TY - JOUR
T1 - Presentation and production
T2 - The role of gesture in spatial communication
AU - Austin, Elizabeth E.
AU - Sweller, Naomi
PY - 2014/6
Y1 - 2014/6
N2 - During social interaction, verbal language as well as nonverbal behavior is exchanged between speakers and listeners. One social task that often involves nonverbal behavior is the relaying of spatial direction information. The questions addressed in this study were whether presenting gesture during encoding (a) enhanced corresponding spatial task performance and (b) elicited gesture production at recall for adults and children. Children (3-4. years) and adults were presented with verbal route directions through a small-scale spatial array and, depending on the assigned condition (i.e., no gestures, beat gestures, or representational gestures), the accompanying gestures. Children, but not adults, benefited from the presence of gesture during encoding of the spatial route direction task, as measured by recall at test. Results suggest that the presence of gesture during encoding plays an integral part of effectively communicating spatial route direction information, particularly for children.
AB - During social interaction, verbal language as well as nonverbal behavior is exchanged between speakers and listeners. One social task that often involves nonverbal behavior is the relaying of spatial direction information. The questions addressed in this study were whether presenting gesture during encoding (a) enhanced corresponding spatial task performance and (b) elicited gesture production at recall for adults and children. Children (3-4. years) and adults were presented with verbal route directions through a small-scale spatial array and, depending on the assigned condition (i.e., no gestures, beat gestures, or representational gestures), the accompanying gestures. Children, but not adults, benefited from the presence of gesture during encoding of the spatial route direction task, as measured by recall at test. Results suggest that the presence of gesture during encoding plays an integral part of effectively communicating spatial route direction information, particularly for children.
KW - Directions
KW - Encoding
KW - Gesture
KW - Recall
KW - Route
KW - Spatial
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84894066352&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jecp.2013.12.008
DO - 10.1016/j.jecp.2013.12.008
M3 - Article
C2 - 24549229
AN - SCOPUS:84894066352
SN - 0022-0965
VL - 122
SP - 92
EP - 103
JO - Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
JF - Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
ER -