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Understanding communicative intentions and semiotic vehicles by children and chimpanzees

Zlatev, Jordan LU ; Madsen, Elainie LU ; Lenninger, Sara LU ; Persson, Tomas LU orcid ; Sayehli, Susan LU ; van de Weijer, Joost LU orcid and Sonesson, Göran LU orcid (2013) In Cognitive Development 28(3). p.312-329
Abstract
Developmental and comparative studies of the ability to understand communicative intentions using object-choice tasks raise questions concerning the semiotic properties of the communicative signals, and the roles of rearing histories, language and familiarity. We adapted a study by Tomasello, Call, and Gluckman (1997), in which a “helper” indicated the location of a hidden reward to children of three ages (18, 24, and 30 months) and to four chimpanzees, by means of one of four cues: Pointing, Marker, Picture and Replica. For the chimpanzees, we controlled for familiarity by using two helpers, one unfamiliar and one highly familiar. Even 18-months performed well on Pointing and Marker, while only the oldest group clearly succeeded with... (More)
Developmental and comparative studies of the ability to understand communicative intentions using object-choice tasks raise questions concerning the semiotic properties of the communicative signals, and the roles of rearing histories, language and familiarity. We adapted a study by Tomasello, Call, and Gluckman (1997), in which a “helper” indicated the location of a hidden reward to children of three ages (18, 24, and 30 months) and to four chimpanzees, by means of one of four cues: Pointing, Marker, Picture and Replica. For the chimpanzees, we controlled for familiarity by using two helpers, one unfamiliar and one highly familiar. Even 18-months performed well on Pointing and Marker, while only the oldest group clearly succeeded with Picture and Replica. Performance did not correlate with scores for the Swedish Early Communicative Development Inventory (SECDI). While there were no positive results for the chimpanzees on the group level, and no effect of familiarity, two chimpanzees succeeded on Pointing and Marker. Results support proposals of a species difference in understanding communicative intentions, but also highlight the need to distinguish these from the complexity of semiotic vehicles and to consider both factors. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Pointing, Object-choice, Indexicality, Conventionality, Familiarity, Iconicity
in
Cognitive Development
volume
28
issue
3
pages
312 - 329
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000324964800011
  • scopus:84881017991
ISSN
0885-2014
DOI
10.1016/j.cogdev.2013.05.001
project
Centre for Cognitive Semiotics (RJ)
Precursors of Sign Use in Intersubjectivity and Imitation (PSUII)
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Cognitive Science (015001004), Cognitive Semiotics (015030003), Humanities Lab (015101200), Linguistics and Phonetics (015010003)
id
10d4848b-7b96-4fe4-91ee-c742ba3a83e0 (old id 3798880)
alternative location
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0885201413000348#
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 13:04:43
date last changed
2024-03-12 22:33:33
@article{10d4848b-7b96-4fe4-91ee-c742ba3a83e0,
  abstract     = {{Developmental and comparative studies of the ability to understand communicative intentions using object-choice tasks raise questions concerning the semiotic properties of the communicative signals, and the roles of rearing histories, language and familiarity. We adapted a study by Tomasello, Call, and Gluckman (1997), in which a “helper” indicated the location of a hidden reward to children of three ages (18, 24, and 30 months) and to four chimpanzees, by means of one of four cues: Pointing, Marker, Picture and Replica. For the chimpanzees, we controlled for familiarity by using two helpers, one unfamiliar and one highly familiar. Even 18-months performed well on Pointing and Marker, while only the oldest group clearly succeeded with Picture and Replica. Performance did not correlate with scores for the Swedish Early Communicative Development Inventory (SECDI). While there were no positive results for the chimpanzees on the group level, and no effect of familiarity, two chimpanzees succeeded on Pointing and Marker. Results support proposals of a species difference in understanding communicative intentions, but also highlight the need to distinguish these from the complexity of semiotic vehicles and to consider both factors.}},
  author       = {{Zlatev, Jordan and Madsen, Elainie and Lenninger, Sara and Persson, Tomas and Sayehli, Susan and van de Weijer, Joost and Sonesson, Göran}},
  issn         = {{0885-2014}},
  keywords     = {{Pointing; Object-choice; Indexicality; Conventionality; Familiarity; Iconicity}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{312--329}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Cognitive Development}},
  title        = {{Understanding communicative intentions and semiotic vehicles by children and chimpanzees}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cogdev.2013.05.001}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.cogdev.2013.05.001}},
  volume       = {{28}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}