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Development of hand preference for object‐directed actions and pointing gestures: A longitudinal study between 15 and 25 months of age
Author(s) -
Cochet Hélène
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/dev.20576
Subject(s) - gesture , psychology , categorization , preference , hand preference , object (grammar) , language development , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , laterality , linguistics , philosophy , economics , microeconomics
The development of hand preferences for object‐directed actions and pointing gestures was investigated in toddlers sampled bimonthly between 15 and 25 months of age. Language level was also assessed, in an attempt to examine the relationship between handedness and language development. Results did not reveal any changes over the study period in the mean Handedness Index of the whole sample, both for bimanual manipulative activities and pointing gestures. However, the categorization of participants as left‐handers, right‐handers, or non‐lateralized revealed that most of children presented nonlinear individual trajectories in the development of hand preference. Moreover, the only significant correlations observed between hand preferences for manipulation and pointing were negative correlations between the strength of hand preferences at 19 and 21 months of age, suggesting that manipulative actions and communicative gestures are controlled by different networks in the left cerebral hemisphere. These findings are discussed in relation to the development of speech–gesture links in infancy. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 54:105–111, 2012.