Gesture Production in Gahvora-Reared Infants in Tajikistan

Kristen Vonfrolio, Verrazzano Class of 2024, completed major in Psychology 

Infants develop communication skills first by relying on non-verbal means of communication. Simple gestures such as pointing and shrugging are used before they gain the linguistic skills necessary for producing spoken language. However, in Tajikistan, infants are placed in gahvora cradles for extended periods, where their limbs are tightly swaddled and bound inhibiting movement. My capstone project investigated how this restricted mobility impacts their developmental trajectory of speech and gesture production. I also explored how gestures relate to the development of speech production.

Throughout my project, I learned about various cultural practices and the relationship between gestures and language. The cultural background has a significant effect on early communicative behaviors. For instance, infants raised in a gesture-rich culture (i.e., Italian) produce gestures during communication more frequently than infants in the United States. Infants raised in a gesture-rich culture may rely on gestures more than spoken language whereas, infants raised in cultures where spoken language is the primary method of communication may rely on spoken language more than gestures. This is significant because there is a negative correlation between gesture and speech production; as one increases the other tends to decrease. If an infant relies more on gestures than spoken language, the onset of verbal communication may be delayed. If an infant relies more on spoken language than gestures, the onset of gestures may be delayed.

As anticipated, the results of my study show that with age the production of speech and gestures in Tajik infants increased from 12 to 20 months. However, gestures remained the main form of communication as speech was relatively low during this developmental period. Infants may have communicated using gestures more frequently due to increased mobility since gahvora use decreased over the second year of life.

One way I would take this project further is by addressing the limitations of this study. This study utilizes mother-reported data to gauge infants' speech and gesture production. Maternal reports may introduce biases, as they rely on mothers’ recollections of their infants’ actions. Direct observation of infants producing gestures and uttering vocalizations would have been more beneficial.

I am very grateful for the opportunity to collaborate on this project under the mentorship of Dr. Karasik and to be a member of the Verrazzano Honors Program. It has been a rewarding, enriching, and educational experience.