Pointing in the Context of a Shared Activity

MURPHY, CATHERINE M. Pointing in the Context of Shared Activity. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1978, 49, 371-380. Using microanalytic techniques, this study examines the role of pointing in the context of a dyadic interaction. Infants of 9, 14, 20, and 24 months were observed looking at picture books with their mothers. The integration of pointing with verbal and visual behaviors together with activities pertaining to the task, such as page turning, are described. Pointing emerges at 9 months but is not integrated with vocal activity until 14 months. Mothers synchronize their own pointing and verbal labeling from 9 months upward; however, from 2 years on it is the child who is asked to name the referent. The evidence also suggests that pointing and its concomitant behaviors are considerably influenced by a variety of factors-some arising from the situation in which the dyad is placed, others relating to the age of the infant.