Browsing by Author "Kobas, Mert"

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Citation - WoS: 1
Citation - Scopus: 1
Early Parental Multimodal Input Is Differentially Associated with Later Vocabulary Knowledge for Preterm and Full-Term Infants
(Routledge Journals, Taylor & Francis LTD, 2025) Dogan, Isil; Kizildere, Erim; Kobas, Mert; Aktan-Erciyes, Asli; Demir-Lira, O. Ece; Akman, Ipek; Goksun, Tilbe
This study examined whether (1) parents' language input and its modality differed in Turkish-learning preterm (PT) (<37 weeks of gestation) and full-term infants (FT), and (2) the type of language input (i.e. verbal and multimodal) had differential concurrent and longitudinal effects on PT and FT infants' vocabulary development. At Time 1 (Mage = 14 months, N = 73, 36 PT) and Time 2 (Mage = 20.1 months, N = 61, 27 PT), PT infants' parents produced fewer frequent multimodal input (i.e., co-speech deictic gestures) than FT infants' parents. The frequency of verbal input (i.e., word count) between groups differed only at Time 1. Parents' verbal input was concurrently associated with infants' receptive vocabulary at 14 months, yet parents' multimodal input was only linked to PT infants' receptive vocabulary. At 20 months, parents' verbal input was not related to expressive vocabulary in either group; however, parents' multimodal input was again associated with PT infants' expressive vocabulary scores. Parents' multimodal input at 14 months predicted infants' expressive vocabulary scores at 20 months, only for the PT group. These findings suggest that the variability of multimodal input infants receives from their parents and the contribution of such input to vocabulary development change as a function of infants' neonatal status.
Citation - WoS: 9
Citation - Scopus: 8
Fine Motor Abilities and Parental Input of Spatial Features Predict Object Word Comprehension of Turkish-Learning Children
(WILEY, 2021) Kobas, Mert; Aktan-Erciyes, Aslı; Göksun, Tilbe
Object word learning can be based on infant-related factors such as their manual actions and socio-linguistic factors such as parental input. Specific input for spatial features (i.e., size, shape, features of objects) can be related to object word comprehension in early vocabulary development. In a longitudinal study, we investigated whether fine motor abilities at 14 months and parental input for spatial features at 19 months predicted object word comprehension at 25 months. Twenty-seven Turkish-learning children were tested at three time points (Time 1: M-age = 14.4 months, Time 2: M-age = 18.6 months, Time 3: M-age = 25 months). We measured word comprehension through the parental report and fine motor abilities with Mullen at Time 1. We used a puzzle play session to assess parental input for spatial features at Time 2 and a standardized receptive vocabulary test at Time 3. We found that fine motor abilities were related to object word comprehension. However, parental input for spatial features at 19 months predicted object word comprehension at 25 months beyond fine motor abilities at 14 months. Early fine motor abilities and using different words for spatial features may foster infants' visual experiences in play and exploration episodes, leading to better object word learning.
Citation - WoS: 13
Citation - Scopus: 13
Motor Skills, Language Development, and Visual Processing in Preterm and Full-Term Infants
(Springer, 2023) Kobas, Mert; Kizildere, Erim; Dogan, Isil; Aktan-Erciyes, Asli; Demir-Lira, O. Ece; Akman, Ipek; Goksun, Tilbe
Language development is intertwined with motor development. This study examined how visual processing might mediate the relation between language development and motor skills in preterm (PT, n = 34, Mean gestational age = 30 weeks) and full-term infants (FT, n = 35, Mean gestational age = 38.9 weeks) at 13 months of age. Infants' visual processing, fine and gross motor skills were tested using the Mullen Scales of Early Learning. Parents reported on infants' language skills (word comprehension and early communicative behavior), using the Turkish version of CDI (TCDI). Results showed that PT infants performed worse than their FT peers on gross motor skills and visual processing, but not on language. When controlling for age and neonatal condition (being preterm or not), visual processing mediated the relation between gross motor skills and word comprehension as well as early communicative behavior. However, for fine motor skills, visual processing mediated the relation between fine motor skills and early communicative behavior but not word comprehension. The relations between motor skills and visual processing were more robust for the PT group than the FT group. Following developmental cascades, these findings suggest that motor skills contribute to language development through visual processing. These relations are prominent for preterm infants who have delays in motor skills. PT children's limited interactions with their environment due to problems in motor skills can be connected to delays in visual processing.