Mechanisms underlying the beneficial effect of a speaker’s gestures on the listener
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| Title: | Mechanisms underlying the beneficial effect of a speaker’s gestures on the listener |
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| Authors: | IANI', FRANCESCO, BUCCIARELLI, Monica |
| Source: | Journal of Memory and Language. 96:110-121 |
| Publisher Information: | Elsevier BV, 2017. |
| Publication Year: | 2017 |
| Subject Terms: | Gestures,Memory for action,Mental models,Motor system,Experimenter-performed task, 05 social sciences, 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences, 3. Good health |
| Description: | A well-established literature reveals that a speaker’s gestures have beneficial effects on the listener’s memory for speech. A main assumption of our investigation is that gestures improve memory through the exploitation of the listener’s motor system. We tested this prediction in four experiments in which the participants listened to action sentences uttered by a speaker who either stayed still or accompanied the speech with congruent gestures. The results revealed that when the listeners observed gestures their memory for speech improved (Experiment 1), but loading up the listeners’ motor system during gestures observation cancelled the beneficial effect when the motor task involved the same effectors used by the speaker (arms and hands, Experiments 2–3). The beneficial effect of gestures persisted when the motor task involved different effectors (legs and feet, Experiment 4). These results support the assumption of a main involvement of the motor system in the beneficial effect of observed gestures. |
| Document Type: | Article |
| File Description: | application/pdf |
| Language: | English |
| ISSN: | 0749-596X |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jml.2017.05.004 |
| Access URL: | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749596X17300372 https://iris.unito.it/handle/2318/1641206 https://aperto.unito.it/handle/2318/1641206 |
| Rights: | Elsevier TDM |
| Accession Number: | edsair.doi.dedup.....a4f20f04c1939bbd51a0ce6d8e4c7261 |
| Database: | OpenAIRE |
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Nájsť tento článok vo Web of Science | Abstract: | A well-established literature reveals that a speaker’s gestures have beneficial effects on the listener’s memory for speech. A main assumption of our investigation is that gestures improve memory through the exploitation of the listener’s motor system. We tested this prediction in four experiments in which the participants listened to action sentences uttered by a speaker who either stayed still or accompanied the speech with congruent gestures. The results revealed that when the listeners observed gestures their memory for speech improved (Experiment 1), but loading up the listeners’ motor system during gestures observation cancelled the beneficial effect when the motor task involved the same effectors used by the speaker (arms and hands, Experiments 2–3). The beneficial effect of gestures persisted when the motor task involved different effectors (legs and feet, Experiment 4). These results support the assumption of a main involvement of the motor system in the beneficial effect of observed gestures. |
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| ISSN: | 0749596X |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jml.2017.05.004 |