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Pointing to others: How the target gender influences pointing performance
Laurent Cleret de Langavant1,2,3,4, Charlotte Jacquemot1,2,3, Virginie Cruveiller1,2
1a INSERM U955 Equipe E01, Neuropsychologie Interventionnelle , Créteil , France.
Abstract:
Pointing is a communicative gesture that allows individuals to share information about surrounding objects with other humans. Patients with heterotopagnosia are specifically impaired in pointing to other humans' body parts but not in pointing to themselves or to objects. Here, we describe a female patient with heterotopagnosia who was more accurate in pointing to men's body parts than to women's body parts. We replicated this gender effect in healthy participants with faster reaction times for pointing to men's body parts than to women's body parts. We discuss the role of gender stereotypes in explaining why it is more difficult to point to women than to men.
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