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  • Title: Directive interactions and early vocabulary development: the role of joint attentional focus.
    Author: Akhtar N, Dunham F, Dunham PJ.
    Journal: J Child Lang; 1991 Feb; 18(1):41-9. PubMed ID: 2010504.
    Abstract:
    Maternal directiveness, assessed by the mother's use of prescriptives, is correlated with slow vocabulary development. As prescriptives are most often used to redirect a child's attention to a different object or activity, it is hypothesized that attentional regulation underlies this negative relationship. In the present study, twelve mothers were videotaped interacting with their children aged 1;1, and 100 maternal utterances were coded for pragmatic intent. Prescriptives were coded as either changing (leading) or following the child's focus of attention. Only the frequency of mothers' follow-prescriptives correlated significantly with a productive vocabulary measure taken at 1;10. This correlation was high and positive, indicating that, given joint focus, directing a 13-month-old's behaviour can have beneficial effects on subsequent vocabulary development.
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