Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - The role of conversational hand gestures in a narrative task
AU - Jacobs, Naomi
AU - Garnham, Alan
PY - 2007/2
Y1 - 2007/2
N2 - The primary functional role of conversational hand gestures in narrative discourse is disputed. A novel experimental technique investigated whether gestures function primarily to aid speech production by the speaker, or communication to the listener. The experiment involved repeated narration of a cartoon story or stories to a single or multiple listeners. The pattern of results matched that predicted by the communication hypothesis. In a second experiment, the effects of attention in the listener were investigated. Significant differences were found in gesture production when narrating to attentive versus inattentive listeners. These results support the theory that during a narrative task gestures are produced primarily for the benefit of the listener. Our technique can readily be generalized to other tasks and contexts. (C) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
AB - The primary functional role of conversational hand gestures in narrative discourse is disputed. A novel experimental technique investigated whether gestures function primarily to aid speech production by the speaker, or communication to the listener. The experiment involved repeated narration of a cartoon story or stories to a single or multiple listeners. The pattern of results matched that predicted by the communication hypothesis. In a second experiment, the effects of attention in the listener were investigated. Significant differences were found in gesture production when narrating to attentive versus inattentive listeners. These results support the theory that during a narrative task gestures are produced primarily for the benefit of the listener. Our technique can readily be generalized to other tasks and contexts. (C) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
KW - gesture
KW - speech production
KW - narration
KW - iconic gestures
KW - lexical access
KW - movements
KW - message
KW - think
U2 - 10.1016/j.jml.2006.07.011
DO - 10.1016/j.jml.2006.07.011
M3 - Journal article
VL - 56
SP - 291
EP - 303
JO - Journal of Memory and Language
JF - Journal of Memory and Language
SN - 0749-596X
IS - 2
ER -