Development of pointing as a social gesture.

Abstract

This study sought to discover the age at which infants call interesting objects to another's attention by pointing, to relate their ability to follow another's pointing to their own use of the gesture, and to compare the uses of pointing and reaching. Infants between 10.5 and 16.5 months of age were studied with their mothers in a setting containing six special stimulus objects. By 12.5 months, a majority of infants pointed, usually vocalizing or looking at their partner while pointing. The communicative function of the gesture was further established by the partner's response of verbal acknowledgment and looking at the object. The ability to follow another's points seemed to be acquired before the infants began to point but improved with their own use of the gesture. Reaching partook of the behaviors associated with pointing but developed earlier and decreased as pointing increased. The data show that at an early age infants exhibit an elementary form of the ability to take the visual perspective of others. When adults point to an event or object of interest at some distance, they extend an arm and index finger toward it, usually comment briefly on what is being singled out, and then check to see that their partner is looking in the correct direction. Thus, the act of pointing can be said to consist of three components: the gesture itself, a relevant verbal utterance, and visual monitoring of the intended recipient of the message. At what age do children begin to point spontaneously for apparently the same purpose