Cooperrider Kensy, Slotta James, Núñez Rafael
Department of Psychology, University of Chicago.
Department of Anthropology, University of Texas at Austin.
Cogn Sci. 2018 May;42(4):1375-1390. doi: 10.1111/cogs.12585. Epub 2018 Jan 19.
Pointing is a cornerstone of human communication, but does it take the same form in all cultures? Manual pointing with the index finger appears to be used universally, and it is often assumed to be universally preferred over other forms. Non-manual pointing with the head and face has also been widely attested, but it is usually considered of marginal significance, both empirically and theoretically. Here, we challenge this assumed marginality. Using a novel communication task, we investigated pointing preferences in the Yupno of Papua New Guinea and in U.S. undergraduates. Speakers in both groups pointed at similar rates, but form preferences differed starkly: The Yupno participants used non-manual pointing (nose- and head-pointing) numerically more often than manual pointing, whereas the U.S. participants stuck unwaveringly to index-finger pointing. The findings raise questions about why groups differ in their pointing preferences and, more broadly, about why humans communicate in the ways they do.
指示是人类交流的基石，但它在所有文化中采取的形式都相同吗？用食指进行的手部指示似乎被普遍使用，而且人们通常认为它比其他形式更受普遍青睐。用头部和面部进行的非手部指示也有广泛记载，但通常在实证和理论上都被认为意义不大。在此，我们对这种假定的次要地位提出质疑。通过一项新颖的交流任务，我们调查了巴布亚新几内亚的尤普诺人以及美国大学生的指示偏好。两组的说话者指示频率相似，但形式偏好却截然不同：尤普诺参与者使用非手部指示（用鼻子和头部指示）在数量上比手部指示更频繁，而美国参与者则始终坚持用食指指示。这些发现引发了关于为什么不同群体在指示偏好上存在差异的问题，更广泛地说，也引发了关于人类为何以他们所采用的方式进行交流的问题。
