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ERIC Number: EJ763191
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007
Pages: 6
Abstractor: Author
Reference Count: 16
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0009-3920
Infant Pointing: Communication to Cooperate or Communication to Learn?
Southgate, Victoria; van Maanen, Catharine; Csibra, Gergely
Child Development, v78 n3 p735-740 May-Jun 2007
Tomasello, Carpenter, and Liszkowski (2007) present compelling data to support the view that infant pointing, from the outset, is communicative and deployed in many of the same situations in which adults would ordinarily point for one another, either to share their interest in something, or to informatively help the other person. This commentary concurs with the view that infant pointing is a communicative gesture, but challenges their interpretation of the motives behind pointing in 12-month-olds. An alternative account is proposed, according to which infant pointing is neither declarative nor imperative, but interrogative, and rather than being driven by the motive to share or help, it may serve a powerful cultural learning mechanism by which infants can obtain information from knowledgeable adults.
Blackwell Publishing. 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148. Tel: 800-835-6770; Tel: 781-388-8599; Fax: 781-388-8232; e-mail: customerservices@blackwellpublishing.com; Web site: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/jnl_default.asp
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: European Commission, Brussels (Belgium).
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers: N/A