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What’s Your Point?: An Investigation Into The Relationship Between Infants’ Deictic Communicative Behaviors And Interactional Qualities During Free Play With Their Mothers
- Date Issued:
- 2024
- Abstract/Description:
- Infants communicate with their caregivers in a variety of ways – even before the onset of verbal language. One of the strategies infants employ is the use of deictic gestures (i.e., index points, showing, giving) to engage in communication about external referents with their partners. Previous associations have been identified that reveal relationships between infant deictic gesturing behaviors and maternal gesturing, however the number of studies that assess maternal interactive qualities simultaneously with these gesturing behaviors is minimal. In the current study, manual data annotation was employed to explore the relationships between infant deictic gesturing frequencies, maternal deictic gesturing frequencies, global maternal behaviors (sensitivity and intrusiveness) and dyadic characteristics. Infants between the ages of 12-months and 24-months (N = 61) and their mothers participated in free-play recorded via online videoconferencing. Frequencies of initiative deictic gestures were calculated. Dyads were classified as having a “pointer” or “non-pointer” infant and mother, respectively. Several significant associations were identified, including a negative association between maternal sensitivity and maternal giving (p = .009) and a positive association between maternal sensitivity and infant index finger pointing (p = .030).
Title: | What’s Your Point?: An Investigation Into The Relationship Between Infants’ Deictic Communicative Behaviors And Interactional Qualities During Free Play With Their Mothers. |
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Name(s): |
Hammack, Jacqueline , author Wilcox, Teresa , Thesis advisor Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor Department of Psychology Charles E. Schmidt College of Science |
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Type of Resource: | text | |
Genre: | Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation | |
Date Created: | 2024 | |
Date Issued: | 2024 | |
Publisher: | Florida Atlantic University | |
Place of Publication: | Boca Raton, Fla. | |
Physical Form: | application/pdf | |
Extent: | 112 p. | |
Language(s): | English | |
Abstract/Description: | Infants communicate with their caregivers in a variety of ways – even before the onset of verbal language. One of the strategies infants employ is the use of deictic gestures (i.e., index points, showing, giving) to engage in communication about external referents with their partners. Previous associations have been identified that reveal relationships between infant deictic gesturing behaviors and maternal gesturing, however the number of studies that assess maternal interactive qualities simultaneously with these gesturing behaviors is minimal. In the current study, manual data annotation was employed to explore the relationships between infant deictic gesturing frequencies, maternal deictic gesturing frequencies, global maternal behaviors (sensitivity and intrusiveness) and dyadic characteristics. Infants between the ages of 12-months and 24-months (N = 61) and their mothers participated in free-play recorded via online videoconferencing. Frequencies of initiative deictic gestures were calculated. Dyads were classified as having a “pointer” or “non-pointer” infant and mother, respectively. Several significant associations were identified, including a negative association between maternal sensitivity and maternal giving (p = .009) and a positive association between maternal sensitivity and infant index finger pointing (p = .030). | |
Identifier: | FA00014509 (IID) | |
Degree granted: | Dissertation (PhD)--Florida Atlantic University, 2024. | |
Collection: | FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection | |
Note(s): | Includes bibliography. | |
Subject(s): |
Mother and infant Pointing (Gesture) Deictic gestures Developmental psychology |
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Persistent Link to This Record: | http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00014509 | |
Use and Reproduction: | Copyright © is held by the author with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder. | |
Use and Reproduction: | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ | |
Host Institution: | FAU |