• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.19-36
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to firstly, investigate the relationship between infants' communicative gestures, play and maternal responsiveness and secondly, to examine the role of maternal responsiveness in the associations between infants' communicative gestures and play. The subjects comprised 42 infants (21 boys and 21 girls) and their mothers. The infants' communicative gestures, the infants' play and maternal responsiveness were observed during free play sessions lasting 20 minutes. The results are as follows. Mothers of girls showed higher levels of responsiveness than the mothers of boys. In addition, here were positive correlations between infants' communicative gestures, play and maternal responsiveness. Maternal responsiveness was observed to moderate the effects of infants' communicative gestures on the infants' average level of play. These results indicate that it is important for caregivers to interpret infants' communicative intentions appropriately and respond promptly and adequately in play situations.