Pointing


Pointing is a gesture specifying a direction from a person's body, usually indicating a location, person, event, thing or idea. It typically is formed by extending the arm, hand, and index finger, although it may be functionally similar to other hand gestures. Types of pointing may be subdivided according to the intention of the person, as well as by the linguistic function it serves.
Pointing typically develops within the first two years of life in humans, and plays an important role in language development and reading in children. It is central to the use of sign language, with a large number of signs being some variation on pointing. The nature of pointing may differ for children who have autism or who are deaf, and may also vary by gender. It is typically not observed in children who are blind from birth.
Pointing may vary substantially across cultures, with some having many distinct types of pointing, both with regard to the physical gestures employed and their interpretation. Pointing, especially at other people, may be considered inappropriate or rude in certain contexts and in many cultures. It is generally regarded as a species-specific human feature that does not normally occur in other primates in the wild. It has been observed in animals in captivity; however, there is disagreement on the nature of this non-human pointing.

Definition and types

The primary purpose of pointing is to indicate a direction, location, event or thing relative to a person. Pointing is typically defined as having either three or four essential elements:
  1. Extension of the index finger;
  2. Flexing the remaining fingers into the palm, possibly with the thumb to the side;
  3. Usually, but not always, the pronation of the palm to face downward, or to face the mid-line of the body; and
  4. Extension of the arm.
Gestures that do not meet these three or four criteria are usually classified as a "reach" or an "indicative gesture", although there is no clear consensus on how to differentiate between the two. Additionally, there may be little or no behavioral or functional difference depending on whether a gesture is considered to be pointing, reaching, or otherwise indicative, and reaching may be considered a form of whole-hand pointing. In one review, 11 separate definitions were identified for the related motions of reach, reaching out, reaching, indicating, and indicates.

Imperative, declarative and interrogative pointing

Types of pointing are traditionally further divided by purpose, between imperative and declarative pointing. Imperative pointing is pointing to make a request for an object, while declarative pointing is pointing to declare, to comment on an object. As Kovacs and colleagues phrase it, "'Give that to me' vs. 'I like that'". This division is similar to that made by Harris and Butterworth between "giving" and "communicative" pointing. Determining the intention of pointing in infants is done by considering three factors:
  1. Whether the behavior is direct toward another,
  2. Whether it includes "visual-orientation behaviors" such as observing the recipient of the pointing in addition to the object pointed to, and
  3. Whether the gesture is repeated if it fails to achieve the intended effect on the recipient.
Declarative pointing may further be divided into declarative expressive pointing, to express feelings about a thing, and declarative interrogative pointing, to seek information about a thing. However, according to Kovacs and colleagues interrogative pointing is clearly different from declarative pointing, since its function is to gain new information about a referent to learn from a knowledgeable addressee. Therefore, unlike declarative pointing, interrogative pointing implies an asymmetric epistemic relation between communicative partners.

Linguistic function

Types of communicative pointing may be divided by linguistic function into three main groups:
  1. Objective pointing: pointing to an object within the visual field of both the pointer and the receiver, such as pointing to a chair which is physically present
  2. Syntactic or anaphoric pointing: pointing to linguistic entities or expressions previously identified, such as pointing to the chair which is not physically present
  3. Imaginative pointing: pointing to things that exist in the imagination, such as pointing to a fictional or remembered chair
Additionally, pointing in children who are deaf may be divided between deictic or "natural" pointing, which is shared with hearing children, and symbolic pointing used specifically in sign language, learned by observing and imitating others who sign.

Development

Pointing is the first communicative gesture that develops in human infants. It is not clear to what extent the behavior may first emerge as a form of meaningless ritualization, whether some infants may comprehend and visually follow the pointing of others without yet pointing themselves, or whether pointing begins as a form of meaningful imitation, where an infant learns they can produce the same effect in adults as adult produce in them, by mimicking the action of pointing, and drawing attention to an object.
Pointing generally emerges within the first two years of life, weeks prior to a baby's first spoken word, and plays a central role in language acquisition. The onset of pointing behavior is typically between seven and 15 months of age, with an average of between 11 months and one year. By eight months, parents reported that 33% of babies exhibited pointing behaviors, with pointing to nearby objects usually occurring by 11 months, and pointing to more distant object by 13 months. By one year of age, more than half of children will exhibit pointing behavior.
As early as 10 months of age, children have been shown to spend more time being attentive to novel objects when they are pointed to by others, when compared to objects that are merely presented to them. This time is increased if the object is also labelled verbally. Pointing by children is associated with a high rate of verbal response from adults, specifically labeling the object pointed to. This interaction allows the child to check for words labeling objects they do not yet know, and, when combined with declarative verbal statements on the part of the child, may allow them verify the accuracy of words they have already learned.
Infants may begin to point in situations where no one else is present, as a form of egocentric expression, termed "pointing-for-self". This is differentiated from "pointing-for-others" which is done while looking at a "recipient" of the pointing, and done as a communicative gesture. Kita specifies this variety of pointing in the context of being a deictic gesture, which is done for the benefit of an audience, as distinct from what are deemed "superficially similar behaviors". Demonstrating this, as they mature infants will first point at an object, and then visually verify whether the recipient is being attentive to the object, and by 15 months of age, will first verify that they have the attention of the recipient, and only then point as a means of redirecting that attention.
Children are more likely to point for adults who respond positively to the gesture. At 16 months they are less likely to point for adults who are shown to be unreliable, adults who have mislabeled objects the children already know the correct word for. At two years of age, children have been shown to be more likely to point for adults than for children their own age.

Relationship with language

A meta-analysis by Colonnesi and colleagues found a strong relationship between pointing and language, including between pointing at an early age and language ability in later life, and pointing at an early age as a predictor of two-word vocal combinations. They concluded that only a "few studies" had not found a strong correlation between pointing and the development of language. Research has also shown that the frequency of communicative pointing from ages 9 months to 12.5 months was positively correlated with vocabulary size for children at age two. The relationship between language development and pointing tends to be stronger in studies which examined declarative pointing specifically or pointing generally, rather than imperative pointing.
In school age children, finger-pointing-reading can play an important role in reading development, by helping to emphasize the association between the spoken and printed word, and encouraging children to be attentive to the meaning of text.

Deaf speakers of sign language

Pointing plays an important role in sign language, which as much as 25% of signs being a variation of pointing. Children who are deaf have been shown to begin pointing at a similar age to non-deaf children, but this did not confer any advantage in the acquisition of pronouns in American Sign Language.
Initial observations give some indication that deaf children acquiring the use of American Sign Language may exhibit self-pointing behavior earlier than hearing children who are acquiring speech. Pointing to a location begins being deictic for deaf children and hearing alike, but becomes lexicalized for more mature signers. There is a distinction between linguistic pointing in ASL and gestural pointing by deaf users, the latter being identical for deaf and hearing people.
One small-scale study found that the errors in pointing behavior produced by autistic deaf children and autistic hearing children were similar. Both deaf and hearing children use pointing abundantly while learning language, and initially for the same reason, although that starts to diverge as deaf children acquire signs. Pre-verbal hearing infants use pointing extensively, and use a combination of one word plus one gesture before they can produce a two-word sentence. Another study looked at deaf Japanese infants acquiring language from ages four months to two years, and found that the infants moved from duos to two-sign combinations where they referred to two different things. As they grew, the latter grew more frequent and led to the development of two-sign sentences in Japanese Sign Language.