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Getting away from the point: the emergence of ostensive gestures and their functions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2019

Ana MORENO-NÚÑEZ Open the ORCID record for Ana MORENO-NÚÑEZ [Opens in a new window] ,
Cintia RODRÍGUEZ  and
Edgardo MIRANDA-ZAPATA
Ana MORENO-NÚÑEZ*
Affiliation:
Facultad de Psicología, Departamento Interfacultativo de Psicología Evolutiva y de la Educación, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Cintia RODRÍGUEZ
Affiliation:
Facultad de Psicología, Departamento Interfacultativo de Psicología Evolutiva y de la Educación, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Edgardo MIRANDA-ZAPATA
Affiliation:
Núcleo de Ciencias Sociales, Laboratorio de Investigación en Ciencias Sociales Aplicadas, Universidad de la Frontera, Temuco, Chile
*
*Corresponding author: Calle Ivan Pavlov, 6, Campus de Cantoblanco – 28049, Madrid, Spain. E-mail: ana.moreno@uam.es
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Abstract

Within developmental psychology, pointing gestures have received a great deal of attention, while ostensive gestures have been overlooked in terms of their emergence and intentionality. In a longitudinal and micro-genetic study with six children at 9, 11, and 13 months of age, we codified gesture production of children within second-by-second data frames. We identified 480 instances of gestures and categorised whether they were of ostensive, ostensive–indexical, or indexical nature. We specified the communicative function of each gesture by analysing the object involved and their circumstances of production. Data analysis include frequencies, binomial tests, proportion comparisons, and repeated measures ANOVA. We identified a phatic function in other-directed gestures, as well as exploratory and private functions in self-directed gestures. This has important implications for child development since ostensive gestures are easier to produce and to understand than pointing. The consideration of objects would be essential for defining the communicative function of gestures.

Keywords

early ostensive gesturesself-directed gesturescommunicative functions of gestures
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 47 , Issue 3 , May 2020 , pp. 556 - 578
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

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