Nonverbal indicants of comprehension and noncomprehension in children.

Examined nonverbal indicants of comprehension and noncomprehension in young listeners in the context of referential communication. Relationships between Ss' verbal and nonverbal behavior were also examined. 90 Ss at 4, 6, 8, and 10 yrs of age served as listeners. An adult speaker produced messages of varying informational adequacy. Analyses of videotape records revealed that Ss at each of the 4 ages exhibited markedly different nonverbal behavior in response to informative as compared to uninformative messages. In the absence of verbal responding, Ss at all ages showed more hand movement and longer reaction times when messages were uninformative. Preschoolers made more eye contact with the speaker when the message was uninformative, but their amount of body movement was unaffected; the reverse was true for kindergartners and 2nd graders. The data also reveal that when verbal responding was initiated, it was simply added onto the already established patterns of nonverbal behavior; no evidence was found for the hypothesis that verbal responding replaces or substitutes for nonverbal responses. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)