The Role of Gesture in Learning

手势在学习中的作用

基本信息

批准号：
7232089
负责人：
SUSAN J GOLDIN-MEADOW
金额：
$ 19.52万
依托单位：
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
财政年份：
2004
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2004-07-01 至 2009-05-31
项目状态：
已结题

项目摘要

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The gestures that children produce when they talk are clearly associated with learning. At a minimum, they serve as an index of the child's readiness-to-learn. The goal of the proposed research is to determine whether gesture not only reflects thought but also plays a role in shaping it. The research has two aims. Aim 1: Does gesture play a role in the learning process? Gesture conveys information in a visuospatial format distinct from the verbal format of speech. It thus offers an alternative representation of "to-be learned" information that may be particularly accessible to a child on the cusp of learning. To explore the effect that other peoples' gestures have on child learning, Studies 1-3 manipulate the gestures children receive during instruction and observe the effect of that manipulation on learning. Gesture also allows children to use a visuospatial format to convey information that they might not be ready to convey in a verbal format. Once represented in the system, this information could then catalyze change. To explore the role that the child's own gestures play in learning, Studies 4-6 manipulate the gestures that children produce and observe the effect on learning. Aim 2: What is the mechanism underlying gesture's role in learning? Gesturing while speaking has been found to reduce the speaker's cognitive burden and increase working memory. Since listeners with more working memory are good at excluding irrelevant material, gesturing while speaking might help children focus on relevant information and thus lead to better learning. To explore the effect that producing gesture has on working memory, Studies 7-9 manipulate the gestures that children produce when explaining a task and (using a dual-task paradigm) ask whether children expend less effort when gesturing while speaking that when not gesturing. To explore the effect that observing gesture has on working memory, Studies 10-12 manipulate the gestures that children see during someone else's explanation and (again using a dual-task paradigm) ask whether children expend less effort processing explanations that contain gesture than processing explanations that do not contain gesture. To achieve these two aims, children ages 6 to 10 years will participate in a math or conservation problem-solving task and their spoken and gestured responses will be videotaped and later analyzed. Gesture may prove to be a particularly effective tool to use in instructing or assessing children whose language is developing normally, as well as those who have difficulties producing and comprehending speech.

描述（由申请人提供）：儿童说话时产生的手势显然与学习有关。它们至少是孩子准备学习的指数。拟议的研究的目的是确定手势是否不仅反映了思想，还可以在塑造它中发挥作用。这项研究有两个目标。目标1：手势在学习过程中起作用吗？手势以视觉空间格式传达信息，不同于语音的语音格式。因此，它提供了“学习”信息的替代表示，这对于学习风口浪尖的孩子可能特别可以访问。为了探索其他人的手势对儿童学习的影响，研究1-3操纵儿童在教学过程中收到的手势，并观察该操纵对学习的影响。手势还允许儿童使用视觉空间格式来传达他们可能无法以口头格式传达的信息。一旦在系统中表示，此信息就可以催化变化。为了探索孩子自己的手势在学习中的作用，研究4-6操纵孩子产生的手势并观察对学习的影响。目标2：手势在学习中的作用是什么机制？在讲话时打手势可以减轻说话者的认知负担并增加工作记忆。由于具有更多工作记忆的听众擅长排除无关紧要的材料，因此手势虽然说话可能会帮助孩子专注于相关信息，从而导致更好的学习。为了探索产生手势对工作记忆的影响，研究7-9操纵儿童在解释任务时会产生的手势，并（使用双任务范式）询问儿童在说话时在说话时是否努力少花费努力。为了探索观察手势对工作记忆的影响，研究10-12操纵孩子在别人的解释中看到的手势，并（再次使用双任务范式使用双任务范式）询问儿童是否消耗少于不包含手势的解释的手势的努力处理解释较少。为了实现这两个目标，6至10岁的儿童将参与数学或保护问题的任务，他们的口语和手势回答将进行录像，然后进行录像。手势可能被证明是一种特别有效的工具，用于指导或评估语言正常发展的儿童，以及那些难以产生和理解语音的孩子。