Children’s gestures are meant to be seen

Martha W. Alibali | University of Wisconsin, Madison

Lisa S. Don | Carnegie Mellon University

This study investigated whether children alter their gestures when their listeners cannot see those gestures. Sixteen kindergarten children viewed four short cartoon episodes. After each episode, the child retold the story to an adult listener. For two episodes, the child and listener sat face-to-face, and for the other two episodes, an opaque curtain was placed between them. Children gestured at a significantly higher rate when they could see their listeners than when they could not. However, the amount, fluency, and content of children’s speech did not differ across conditions. Thus, kindergarten children alter their gestures to suit their listeners, and the observed changes in gesture do not appear to depend on changes in speech.

Keywords: gesture, communication, children, interaction

Published online: 11 July 2002
https://doi.org/10.1075/gest.1.2.02ali

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2014. Gesture-speech integration in children with specific language impairment. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders 49:6 ► pp. 761 ff.

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2016. Altered Gesture and Speech Production in ASD Detract from In-Person Communicative Quality. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 46:3 ► pp. 998 ff.

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