@conference{
author = "Savić, Maja and Anđelković, Darinka and Ševa, Nada",
year = "2024",
abstract = "The human body has a special status during the child's development because through the body
she learns about the world around her, but the body itself is also an object of the child’s
experience. Words that refer to body parts are among the first words in children’s vocabulary,
yet there are few studies on the development of body parts vocabulary. The study aimed to
explore the early acquisition of body part terms based on the adapted Serbian version of
MacArthur-Bates parent report inventories CDI I (8-18 months) and CDI II (19-30 months)
(Anđelković et al., 2017). 22 body parts items were listed in the CDI I inventory, and 28 (6
additional) body parts in the CDI II. In CDI I, 74 parents marked the words their children only
comprehend or comprehend and produce. In CDI II, another group of 73 parents marked only
the words their children produced. The mean number of comprehended words for children aged
8–18 months was 5.9 (SD = 5.7, range 0–19), but 24% of children did not understand any body
part word. The mean number of words comprehended and produced was 1.3 (SD = 3.8, range
0-19), but 83% of children did not produce any body part word. To follow more precisely
developmental trends, children were grouped into four age categories: 8-9, 10-12, 13-15 and
16-18 months. Analysis of variance revealed that the average number of comprehended body
part words per participant significantly increased with age, F(3, 70) = 17.58, p < .001, ηp
2 =
.43. Significant age effect was also obtained for the average number of produced words, F(3,
70) = 6.72, p < .001, ηp
2 = .22. In the sample of children aged 19–30 months, the mean number
of words produced was 16.3 (SD = 8.4, range 0-27), but 9% of children did not produce any
body part word. This sample was also divided into four age categories: 19-21, 22-24, 25-27
and 28-30 months. Analysis of variance with the average number of produced body parts words
per participant significantly increased with age, F(3, 69) = 7.74, p < .001, ηp
2 = .25. As in
previous studies, the first comprehended and produced words refer to body parts that are
perceptually salient and included in a child’s everyday routines: leg, mouth, tummy, hand, and
finger. However, the words less conspicuous from the child's perspective regarding experience
and perception were also recorded, which reveals the importance of playful verbal interaction
sequences with adults (e.g., head, tooth).",
publisher = "Beograd : Filozofski fakultet",
journal = "XXX scientific conference: Empirical studies in psychology,",
title = "Early development of body parts vocabulary in Serbian: parent report data",
pages = "83-83",
url = "https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_ipir_1090"
}
