Journal article
Explaining Math: Gesturing Lightens the Load
Psychological science, Vol.12(6), pp.516-522
11/2001
DOI: 10.1111/1467-9280.00395
PMID: 11760141
Abstract
Why is it that people cannot keep their hands still when they talk? One reason may be that gesturing actually lightens cognitive load while a person is thinking of what to say. We asked adults and children to remember a list of letters or words while explaining how they solved a math problem. Both groups remembered significantly more items when they gestured during their math explanations than when they did not gesture. Gesturing appeared to save the speakers' cognitive resources on the explanation task, permitting the speakers to allocate more resources to the memory task. It is widely accepted that gesturing reflects a speaker's cognitive state, but our observations suggest that, by reducing cognitive load, gesturing may also play a role in shaping that state.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Explaining Math: Gesturing Lightens the Load
- Creators
- Susan Goldin-Meadow - The University of ChicagoHoward Nusbaum - The University of ChicagoSpencer D Kelly - The University of ChicagoSusan Wagner - The University of Chicago
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Psychological science, Vol.12(6), pp.516-522
- DOI
- 10.1111/1467-9280.00395
- PMID
- 11760141
- NLM abbreviation
- Psychol Sci
- ISSN
- 0956-7976
- eISSN
- 1467-9280
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 11/2001
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
- Record Identifier
- 9984002311802771
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