Enhanced Infant Attention When Combining Words, Gestures, and Spatial Language, Study Finds

A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of California, Davis, highlights the significant impact of multimodal communication on infants' attention spans. The study reveals that babies are more engaged when parents use a combination of object labels, spatial words such as "here" or "there," and accompanying gestures like pointing. This combination not only captures infants' focus more effectively but also sustains it longer than using words alone. The research was carried out in the Infant Cognition Lab at UC Davis, involving 49 caregivers and their 9-month-old infants observing how different language and gesture combinations influence attention during play.

Infants wearing head-mounted eye trackers demonstrated longer focus times—up to 8.4 seconds—when parents used both verbal labels and spatial words with gestures, compared to shorter average focus times with single-word or non-spatial language. Specifically, attention span increased from about 3 to 4 seconds with individual types of words to over 8 seconds when these were combined with gestures.

The findings emphasize the importance of specific and diverse language interactions in early development. By engaging infants with multimodal cues, parents can help foster better spatial understanding and reasoning skills, laying a foundation for more complex cognitive processes later in life. The study suggests that early exposure to such integrated communication can enhance how infants perceive and interpret the spatial environment around them.

This research underscores the vital role of multimodal interaction in early childhood development and provides new insights into how parents can optimize their communication strategies to support their babies' cognitive growth.

Source: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-09-babies-pay-attention-longest-parents.html