El lenguaje gestual de los padres y su relación con el desarrollo cognitivo en niños de dieciocho meses

Abstract

This research arises from the need to analyze the use of parental gestural language and its relationship with cognitive development in eighteen-month-old children. A socio-educational, descriptive and correlational methodology was used, with a quantitative approach of a sample of one hundred families from Manabí, Guayas, Loja and Pichincha Ecuadorian provinces. A random sub-sample of 55 videos was analyzed in which mothers and their children interact through games for an average time of eight minutes each. In addition, the psychometric results of Bayley Test were used to measure receptive language, expressive and cognitive development of children participants. As a conclusion, it was found that young children using gestural language could improve their cognitive development including both expressive and receptive vocabulary. There was a significant correlation in the use of deictic gestural language (teaching an object) and representing its meaning with movements which favors the child's cognitive development because it allows him to express and explore his thoughts and interests that make it difficult to do so verbally only. However, if this ability is not stimulated in them, it will disappear.