Developing gestures fornoandyes

Abstract

Yesandno, or acceptance and refusal, are widespread communicative skills that are common across cultures. Although nodding and shaking the head are common ways to express these seemingly simple responses, these gestures develop later than others such as pointing. We analyzed diary observations from eight infants to investigate the origins of these gestures, why they develop later than other early gestures, and why nodding the head to indicateyesdevelops later than shaking the head forno. We found that young infants were able to shake their heads side-to-side, but they did not use this movement to communicate refusals at first. Infants had difficulty learning the nodding movement, but they could perform the physical movement before using it to communicateyes. These gestures developed along different trajectories with shaking the head fornoemerging between 13 and 15 months and nodding foryesbetween 16 and 18 months.

Nodding and note-taking

“…Nodding seems like a simple gesture. Kettner and Carpendale (2013) point out, however, that nodding develops relatively late with children even though they have the motor skills required to produce nods and nodding is the only gesture missing from congenitally blind children. Traditionally (e.g., Darwin 2009Darwin [1890 ;Spitz 1957), the origin of gestures of shaking the head for indicating negation and nodding the head for indicating affirmation has been traced to nursing (turning the head away or toward the breast).…”

“…Modern research, however, does not seem to support this hypothesis. According to Kettner and Carpendale (2013), nodding develops relatively late with infants because it is responsive to a previous utterance and is learned through participating in conversation and turn-taking.…”

Headbang: Using Head Gestures to Trigger Discrete Actions on Mobile Devices

“…Head gestures are a common communication method when people interact with each other. For example, nodding and shaking are used to express yes or no [16], or more complex messages such as acknowledgment or disinterest [24]. In HCI, head gestures were also explored to be used as input technique [21], especially for users with limited arm mobility, e.g., to control wheelchairs [7,22].…”

“…As we conducted the study in order to find out whether Headbang can be used as a reliable modality for selecting menu actions, we used the Input Techniqe [Headbang, Device Tilt, Touch Pie, Touch List] and the Menu Size [8,12,16] as independent variable. As dependent variables we measured Success [0,1] if the correct items was selected, and the task completion Time [s] for each trial.…”

“…Head movement is a common social communication method [16,24] that has also been used to interact with interactive systems. For example, to move a cursor on a desktop computer [11], as command gestures while using head-mounted displays [41], or to interact with mobile devices [8].…”