Show gestures direct attention to word–object relations in typically developing and Autistic Spectrum Disorder children

Abstract

Previous research by Rader and Zukow-Goldring (2010, 2012, 2015) on word learning found that infants benefit from a speaker's use of a show gesture. Here we examined whether this benefit exists in typically developing (TD) children aged 24.2–76.7 months, as well as in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) aged 5.8–8.2 years. While we recorded eye gaze, children viewed a video showing a speaker introducing two novel objects with nonce words. In the show condition, the speaker moved the object in synchrony with her speech, while in the static condition she held the object stationary. After the speaker introduced the objects, we assessed word learning. Analysis of word learning found that the TD toddlers and the ASD children benefited from the show condition, while preschool and elementary-aged TD children learned equally well in both gesture conditions. We propose that show gestures present metamodal information specifying word reference relationships and that this information is used by TD toddlers and older ASD children in learning words.