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The role of conversational hand gestures in a narrative task.

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-07, 18:06 authored by Naomi Jacobs, Alan GarnhamAlan Garnham
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.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

Journal of Memory and Language

ISSN

0749-596X

Issue

2

Volume

56

Page range

291-303

Pages

13.0

Department affiliated with

  • Psychology Publications

Notes

Senior author. Jacobs was Garnham's research student.

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2012-02-06

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