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Author Spotlight: Deciphering the Cognitive and Neural Mechanisms of Gesture in Communication
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Talking About the Absent and the Abstract: Referential Communication in Language and Gesture.

Elena Luchkina1,2, Sandra Waxman1,2

  • 1Department of Psychology, Northwestern University.

Perspectives on Psychological Science : a Journal of the Association for Psychological Science
|August 21, 2023
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

We propose that a referential link enables language to convey absent information. This capability, crucial for learning abstract concepts, develops early in humans and shows parallels in primate gestures.

Keywords:
absent referenceabstract referencegestureinfantslanguage acquisitionprimates

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Science
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Linguistics

Background:

  • Human language uniquely allows discussion of absent or abstract concepts.
  • A referential link between words, referents, and mental representations is proposed as the mechanism.
  • This link facilitates "absent reference," enabling access to non-present information.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the developmental and evolutionary origins of absent reference.
  • To integrate research on absent reference in human language and gesture.
  • To examine absent reference in nonhuman primate gesture.

Main Methods:

  • Review of developmental literature on infant language acquisition.
  • Analysis of infant gesture studies.
  • Examination of nonhuman primate gesture research.

Main Results:

  • Absent reference acquisition in infants is linked to language development.
  • Evidence for absent reference is found in infant and primate gestures.
  • Parallels exist between human and primate gestural communication regarding absent reference.

Conclusions:

  • The referential link is fundamental for absent reference and abstract thought.
  • Understanding absent reference requires integrating human and nonhuman primate studies.
  • Future research can clarify the development of reference and abstract learning.