One-year-olds comprehend the communicative intentions behind gestures in a hiding game

by: Tanya Behne, Malinda Carpenter, Michael Tomasello

Developmental Science, Vol. 8, No. 6. (November 2005), pp. 492-499.

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Blackwell Synergy, DOI, IngentaConnect

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Abstract

This study explored infants' ability to infer communicative intent as expressed in non-linguistic gestures. Sixty children aged 14, 18 and 24 months participated. In the context of a hiding game, an adult indicated for the child the location of a hidden toy by giving a communicative cue: either pointing or ostensive gazing toward the container containing the toy. To succeed in this task children had to do more than just follow the point or gaze to the target container. They also had to infer that the adult's behaviour was relevant to the situation at hand – she wanted to inform them that the toy was inside the container toward which she gestured. Children at all three ages successfully used both types of cues. We conclude that infants as young as 14 months of age can, in some situations, interpret an adult behaviour as a relevant communicative act done for them.

@article{BehneETAL2005IntentionGesture, abstract = {This study explored infants' ability to infer communicative intent as expressed in non-linguistic gestures. Sixty children aged 14, 18 and 24 months participated. In the context of a hiding game, an adult indicated for the child the location of a hidden toy by giving a communicative cue: either pointing or ostensive gazing toward the container containing the toy. To succeed in this task children had to do more than just follow the point or gaze to the target container. They also had to infer that the adult's behaviour was relevant to the situation at hand – she wanted to inform them that the toy was inside the container toward which she gestured. Children at all three ages successfully used both types of cues. We conclude that infants as young as 14 months of age can, in some situations, interpret an adult behaviour as a relevant communicative act done for them.}, author = {Behne, Tanya and Carpenter, Malinda and Tomasello, Michael }, citeulike-article-id = {392861}, doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2005.00440.x}, issn = {1363-755X}, journal = {Developmental Science}, keywords = {\_d\_other-modeling, coordination, shared-intention}, month = {November}, number = {6}, pages = {492--499}, posted-at = {2007-05-04 16:48:07}, priority = {4}, publisher = {Blackwell Publishing}, title = {One-year-olds comprehend the communicative intentions behind gestures in a hiding game}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2005.00440.x}, volume = {8}, year = {2005} }

RIS record

TY - JOUR ID - BehneETAL2005IntentionGesture L3 - citeulike-article-id:392861 TI - One-year-olds comprehend the communicative intentions behind gestures in a hiding game JF - Developmental Science VL - 8 IS - 6 SP - 492 EP - 499 PB - Blackwell Publishing SN - 1363-755X N2 - This study explored infants' ability to infer communicative intent as expressed in non-linguistic gestures. Sixty children aged 14, 18 and 24 months participated. In the context of a hiding game, an adult indicated for the child the location of a hidden toy by giving a communicative cue: either pointing or ostensive gazing toward the container containing the toy. To succeed in this task children had to do more than just follow the point or gaze to the target container. They also had to infer that the adult's behaviour was relevant to the situation at hand – she wanted to inform them that the toy was inside the container toward which she gestured. Children at all three ages successfully used both types of cues. We conclude that infants as young as 14 months of age can, in some situations, interpret an adult behaviour as a relevant communicative act done for them. KW - _d_other-modeling KW - coordination KW - shared-intention AU - Behne, Tanya AU - Carpenter, Malinda AU - Tomasello, Michael PY - 2005/11// UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2005.00440.x ER -

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