In a paper published in Science magazine, researchers Meredith Rowe and Susan Goldin-Meadow explained how they videoed 50 children from diverse backgrounds interacting with their parents at 14 months, and assessed their vocabulary skills at four years.
The researchers found that more educated parents with higher incomes tended to gesture more when interacting with their toddlers. This correlated to greater gesturing on the part of the toddlers, which correlated to increased vocabulary by the age of four.
Rowe said the findings were significant as a good vocabulary at school entry is a key indicator of academic success. She said one way in which increased gesturing led to an improved vocabulary was if children pointed at an object, then the parent could name it.
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