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Author Spotlight: Deciphering the Cognitive and Neural Mechanisms of Gesture in Communication
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Young children create iconic gestures to inform others
Tanya Behne1, Malinda Carpenter2, Michael Tomasello2
1Department of Developmental Psychology.
Developmental Psychology
|July 1, 2014
Summary
Young children can create novel iconic gestures to inform others. This ability develops early, supporting symbolic, linguistic, and social-cognitive growth in toddlers.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Linguistics
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Deictic gestures like pointing are well-studied in young children.
- Less is known about children's use and creation of iconic or symbolic gestures.
- The ability of children to spontaneously create gestures to inform others is largely unexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether young children can create novel iconic gestures to inform others.
- To examine the developmental trajectory of spontaneous iconic gesture production.
- To understand the relationship between gesture creation and broader cognitive development.
Main Methods:
- Study 1: 27-month-old children were tasked with informing a novice about a task.
- Study 1: Compared gesture production in an informative condition versus a control condition.
- Study 2: Tested 21-month-old children on spontaneous iconic gesture creation.
Main Results:
- The majority of 27-month-olds created appropriate iconic gestures when the need to inform was present.
- Children created significantly more iconic gestures in the informative condition than in the control.
- A subset of 21-month-olds also created novel iconic gestures, though less frequently.
Conclusions:
- Young children possess the ability to spontaneously create iconic gestures to convey information.
- This capability emerges by at least 21 months of age and strengthens by 27 months.
- Spontaneous iconic gesture production is linked to children's symbolic, linguistic, and social-cognitive development.
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