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Hand Shape, Function and Hand Preference of Communicative Gestures in Young Children: Insights Into the Origins of Human Communication

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Hand Shape, Function and Hand Preference of Communicative Gestures in Young Children: Insights Into the Origins of Human Communication DOCTORAT – UNIVERSITÉ AIX-MARSEILLE École Doctorale : Cognition, Langage, Éducation (ED 356) délivré par UNIVERSITE DE PROVENCE N° attribué par la bibliothèque _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Hand shape, function and hand preference of communicative gestures in young children: Insights into the origins of human communication THÈSE pour obtenir le grade de Docteur de l’UNIVERSITÉ AIX-MARSEILLE Présentée et soutenue publiquement le 23 septembre 2011 à Aix-en-Provence par Hélène Cochet Directeur de thèse : Jacques Vauclair JURY Michèle Guidetti (rapporteur ), Professeur en Psychologie, Laboratoire Octogone - ECCD, Université de Toulouse II-Le Mirail Sotaro Kita (rapporteur ), Reader in Psychology, Université de Birmingham, Royaume-Uni Jacqueline Leybaert (examinateur ), Professeur en Psychologie, Laboratoire Cognition, Langage et Développement, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgique Jacques Vauclair (directeur de thèse ), Professeur en Psychologie, Centre PsyCLÉ, Université de Provence, Institut Universitaire de France Remerciements C'est cela l'éducation: à la fois donner au jeune le goût de se créer lui-même, en se regardant de l'extérieur et en prenant conscience de la possibilité de choisir un chemin, et lui apporter toute la nourriture intellectuelle nécessaire pour qu'il puisse établir son projet. Le rôle premier de tout groupe d'hommes, ethnie, nation, humanité dans son ensemble est de faire des hommes ou, plutôt, de créer des conditions permettant aux hommes de se faire eux- mêmes. J’emprunte ces mots à Albert Jacquard pour remercier toutes les personnes qui ont rempli ce rôle et m’ont permis, directement ou indirectement, de choisir et construire mon propre "chemin". Je remercie en premier lieu mon directeur de thèse, le Professeur Jacques Vauclair, pour m’avoir accueillie au sein du Centre PsyCLÉ et avoir encadré mon travail depuis 2007. Il s’est montré attentif et rigoureux pendant ces années qui posent les fondations d’une carrière scientifique et je tiens à le remercier pour sa réactivité et son efficacité. Merci également pour l’honnêteté de nos échanges et la confiance qu’il m’a accordée, tant sur le plan de la recherche que de l’enseignement. Il a su avoir un regard avisé sur mon travail en me laissant en même temps la liberté nécessaire pour réaliser les observations en crèche et mettre en place les différentes études. En reconnaissant certaines avancées pendant ma formation tout en soulignant les points "améliorables", il m’a transmis l’envie d’atteindre un certain niveau d’exigence scientifique et j’espère continuer à bénéficier de son expérience lors des prochaines étapes du parcours. Je le remercie enfin d’avoir publié un article sur les origines du langage dans Cerveau & Psycho en 2006 : sans cet article, je n’aurais peut-être pas eu connaissance de ses travaux et n’aurais pas pu entreprendre ce projet… Je souhaite également adresser mes remerciements aux membres du jury pour le temps qu’ils ont consacré à l’analyse et l’évaluation de mon travail. Je suis très reconnaissante aux Professeurs Michèle Guidetti et Sotaro Kita d’avoir accepté le rôle de rapporteurs de cette thèse et au professeur Jacqueline Leybaert d’avoir accepté de présider le jury. Je remercie aussi tous les enfants ayant participé aux différentes études réalisées lors de ma thèse, ainsi que leurs parents et le personnel des différentes crèches qui m’ont accueillie. Merci également aux étudiantes de master qui ont participé au recueil des données de certaines études et aux personnes qui ont eu la patience de coder les vidéos pour évaluer la fiabilité inter-observateurs. J’adresse également mes remerciements à tous les membres du Centre PsyCLÉ, en particulier Marianne Jover pour son aide et ses précieuses remarques pendant notre travail de collaboration, Bruno Dauvier et Thomas Arciszewski pour leurs conseils en statistique, Adrien et Céline pour avoir partagé leurs expériences personnelles, et le Professeur Annie Piolat pour son dynamisme et ses conseils directs et efficaces. J’exprime également mes remerciements à celles avec qui j’ai partagé ces années, Marlène, Cat et Charlotte et tous les étudiants "de passage" dans notre bureau du 5 ème . Merci pour les discussions scientifiques et surtout pour les échanges d’une autre nature qui ont enrichi ces quatre années passées à Aix, je laisse chacun libre de se référer à ce qui lui semble pertinent... Merci enfin à ma famille, qui a toujours respecté et soutenu mes choix, et dont je sais que la présence solide ne me fera jamais défaut, quelle que soit la distance. Je clos ces remerciements en rendant hommage à ceux qui m’ont accompagnée en continu et de manière indéfectible tout au long de cette thèse et qui ont créé un environnement auditif favorable à sa réalisation… Je citerai parmi d’autres Thom Yorke, Glen Hansard, Fred Burguière, Jim Morrison, Zack de La Rocha, Janis Joplin, Alvin Lee, Solomon Burke et Robert Plant (gaucher, par ailleurs). Abstract Hand shape, function and hand preference of communicative gestures in young children: Insights into the origins of human communication. Abstract: Even though children’s early use of communicative gestures is recognized as being closely related to language development (e.g., Colonnesi et al., 2010), the nature of speech–gestures links still needs to be clarified . This dissertation aims to investigate the production of pointing gestures during development to determine whether the predictive and facilitative relationship between gestures and language acquisition involves specific functions of pointing, in association with specific features in terms of hand shape, gaze and accompanying vocalizations. Moreover, special attention was paid to the study of hand preferences in order to better understand the development of left hemisphere specialization for communicative behaviors. Our results revealed complex relationships between language, communicative gestures and manipulative activities depending on the function of gestures (i.e., imperative versus declarative pointing) as well as on specific stages of language acquisition. Declarative gestures were found to be more closely associated with speech development than imperative gestures, at least before the lexical spurt period. In addition, the comparison of hand-preference patterns in adults and infants showed stronger similarity for gestures than for object manipulation. The right-sided asymmetry for communicative gestures is thus established in early stages, which suggests a primary role of gestures in hemispheric specialization. Finally, our findings have highlighted the existence of a left-lateralized communication system controlling both gestural and vocal communication, which has been suggested to have a deep phylogenetic origin (e.g., Corballis, 2010). Therefore, the present work may improve current understanding of the evolutionary roots of language, including the mechanisms of cerebral specialization for communicative behaviors. Key words: Gestural communication, Pointing, Young children, Hand preference, Hemispheric specialization, Origins of language. Résumé Forme, fonction et préférence manuelle des gestes communicatifs chez le jeune enfant : Comprendre les origines de la communication humaine. Résumé : Bien que l’utilisation précoce de gestes communicatifs par de jeunes enfants soit reconnue comme étant étroitement liée au développement du langage (e.g., Colonnesi et al., 2010), la nature des liens gestes–langage doit encore être clarifiée. Cette thèse a pour but d’étudier la production de gestes de pointage au cours du développement afin de déterminer si la relation prédictive et facilitatrice entre les gestes et l’acquisition du langage implique des fonctions spécifiques du pointage, en association avec des caractéristiques spécifiques en terme de forme de mains, regard et vocalisations. De plus, une attention particulière a été apportée à l’étude des préférences manuelles dans le but de mieux comprendre le développement de la spécialisation hémisphérique gauche pour les comportements communicatifs. Nos résultats ont révélé des relations complexes entre le langage, les gestes communicatifs et les activités de manipulation, qui dépendent de la fonction des gestes (i.e., pointage impératif versus déclaratif) et des étapes spécifiques de l’acquisition du langage. Les gestes déclaratifs sont plus étroitement associés au développement de la parole que les gestes impératifs, au-moins avant la période d’explosion lexicale. De plus, la comparaison des patterns de préférence manuelle chez l’enfant et l’adulte a montré une plus grande proximité pour les gestes que pour la manipulation d’objet. L’asymétrie manuelle droite pour les gestes communicatifs est ainsi établie à des stades précoces, ce qui suggère un rôle primordial des gestes dans la spécialisation hémisphérique. Finalement, nos résultats ont mis en évidence l’existence d’un système de communication dans l’hémisphère cérébral gauche contrôlant à la fois la communication gestuelle et verbale, qui pourrait avoir une origine phylogénétique ancienne (e.g., Corballis, 2010). Par conséquent, le présent travail peut améliorer notre compréhension des origines du langage, y compris des mécanismes de la spécialisation cérébrale pour les comportements communicatifs. Mots-clés : Communication gestuelle, Pointage, Jeune enfant, Préférence manuelle, Spécialisation hémisphérique, Origines du langage. List of papers This dissertation is based on the following articles, which are referred to in the text by their roman numerals: I Cochet, H ., & Vauclair,
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