Abstract
We investigated whether infants comprehend others' nonverbal Communicative intentions directed to a third person, in an 'over-hearing' context. An experimenter addressed an assistant and indicated a hidden toy's location by either gazing ostensively or pointing to the location for her. In a Matched control condition, the experimenter performed similar behaviors (absent-minded gazing and extended index finger) but did not Communicate ostensively with the assistant. Infants could then search for the toy. Eighteen-month-old infants were skillful in using both communicative Cues to find the hidden object, whereas 14-month-olds performed above chance only with the pointing cue. Neither age group performed above chance in the control condition. This study thus shows that by 14-18 months of age, infants are beginning to monitor and comprehend some aspects of third party interactions. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 23-33 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Cognitive Development |
Volume | 24 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2009 |
Keywords
- Preverbal development
- Communicative intentions
- Overhearing
- Nonverbal gestures
- LEARNING WORDS
- INFANTS
- OVERHEARING
- CHILDREN
- EYES