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Two-year-old children's sensitivity to the referential (in)efficacy of their own pointing gestures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 March 2001

DANIELA K. O'NEILL  and
JANE C. TOPOLOVEC
DANIELA K. O'NEILL
Affiliation:
MRC Cognitive Development Unit, London, England University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada
JANE C. TOPOLOVEC
Affiliation:
University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada
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Abstract

In three studies, two-year-old children communicated to a parent which of two out-of-reach objects contained a sticker. Across trials, the objects were positioned in different configurations so that it was possible or impossible for a child's pointing gesture to unambiguously specify one object. In Study 1, the objects used were two boxes distinguished by a different picture of a vehicle on the front, and children (n = 16; mean age 2;8) were significantly more likely to name the box's picture on trials where pointing alone could not unambiguously specify the box than on trials where it could. In Studies 2 and 3, the stickers were hidden inside different animal figures. Older two-year-olds (n = 16, mean age 2;9), but not younger two-year-olds (n = 16, mean age 2;4), showed an ability to recognize the referential (in)efficacy of their pointing gestures and to adapt their communication accordingly.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 28 , Issue 1 , February 2001 , pp. 1 - 28
Copyright
© 2001 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

This research was funded by a postdoctoral fellowship and a research grant awarded to DKO from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Author DKO also gratefully acknowledges the support of the researchers and staff of the MRC Cognitive Development Unit in London, England where she conducted her postdoctoral work. The authors sincerely thank the parents and children from London (England) and Kitchener-Waterloo (Canada) whose participation made this research possible.