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Part of
Why Gesture?: How the hands function in speaking, thinking and communicating
Edited by Ruth Breckinridge Church, Martha W. Alibali and Spencer D. Kelly
[Gesture Studies 7] 2017
► pp. 381–396

Chapter 17
Understanding gesture as representational action

A functional account of how action and gesture differ with respect to thinking and learning

| Northwestern University
| University of Chicago

A great deal of attention has recently been paid to gesture and its effects on thinking and learning. This chapter sets forth a theoretical framework for exploring why gesture serves the functions that it does. The framework distinguishes gestures, which are representational actions, from instrumental actions, which interact directly with objects and cause physical changes to the world. The theory proposes that gesture’s status as representational action is what best explains its functions with respect to thinking and learning. Most notably, because gestures are abstracted representations and are not actions tied to particular events and objects, they can play a powerful role in thinking and learning beyond the particular, specifically, in supporting generalization and transfer of knowledge.

Article outline
  • Part 1.Processing movement as gesture
  • Part 2.The unique functions of gesture in communication, problem solving, and learning
    • Communication
      • Doing gesture
      • Seeing gesture
    • Problem solving
      • Doing gesture
      • Seeing gesture
    • Learning
      • Doing gesture
      • Seeing gesture
  • Part 3.What’s next?
  • Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
Published online: 26 April 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/gs.7.18nov
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