User:Monika Moriani/sandbox

Ostensive act is a defining act (ostensive definition) or an element of a communication.

Following a concept of ostensive definition Keir Elam describes an ostensive act as as one of the most "primitive" acts of communication. However he incorporate an ostensive act of communication into process of semiosis by explaining on an example of a person, who orders a beer by rising up an empty glass, that this act does not refer to this particular glass, but to the class of objects of which it is the member. This way manifested object become a sign.

Umbeto Eco points out the multiplicity of potential meanings of an act of ostension, which is the result of the diversity of contexts (pragmatics) within which an act can be considered. Recalling the example of a drunkard on public view, he explains that it can be understood as a warning against alcohol abuse, a criticism of the social policy of the state, but also an encouragement to the orgiastic of life. However in his deliberation.

Although in his deliberations, Umberto Eco only points to the influence of the various contexts on the meaning of the act of ostension, without attempting to explain the mechanism of choice of the context by the recipient.

The process of choosing meaning from the many possible meanings that recipient give to different contexts is described by Dan Sperper and Deirdre Wilson in their author's model of relevance theory. It assumes that every communication act is based on the presupposition contained in it, the intention to provide relevant information. The vehicle of this presupposition is an act of ostensible, which, as such, triggers a process of inference in the mind of the receiver aimed at determining the relevance for that act.

The effectiveness of the ostensive act as an act of manifestation of the intention of communicating something (something relevant) is based, according to above concepts, on a codes and conventions, or must be derived from a series of received signals on the basis of the inference principle.

Wojciech Baluch pointed out that, from the perspective of cognitive psychology, the common characteristic of acts of ostension is to influence the attention of the recipient. As a foundation for any act of ostension, he tooks the focus or intesifiing ones attention.