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dc.contributor.authorBohn, Manuel
dc.contributor.authorCall, Josep
dc.contributor.authorTomasello, Michael
dc.date.accessioned2019-10-17T23:36:40Z
dc.date.available2019-10-17T23:36:40Z
dc.date.issued2018-10-18
dc.identifier255960413
dc.identifier3fb95374-2eb4-437a-9062-ba28138d793b
dc.identifier85055287051
dc.identifier000459701600008
dc.identifier.citationBohn , M , Call , J & Tomasello , M 2018 , ' Natural reference : a phylo- and ontogenetic perspective on the comprehension of iconic gestures and vocalizations ' , Developmental Science , vol. Early View , e12757 . https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12757en
dc.identifier.issn1363-755X
dc.identifier.otherORCID: /0000-0002-8597-8336/work/50460140
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10023/18700
dc.descriptionFunding: Manuel Bohn received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 749229. Josep Call was supported by the “SOMICS” ERC-Synergy grant no. 609819.en
dc.description.abstractThe recognition of iconic correspondence between signal and referent has been argued to bootstrap the acquisition and emergence of language. Here we study the ontogeny, and to some extent the phylogeny, of the ability to spontaneously relate iconic signals, gestures and/or vocalizations, to previous experience. Children at 18, 24, and 36 months of age (N = 216) and great apes (N = 13) interacted with two apparatuses, each comprising a distinct action and sound. Subsequently, an experimenter mimicked either the action, the sound, or both in combination to refer to one of the apparatuses. Experiment 1 and 2 found no spontaneous comprehension in great apes and 18‐month‐old children. At 24 months of age, children were successful with a composite vocalization‐gesture signal but not with either vocalization or gesture alone. At 36 months, children succeeded both with a composite vocalization‐gesture signal and with gesture alone, but not with vocalization alone. In general, gestures were understood better compared to vocalizations. Experiment 4 showed that gestures were understood irrespective of how children learned about the corresponding action (through observation or self‐experience). This pattern of results demonstrates that iconic signals can be a powerful way to establish reference in the absence of language, but they are not trivial for children to comprehend and not all iconic signals are created equal.
dc.format.extent544729
dc.language.isoeng
dc.relation.ispartofDevelopmental Scienceen
dc.subjectIconicityen
dc.subjectGestureen
dc.subjectOnomatopoeiaen
dc.subjectSound symbolismen
dc.subjectLanguage developmenten
dc.subjectEvolutionen
dc.subjectBF Psychologyen
dc.subjectQH Natural historyen
dc.subjectDASen
dc.subject.lccBFen
dc.subject.lccQHen
dc.titleNatural reference : a phylo- and ontogenetic perspective on the comprehension of iconic gestures and vocalizationsen
dc.typeJournal articleen
dc.contributor.sponsorEuropean Research Councilen
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. Centre for Social Learning & Cognitive Evolutionen
dc.contributor.institutionUniversity of St Andrews. School of Psychology and Neuroscienceen
dc.identifier.doi10.1111/desc.12757
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.date.embargoedUntil2019-10-18
dc.identifier.grantnumber609819en


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