Contemporary theoretical perspectives on the infant pointing gesture
Year: 2009
Type: article
Abstract: Human beings communication relies on complex\nand multisensory systems. We use a wide range\nof cues to communicate, from facial expressions\nand different gestures, up to the most complex ex-\npressed in linguistic senses. Infants before acquire\nlanguage, depend on gestures like pointing to make\nthem understand. To point is a referential act, con-\nceptually defined as the action that an individual\nrealizes to give a direct indication to another one,\nconcerning a specific object. It is a triadic transac-\ntion which involves an emitter, a recipient and an\nobject, event or place of interest. This work focuses\non pointing classification, its ontogeny, why and for\nwhat children points, which mechanisms are invol-\nved, and refers to the contribution of comparative\npsychology to the issue. The actual controversy\nbetween rich and lean interpretations of pointing\ngesture is discussed. Systematic studies on the\norigin and development of pointing, successful\ntreatments of children with problems on earlier\ncommunication and non human primates raised in\ncaptivity using gestures support the associative and\nsocial learning based thesis.
Authors: Elgier, Ãngel M., Mustaca, Alba E.
Institution: Institute for Medical Research
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1589386343