Infants use shared experience to interpret pointing gestures.
We investigated whether 1-year-old infants use their shared experience with an adult to determine the meaning of a pointing gesture. In the first study, after two adults had each shared a different activity with the infant, one of the adults pointed to a target object. Eighteen- but not 14-month-olds responded appropriately to the pointing gesture based on the particular activity they had previously shared with that particular adult. In the second study, 14-month-olds were successful in a simpler procedure in which the pointing adult either had or had not shared a relevant activity with the infant prior to the pointing. Infants just beginning to learn language thus already show a complex understanding of the pragmatics of cooperative communication in which shared experience with particular individuals plays a crucial role.
Liebal
Kristin
K
Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany. kliebal@eva.mpg.de
Behne
Tanya
T
Carpenter
Malinda
M
Tomasello
Michael
M
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002657:Child Development; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005868:Gestures; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D018730:Infant Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D009633:Nonverbal Communication