Talk the talk and walk the walk: Diversity and culture impact all of development – A commentary on Kidd and Garcia (2022)

Abstract

Research on early language abilities, much like psychology more broadly, has focused almost exclusively on infants from English and Indo-European languages, thereby limiting understanding of the role of varying linguistic experience that supports language abilities. We underscore Kidd and Garcia’s call to expand, diversify, and globalize language research. Using examples from motor development in which universality has long been assumed, we argue that embracing a cross-cultural perspective enriches theories of development more broadly. We conclude with suggestions for future directions.