The Research

The Baby Signs® program- a product of 20 years of research - is the only sign language program for babies that has been thoroughly tested in carefully designed, federally-funded research studies with hundreds of families to be sure that it will have positive rather than negative effects on your baby's future development.

In a long term, NIH-sponsored study, the researchers compared families who had experienced Baby Signs® and families who had not. As the children just finished 2nd grade, the researcher assessed each of them with a standard IQ test called the WISC-III and were astonished to discover a statistically significant, 12 point IQ advantage for the children who had experienced Baby Signing during infancy! In more familiar terms, the non-Baby Signers were performing just about how you'd expect 8-year-olds to score. In contrast, the Baby Sign alums were performing on the average more like 9-year-olds! Apparently, the "jump start" from Baby Signs kept these children moving in a very positive cognitive direction.

About the researchers:

Linda Acredolo, Ph.D. is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis. She has also served as secretary of the Society for Research in Child Development, and as associate editor of Child Development, the leading professional research journal.

Susan Goodwyn, Ph.D. is a professor of psychology and child development at California State University, Stanislaus, and an associate researcher at the University of California. They have received many research grants, including an award from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Both authors live and work in California.

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