Using Pointing and Describing to Achieve Joint Focus of Attention in Dialogue

Author: Bangerter A.

Source: Psychological Science, Volume 15, Number 6, June 2004 , pp. 415-419(5)

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Abstract:

Pointing was shown to focus attention in dialogue. Pairs of people talked and gestured to identify targets from arrays visible to both of them. Arrays were located at five distances: arm length (0 cm), 25 cm, 50 cm, 75 cm, and 100 cm. Some pairs could point; others could not. People relied more on pointing and less on language as distance decreased. Pointing especially suppressed descriptions of target location, suggesting that it was used to focus attention on a spatial region.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.00694.x

Affiliations: 1: Stanford University

Publication date: 2004-06-01