Sign Language & Spoken Words Support Cognitive Development In Babies
If you’re looking for new ways to support the of infants, consider teaching them . According to the , sign language helps support and develop cognitive skills in the same way spoken words do.
The study was undertaken by researchers at , who analyzed the cognitive development of 113 hearing , who were between the ages of 4 to 6 months old. None of the children have been exposed to American Sign Language (ASL) or other forms of sign language prior to the study.
The infant participants were divided into two categories – one that was non-linguistic, and one that focused on sign language. In order to assess their cognitive responses, all of the babies were presented with eight different images relating to a single category. For example, if the theme was fish, the infants were presented with eight distinct photos of fish.
The photos were presented to the babies differently depending on what group they were assigned to. In the non-linguistic group, a woman introduced the images by pointing to and looking at them without saying anything. Conversely, in the other group, a woman introduced the photos by signing about what was in the images.
During the second phase of the study, all of the babies were presented with two more images – one followed the same theme as the previous eight objects (for example, it was another kind of fish), while the other image was completely unrelated to the original category.
In conclusion, the researchers found that the babies aged 3 to 4 months who were exposed to were better able to recognize the photo from the same theme than those in the non-linguistic group.
As such, they concluded that sign language can help babies recognize their surroundings similar to the way spoken word does.
Interestingly, however, they observed that sign language presented no cognitive advantage by the time the infants reached 6 months of age. The non-linguistic group was able to identify similar images in a similar way to those exposed to sign language by half a year’s age.
The researchers emphasize their findings are valuable because it shows the language – whether spoken or signed – is connected to core cognitive skills, like object identification, more so than other modes of communication, such as pointing or gesturing, at least for the first few months of life.
To learn the best practices for supporting your child’s cognitive development at all ages, we encourage you to reach out to your medical professional.
Sources: , ,
