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Visual Signals and the Communication Abilities of Children
Author(s) -
DohertySneddon G.,
Kent G.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
journal of child psychology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.652
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1469-7610
pISSN - 0021-9630
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7610.1996.tb01492.x
Subject(s) - psychology , nonverbal communication , developmental psychology , audio visual , face (sociological concept) , cognitive psychology , multimedia , linguistics , philosophy , computer science
The communication abilities of children of differing ages (4‐ 6‐, and 11 years) were compared. The children performed two communication tasks and were interviewed in both face‐to‐face and audio‐only contexts. While older children adapted to the loss of visual signals the younger age groups did not and their communication suffered. It appears that a significant amount of information which young children transmit occurs in a nonverbal format, and that visual signals are less demanding for young listeners. Such findings have implications for professionals working with young children since they show the importance of addressing both the child's visual signals and one's own.