Pointing as epistemic request: 12-month-olds point to receive new information

TitlePointing as epistemic request: 12-month-olds point to receive new information
Publication TypeJournal Article
AuthorsKovács, Ágnes Melinda, T. Tauzin, E. Téglás, Gy. Gergely, and G. Csibra
Journal titleInfancy
Year2014
Pages543-557
Volume19
Issue6
Abstract

Infants start pointing systematically to objects or events around their first birthday. It has been proposed that infants point to an event in order to share their appreciation of it with others. In the current study, we tested another hypothesis, according to which infants' pointing could also serve as an epistemic request directed to the adult. Thus, infants' motivation for pointing could include the expectation that adults would provide new information about the referent. In two experiments, an adult reacted to 12-month-olds’ pointing gestures by exhibiting 'informing' or 'sharing' behavior. In response, infants pointed more frequently across trials in the informing than in the sharing condition. This suggests that the feedback that contained new information matched infants' expectations more than mere attention sharing. Such a result is consistent with the idea that not just the comprehension but also the production of early communicative signals is tuned to assist infants' learning from others.

ISSN1525-0008
LanguageEnglish
DOIDOI: 10.1111/infa.12060
Publisher linkhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/infa.12060/abstract
Unit: 
Cognitive Development Center (CDC)
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