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Infants' use of shared experience in declarative pointing

Publication ,  Journal Article
Liebal, K; Carpenter, M; Tomasello, M
Published in: Infancy
September 1, 2010

In this study, we asked whether 14- and 18-month-old infants use the experiences they have previously shared with others when deciding what to point to for them declaratively. After sharing a particular type of referent with an adult in an excited manner, 18-month-olds subsequently found a picture of that type of referent more worthy of declarative pointing than some other picture-but only for that adult, not for a different adult. Mixed results were found with 14-month-olds. We thus show that by 18 months, infants accurately track their shared experiences with specific individuals and use this to make communicative decisions. These results also demonstrate that infants sometimes use declarative pointing to indicate not totally "new" things, as in the classic formulation, but things which are "old" in the sense that "we" should recognize them as similar to something we have previously shared. © International Society on Infant Studies (ISIS).

Duke Scholars

Published In

Infancy

DOI

EISSN

1532-7078

ISSN

1525-0008

Publication Date

September 1, 2010

Volume

15

Issue

5

Start / End Page

545 / 556

Related Subject Headings

  • Developmental & Child Psychology
  • 5201 Applied and developmental psychology
  • 3213 Paediatrics
  • 1701 Psychology
 

Citation

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ICMJE
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Liebal, K., Carpenter, M., & Tomasello, M. (2010). Infants' use of shared experience in declarative pointing. Infancy, 15(5), 545–556. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-7078.2009.00028.x
Liebal, K., M. Carpenter, and M. Tomasello. “Infants' use of shared experience in declarative pointing.” Infancy 15, no. 5 (September 1, 2010): 545–56. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-7078.2009.00028.x.
Liebal K, Carpenter M, Tomasello M. Infants' use of shared experience in declarative pointing. Infancy. 2010 Sep 1;15(5):545–56.
Liebal, K., et al. “Infants' use of shared experience in declarative pointing.” Infancy, vol. 15, no. 5, Sept. 2010, pp. 545–56. Scopus, doi:10.1111/j.1532-7078.2009.00028.x.
Liebal K, Carpenter M, Tomasello M. Infants' use of shared experience in declarative pointing. Infancy. 2010 Sep 1;15(5):545–556.
Journal cover image

Published In

Infancy

DOI

EISSN

1532-7078

ISSN

1525-0008

Publication Date

September 1, 2010

Volume

15

Issue

5

Start / End Page

545 / 556

Related Subject Headings

  • Developmental & Child Psychology
  • 5201 Applied and developmental psychology
  • 3213 Paediatrics
  • 1701 Psychology