The Role of Photographs in Face-to-Face Interactions involving Younger and Older Neurotypical Adults

Abstract

The purpose of this preliminary investigation was to explore the role photographs play in communication interactions involving neurotypical adults. Participants included 10 people from 2 age groups: younger adults between 23 and 25 years of age and older adults between 61 and 74 years of age. Referencing photographs to support one-on-one conversations between an examiner and either a younger or older neurotypical adult speaker occurred approximately 20% of the time. Younger participants relied solely on nonverbal communication in the form of a pointing gesture to convey their intent less than 2% of the time, whereas older participants never relied solely on pointing gestures to convey intent. This suggests that typical speakers treat the referencing of photographs as a supplemental rather than primary communication strategy during face-to-face interactions.

Using Visual Scene Displays as Communication Support Options for People with Chronic, Severe Aphasia: A Summary of AAC Research and Future Research Directions

“…This is because typically speaking communication partners often select photographs that do not include relevant people, or, if people are depicted, they are engaged with the camera rather than with objects or other people within the scene. Engebretsen, Hartman, Beukelman, and Hux (2014) confirmed this through a preliminary investigation examining the role photographs play in the communicative interactions of younger (i.e., 23-25 years) and older (i.e., 61-74 years) adults without communication challenges. Seventy-five percent of photographs self-selected by older adults to foster conversational interactions did not depict people, and 20% did not depict a background context.…”