Title |
A gestural repertoire of 1- to 2-year-old human children: in search of the ape gestures
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Published in |
Animal Cognition, September 2018
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DOI | 10.1007/s10071-018-1213-z |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Verena Kersken, Juan-Carlos Gómez, Ulf Liszkowski, Adrian Soldati, Catherine Hobaiter |
Abstract |
When we compare human gestures to those of other apes, it looks at first like there is nothing much to compare at all. In adult humans, gestures are thought to be a window into the thought processes accompanying language, and sign languages are equal to spoken language with all of its features. Some research firmly emphasises the differences between human gestures and those of other apes; however, the question about whether there are any commonalities is rarely investigated, and has mostly been confined to pointing gestures. In adult humans, gestures are thought to be a window into the thought processes accompanying language, and sign languages are equal to spoken languages with all of their features. This paper applies the methodology commonly used in the study of nonhuman ape gestures to the gestural communication of human children in their second year of life. We recorded (n = 13) children's gestures in a natural setting with peers and caregivers in Germany and Uganda. Children employed 52 distinct gestures, 46 (89%) of which are present in the chimpanzee repertoire. Like chimpanzees, they used them both singly, and in sequences, and employed individual gestures flexibly towards different goals. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom | 8 | 9% |
Spain | 7 | 8% |
United States | 7 | 8% |
Germany | 4 | 5% |
Australia | 4 | 5% |
Switzerland | 4 | 5% |
Colombia | 2 | 2% |
Canada | 2 | 2% |
Brazil | 1 | 1% |
Other | 8 | 9% |
Unknown | 40 | 46% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Members of the public | 51 | 59% |
Scientists | 22 | 25% |
Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 8 | 9% |
Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 6 | 7% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Unknown | 97 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Master | 19 | 20% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 13 | 13% |
Researcher | 12 | 12% |
Student > Bachelor | 11 | 11% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 6 | 6% |
Other | 17 | 18% |
Unknown | 19 | 20% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Psychology | 26 | 27% |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 12 | 12% |
Social Sciences | 7 | 7% |
Neuroscience | 5 | 5% |
Linguistics | 5 | 5% |
Other | 14 | 14% |
Unknown | 28 | 29% |