication, development, eye gaze, early, vocalization, language |