Pointing is a fundamental gesture that connects individuals with their social and physical worlds. Whether communicating information about the external environment or serving to clarify to whom or what someone is referring, pointing may appear to be a uniquely human and universal action. However, it develops in varied social and cultural contexts, and even some nonhuman species point and can understand pointing cues. While there has been substantial research on the cultural, developmental, and evolutionary aspects of pointing, these perspectives remain fragmented. This book bridges this gap by bringing together leading scholars from cognitive psychology, evolutionary anthropology and biology, animal behavior, developmental psychology, and comparative psychology to synthesize current findings, highlight emerging directions, and provide students and researchers with a comprehensive view of the field.

‘This excellent edited volume is the first in more than two decades to examine pointing, a rudimentary referential social communication gesture that is foundational for human language development and for human and non-human social cognition. Environmental, contextual, cultural, configurational, and comparative aspects of pointing are examined in depth.'

Deborah L. Best - William L. Poteat Professor of Psychology, Emerita, Wake Forest University, USA

‘This book is a groundbreaking contribution to the developmental sciences with its holistic orientation. A seemingly small behavior, pointing as the target of the book, is demonstrated to be fundamentally integrated into an evolutionary framework as well as fundamentally situated in cultural contexts, which both shape its developmental embeddedness. The book is also exemplar in bringing together experts from different cultures.'

Heidi Keller - Professor Emeritus of Psychology, Osnabrück University, Germany, and Distinguished Fellow, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

‘This book is a must-have for those who are interested in development and evolution of communication. It takes us on an exciting intellectual journey that spans many species of animals and many human cultures, and makes us think deeply about what it means to communicate.'

Sotaro Kita - Professor of Psychology of Language, University of Warwick, UK

‘Pointing is an exceptional volume that reflects the amazing growth in the field concerning the nature and function of pointing. The work greatly expands an understanding of this important behavior in all its varieties and across many species. The editors have assembled a top-notch group of contributors and have organized their works in a manner that assembles insights of the larger literature in a single volume. Especially important are the messages brought to bear on the important role of pointing in socio-cognitive and language development, the cross-cultural focus that well documents the influence of environment and socialization on pointing, and the chapters documenting that pointing occurs in many animal species. Altogether, the book is a major contribution to the field that should be on all scholars' reading lists.'

David Matsumoto - Professor of Psychology, San Francisco State University, USA, and Director, Humintell LLC