Role of gesture in communication and thinking

Co-speech gestures: Ubiquous (speech present = gesture present)

• No culture without gesture, even shown in infants in one-word stage

Differences in adults/children:

Children used whole body in geature not just hands, exaggerate more and more conscious of them

Abstract concepts: Less defined, repetitive, metaphorical (when we don't know what to say next)

Goldin-Meadow, Nuebaum, Kelly and Wagner (2001): Do gestures lighten congitive load?

• Asked to recall words
• Recall better in gesture-allowed condition so YES they do lighten cognitive load

Gerwin & Bavelas, 2004: Are gestures influenced by communicative context?

• Played with common-ground toys or non-common ground (same or different)
• Non-common were more informative. So context DOES influence gestures

Gesture types: 1. Emblems - conventionalised meaning in cultures   2. Pointing    3. Iconic - depict shape, motions, action & space    4. Representational - Inc. iconic&pointing     5. Metaphorical - express abstract concepts     6. Beat - small up/down movement, motive unsure     7. Interactive - Interaction between speaker and listener, listener inducing gesture

Lip pointing: Location if focus of interacrion, accompanied by gaze directed at target

a. Lous -> Lips separated, equal lip protrusion    b. Jahai -> Lips parted, equal protrusion

c. Columbian -> Lower lip primary protrusion     d. Kuna -> Lips together, equal protrusion

Individual differences: Some people gesture more, some more salient, help spatial transformation

• Weak spatial transformation = More representational gestures
• Weak in conceptualisation = More representational gestures
• Strongly empathetic = More interactive gestures

Language associated with left hemisphere, hands innervated by contra-lateral hemisphere