Is Infant Initiation of Joint Attention by Pointing Affected by Type of Interaction?

Abstract

This article reports the results of two experiments studying the effects of type of interaction on infant production of declarative pointing. In Experiment 1, intensity of social presence was manipulated in adult-infant interaction with 12-19-month-olds (no social presence; adult responding only; adult also initiating joint attentional bids). Experiment 2 extended the analysis to peer interaction in 12-24-month-olds. Pointing was considered in the context of other gestures, vocalizations, and visual checking. The results show that pointing, but not vocalizing, virtually disappeared in the non-social condition, whereas differential effects between the adult-responding and initiating conditions were limited. Joint attentional bids were produced in peer interaction even in the younger age group, although overall the frequency of gestures was lower than that in adult-infant interaction. The results are discussed in the context of the relationship between communication and the infant developing social cognition.

Two‐year‐olds use adults' but not peers' points

“…However, drop‐out rates in studies investigating peer interactions are commonly higher in this age group (cf. Endedijk, Cillessen, Cox, Bekkering, & Hunnius, ; Franco et al., ) than studies testing children individually. Furthermore, we adopted relatively strict inclusion criteria, since we wanted to ensure that the children in the final analyses were generally attentive and had been motivated to engage in several turns of interaction with a peer.…”

“…Studies testing children's sharing behavior have provided evidence that children can use pointing and reaching gestures with familiar and unfamiliar peers to demand an object from as young as 12 months of age (Hay et al., ; Hay et al., ; Hepach et al., ). Franco, Perucchin, and March () tested the initiation of joint attention via pointing in same‐aged peer dyads at 12 and 24 months of age and directly contrasted children's performance in both age groups with an adult condition. Periods of joint attention were produced frequently in both age groups—although more often with adult than with peer partners.…”

The development and neural basis of pointing comprehension

“…The later ability, to follow others' pointing gestures, develops at the same time as infants start to point by themselves (Brooks & Meltzoff, 2008;Legerstee & Barillas, 2003;Leung & Rheingold, 1981;Liszkowski, Carpenter, Henning, Striano, & Tomasello, 2004;Liszkowski, Carpenter, & Tomasello, 2007a, 2007b and encode the relationship between a pointing hand and the goal of that hand gesture (Woodward & Guajardo, 2002). At this age, pointing already appears to be guided by declarative motives (Franco, Perucchini, & March, 2009;Legerstee & Barillas, 2003;Tomasello, Carpenter, & Liszkowski, 2007).…”

Deictic and other gestures in infancy

“…When an adult turned sideways and did not look at infants (and so could not possibly see the pointing gesture), infants pointed significantly less than when the adult was turned toward them and so could see and react to their visual gesture (Liszkowski, Albrecht, Carpenter, & Tomasello, 2008). Recently, Franco, Perucchini, and March (2009) further showed that infants point significantly less when the adult is absent compared to when she is present, and that infants do not only point in response to adults but also for peers. Together, these findings thus establish experimentally that 12-month-olds point with the intention to communicate.…”