The evolutionary psychology of the human pointing gesture

The human pointing gesture is a species‐unique and species‐universal form of communication that depends on humans' especially powerful forms of cooperative cognition and motivation. I have previously hypothesized that the pointing gesture evolved as a behavioral tool empowering individuals to better coordinate their interdependent collaborative activities by informing one another of things helpfully. Here I provide new data in support of this hypothesis, focusing on the different ways in which human children and nonhuman great apes communicate to initiate, coordinate, and self‐regulate their collaborative activities. All great apes collaborate and communicate, but humans collaborate and communicate in coordinated ways.