P. Morissette et al., JOINT VISUAL-ATTENTION AND POINTING IN INFANCY - A LONGITUDINAL-STUDYOF COMPREHENSION, British journal of developmental psychology, 13, 1995, pp. 163-175
The aim of this study was to examine three questions about the infant
capabilities of establishing joint visual attention (JVA) and of under
standing pointing: when are infants able to look in the general direct
ion indicated by their mother (Ability 1)? When are they able to look
precisely at the indicated target (Ability 2)? Is there a fixed sequen
ce in the acquisition of these abilities between JVA and pointing? Twe
nty-four babies were seen longitudinally every three months between th
e age of 6 and 18 months. They were submitted to two conditions in whi
ch their mother either only gazed (JVA condition) or gazed and pointed
(pointing condition) at four identical targets, some being close to t
he mother and some at a greater distance. The results for JVA showed t
hat Ability 1 was present at 12 months and Ability 2 at 15 months when
the targets were close and at 18 months when they were away. The resu
lts for pointing showed that both abilities were present at 15 months
(only the distant targets being considered). Within-subjects analyses
did not reveal a clear order of acquisition between JVA and pointing,
but there was a correlation in Ability 2 between the two tasks. Implic
ations for the existence of a single cognitive system underlying the c
omprehension of the two referential messages are discussed.