From 13-14 to 18 Months: A Comparison of Caregivers’ use of Iconic Gestures During Shared Book Readings with Infants

From 13-14 to 18 Months: A Comparison of Caregivers’ use of Iconic Gestures During Shared Book Readings with Infants

Caregivers' Iconic Gestures

Leah Palmer

Suzanne Aussems, Teruni Ahamat

This poster examines changes in caregivers use of iconic gestures during shared book reading with infants aged 13-14 months and 18 months. It investigates whether caregivers increase their use of iconic gestures as infants develop, and whether this change is due to unique or repeated gestures. The findings show caregivers produce significantly more iconic gestures at 18 months, with increase driven by unique gestures. Caregivers further shift towards object based & shorter gestures, suggesting they communicative behaviour adapts alongside infants developing language.

Psychology, Iconic Gestures, Infant development, Caregiver Infant Interaction, Early Communication