The Relationship between Infant Hold out and Gives, and Pointing

We provide an analysis of hold out and giving (Ho&G) behaviours in pre-linguistic infants, and investigate their relationship with index finger pointing. The frequency of Ho&Gs at 10 and 11 months along with the length of the following social interaction correlated with index finger pointing at 12 months. We conclude that Ho&Gs are a precursor to index finger pointing and that this provides support for social-pragmatic approaches to communicative development.