Twelve-month-olds' comprehension and production of pointing.
Journal Article
This study explored whether infants aged 12 months already recognize the communicative function of pointing gestures. Infants participated in a task requiring them to comprehend an adult's informative pointing gesture to the location of a hidden toy. They mostly succeeded in this task, which required them to infer that the adult was attempting to direct their attention to a location for a reason - because she wanted them to know that a toy was hidden there. Many of the infants also reversed roles and produced appropriate pointing gestures for the adult in this same game, and indeed there was a correlation such that comprehenders were for the most part producers. These findings indicate that by 12 months of age infants are beginning to show a bidirectional understanding of communicative pointing.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Behne, T; Liszkowski, U; Carpenter, M; Tomasello, M
Published Date
- September 2012
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 30 / Pt 3
Start / End Page
- 359 - 375
PubMed ID
- 22882368
Pubmed Central ID
- 22882368
Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)
- 2044-835X
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 0261-510X
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1111/j.2044-835x.2011.02043.x
Language
- eng