E (2007) Do infants need social cognition to act socially? An alternative look at infant pointing. Child Dev 78: 723–728

Tomasello, Carpenter, and Liszkowski (2007) present a comprehensive review of the infant pointing literature. They conclude that infant pointing demonstrates communicative intent from its onset, at about 1 year of age. In this commentary, it is noted that for infants to understand communicative intent, they must have a concept of self and others as intentional agents. Evidence is reviewed to argue that this is not possible until 18 – 24 months of age. A leaner explanation of how infants might initially succeed in pointing tasks without understanding communicative intent is considered. The article by Tomasello, Carpenter, and Liszkowski (2007) presents an excellent description of all the complexities involved in pointing in its mature, adult form and an eloquent review of the infant pointing literature. Ultimately, they conclude that from the very start, infant pointing demonstrates communicative intent. Their argument is situated in the context of the infants ’ developing under-standing of others as intentional beings. The author