Hand Gesture and Mathematics Learning: Lessons From an Avatar

Susan Wagner Cook; Howard S Friedman; Katherine A Duggan; Jian Cui; Voicu Popescu

doi:10.1111/cogs.12344

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Journal article

Hand Gesture and Mathematics Learning: Lessons From an Avatar

Susan Wagner Cook, Howard S Friedman, Katherine A Duggan, Jian Cui and Voicu Popescu

Cognitive science, Vol.41(2), pp.518-535

03/2017

DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12344

PMID: 27128822

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Abstract

A beneficial effect of gesture on learning has been demonstrated in multiple domains, including mathematics, science, and foreign language vocabulary. However, because gesture is known to co-vary with other non-verbal behaviors, including eye gaze and prosody along with face, lip, and body movements, it is possible the beneficial effect of gesture is instead attributable to these other behaviors. We used a computer-generated animated pedagogical agent to control both verbal and non-verbal behavior. Children viewed lessons on mathematical equivalence in which an avatar either gestured or did not gesture, while eye gaze, head position, and lip movements remained identical across gesture conditions. Children who observed the gesturing avatar learned more, and they solved problems more quickly. Moreover, those children who learned were more likely to transfer and generalize their knowledge. These findings provide converging evidence that gesture facilitates math learning, and they reveal the potential for using technology to study non-verbal behavior in controlled experiments.

Learning

Transfer (Psychology)

Gestures

Humans

Problem Solving

Female

Male

Mathematics

Child

Teaching

Details

Title: Subtitle: Hand Gesture and Mathematics Learning: Lessons From an Avatar
Creators: Susan Wagner Cook - Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Delta Center, University of Iowa
Howard S Friedman - Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside
Katherine A Duggan - Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside
Jian Cui - Department of Computer Science, Purdue University
Voicu Popescu - Department of Computer Science, Purdue University
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Cognitive science, Vol.41(2), pp.518-535
DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12344
PMID: 27128822
NLM abbreviation: Cogn Sci
ISSN: 0364-0213
eISSN: 1551-6709
Publisher: United States
Grant note: DOI: 10.13039/100000001, name: National Science Foundation, award: 1216984, 1217137, 1217215
Language: English
Date published: 03/2017
Academic Unit: Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
Record Identifier: 9984070550002771

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