Intentional Communication

Question 1

What is intentional communication?

Answer 1

Communication w/ a distinct topic that is orientated to real/ conceptual objects or even

Question 2

What is pre-intentional communication

Answer 2

Expressive (crying, laughing, babbling)

Question 3

What is intentional?

Answer 3

Denotive or about something (words, pointing, reaching arms up to be picked up).

Question 4

Types of developments occur in communication in the first year?

Answer 4

Vocal Production
Non-speech vocal communication (cries, laughter, squeals)
Speech and speech-like vocalisations

Perception
Phonemic discriminations

Manual gestures
Production of intentional gestures = pointing, begging, requests to be picked up

Question 5

What happens in 0-2mths in babies in intentional development?

Answer 5

Shared alertness (Reflexes)

Social awakening = interested in inanimate objects + interacting with people

Question 6

What happens in 2-6mths in babies in intentional development?

Answer 6

Interpersonal engagement (Primary Intersubjectivity: one on one interaction with the mother)

Question 7

What happens in 6-9mths in babies in intentional development?

Answer 7

Joint objective involvement (Epoch of Games)

Question 8

What happens in 9-10mths in babies in intentional development?

Answer 8

secondary intersubjectivity
Younger infants (e.g 6mths) fixate pointing hand

Attempts speech

Lose interest w/ interacting w/ people bc hand coordination improved + object focused.

Triadic communication between the mother, infant and object

Question 9

What happens in 11-13mths in babies in intentional development?

Answer 9

Productive pointing relatively low levels of visual orientating towards social agent

Question 10

What happens in 12mths in babies in intentional development?

Answer 10

First words

Question 11

What happens in 14-15mths in babies in intentional development?

Answer 11

Productive pointing w/ visual checking of companions
Comprehends pointing, far objects

Question 12

What do Adamson and Bateman (1991) argue?

Answer 12

When born = can’t be separated from mother
After 2 months = dyadic communication, interaction w/ mother + infant
After 6 months = triadic communication, interaction w/ mother, infant + objects

Question 13

What happens in Leavens and Todd’s unpublished experiment?

Answer 13

Infant = seated in highchair next to mother who is sitting in a chair
Across the room, 2.5m = 2 dolls that can be animated from separate control rooms
6mths = look at mum’s reaction, doesn’t communicate what happened + passive

12mths = pointing to the dolls before experimenter leaves the room, child responds to waves goodbye + large response to animation of the doll

Question 14

What is protoimperative pointing?

Answer 14

Pointing to demand/claim something

Question 15

Describe the protoimperative pointing with an example

Answer 15

Goal-directed behaviour, blocked goal = reaching for an apple out of reach.

Attention-getting behaviour = looks to mum; if not looking, the child will cry = tailored for the attentional status of the mother

Response waiting = establishes eye contact w/ mother.

Referential/ directive (visual) gesture = using a pointing gesture to direct the adult’s attention to the apple

Demonstrates gaze alteration between goal + mother
If mother doesn’t respond = child will persist + elaborate gesturing

Question 16

Describe the process of protoimperative pointing

Answer 16

Goal = delivery of food/object

Method = use of social partner

Reinforcer = delivery of item

Cognitive prerequisites = expectation that social partner will deliver requested items, based on past experiences; means-ends reasoning

Question 17

What is protodeclarative pointing?

Answer 17

Pointing to comment

Question 18

What is the lean interpretation of protodeclarative pointing?

Answer 18

Moore and Corkum (1994) = minority
Goal = affective response from caregiver (smiling)
Reinforcer = emotional signalling (e.g smile)
Cognitive prerequisites = expectation social partner will exhibit pos. emotion, based on past-experience, means end-reasoning

Question 19

What is the process of the rich interpretation of protodeclarative pointing?

Answer 19

Tomasello (1995)
Goal = join attention to distal object
Reinforcer = successful joint attention
Cognitive prerequisites = ability to represent others as beings w/ second-order representational thought

Signifies that children understand social partners have social attributes for psychological relationships w/ objects in their shared perceptual space

Question 20

What is the nativist view on pointing

Answer 20

Pointing is maturational and motivational.

Question 21

Name evidence supporting the nativist view on pointing

Answer 21

Butterworth (2003)
Pointing = evolutionary adaption + functional precursor to linguistic reference bc it is biologically based + species-specific.
Before we identify topics w/ words we use gestures
Differences in grip preferences in chimps and humans contributed to diff. in pointing postures

Polvinelli and Davis (1994)
Chimps don’t point with an index = whole hand
Argued bc human hand is biochemically poised for index finger extension - supported by Butterworth (2001) who thought pointing was a specialised human capacity

Stems from Darwin (1872)
Opposite postures signal opposite emotions
Antithesis in communication

Question 22

What are some critiques of the nativist perspective on pointing

Answer 22

Depends on rearing history
Language-trained appes point ↑ w/ index fingers than huamns E.g Leavens and Hopkins (1998;1999) = Human children show preference for whole hand pointing until 1 year old

Pointing w. whole hand is widespread human behaviour too = Kendon and Versante (2003)

Question 23

What is the cognitive perspective on pointing?

Answer 23

It is computational and representational.

Question 24

Describe supporting evidence for cognitive perspective on pointing.

Answer 24

Baron-Cohen (1995) = The clearest evidence for shared attention modules is gaze monitoring + protodeclaraticve pointing.

Tomasello (1995) = process of pointing e.g pointing w. alternation relies on understanding others as intentional agents w/ their own intentions + attentional focus points.

Question 25

What happened in Liszkowski et al.’s study (2004) and how does it provide evidence for the rich interpretation of the cognitive perspective on pointing?

Answer 25

75 babies, 12mths old
Four conditions

1. Joint attention (experimenter will turn to object, turn back + smile)
2. Face (experimenter didn’t not turn head but smiled)
3. Event (turned head but neutral face)
4. Ignore (no head turn, neutral face
   * Results
5. All trials except joint attention = significantly ↑ points (children got the response they wanted + satisfied their point was successful
6. 12mths = understood attention + independent attentional perspective of others

Question 26

What is some critiques of the cognitive perspective of pointing?

Answer 26

Moore and Corkum (1994)
* Babies could learn through operant conditioning
* Heads turn in Liszlowskis finding bc of the response from adult.

Findings are consistent with learning and representational accounts
* Liszkowskis findings ≠ challenge a learning based theoretical interpretation

Question 27

What is the social learning perspective on protodeclarative pointing?

Answer 27

Babies point bc caregivers reliably respond w/ intense burst of pos. emotion to babies communicative efforts e.g smiling

Question 28

Name evidence for the social learning perspective on pointing?

Answer 28

Adamson and Bakeman (1985)
* Babies (9-18mths) = pos. emotion during joint object play w/ their mothers

Kasari et al. (1990;1992)
* Babies 20-22mths = express ↑ pos. emotion joint attention than when requesting objects