Individual differences in the production of speech-accompanying gestures
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Birmingham
Department Name: School of Psychology
Abstract
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Organisations
Publications
Chu M
(2014)
Individual differences in frequency and saliency of speech-accompanying gestures: the role of cognitive abilities and empathy.
in Journal of experimental psychology. General
| Description | People spontaneously produce gestures when they speak. Some people gesture much more than others. So far little is known about the sources of these individual differences. We investigated how well gesture frequency and saliency in different speech production tasks were predicted by indicators of cognitive and social functioning. We derived cognitive and social predictor variables on the basis of existing theories about the functions of gestures in speech production and communication. The predictor variables were: (1) indicators of visual-spatial working memory capacity (ie how well one can remember a visually presented pattern); (2) verbal working memory capacity (ie how well one can remember a list of numbers); (3) spatial transformation ability (ie how well one can transform mental imagery); (4) word retrieval efficiency (ie how fast and accurately one can retrieve a word in a picture-naming task); (5) conceptualisation efficiency (ie how efficiently one can decide which information to include in an utterance); (6) empathy ability (ie how well one can recognise and understand the state of mind and emotion of others). Regression analyses showed that indicators of spatial transformation ability, visual working memory capacity, conceptualisation efficiency, and empathy ability predicted gesture frequency and saliency, whereas indicators of verbal working memory capacity, spatial working memory capacity and lexical retrieval efficiency did not. These results support the view that speakers gesture both to achieve communicative goals and to support their conceptualisation processes. The results also indicated that gesture frequency is a stable trait of individuals. |
| Exploitation Route | As mentioned above, the findings could be useful in future designs for humanoid robots or virtual conversational agents, who will interact with humans and are required to produce naturalistic gestures. As this was a basic science project, we do not expect any immediate economic or societal impact in the near future. However, deeper understanding of individual differences in nonverbal communication may inform future designs for humanoid robots or virtual conversational agents. |
| Sectors | Creative Economy,Education |
| Description | The finding from this research was disseminated through the ESRC's press office and picked up by online science media for the general public in 2014. This raised general public's awareness of scientific research on nonverbal behaviour. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2014 |
| Impact Types | Cultural |
| Description | Further funding for the individual difference study of gesture production |
| Amount | £7,598 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Max Planck Society |
| Department | Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | Germany |
| Start | 06/2009 |
| End | 11/2011 |
| Description | Dissemination to participants of the study |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | We disseminated how studies on nonverbal behaviour is conducted to 129 participants of the study. Some of the participants are from backgrounds (e.g., students in a vocationally oriented secondary school) that have had and will have limited exposure to scientific studies. Participants of the study got first-hand exposure to how a scientific study is conducted through participating in the study and being debriefed about the purpose of the study. Some of the participants are from backgrounds (e.g., students in a vocationally oriented secondary school) with limited exposure to how scientific studies are conducted. Participants of the study got first-hand exposure to how a scientific study is conducted through participating in the study and being debriefed about the purpose of the study. Some of the participants are from backgrounds (e.g., students in a vocationally |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| Description | Functions of co-speech gestures as probed by individual differences |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Participants in your research or patient groups |
| Results and Impact | Paper at the 5th ISGS congress at Lund University in Sweden Section not completed |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| URL | http://www.gesturestudies.com/isgs2012/ISGS5_BOA_120718.pdf |
| Description | Gesture Cafe by Rachel Attfield |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Gesture Café took place in Hackney London, on Saturday the 21st of March 2015. It was run by the Creative Director of Commotion, Rachel Attfield. I gave advice on the scientific contents. We had 22 visitors many of whom stayed for the full 4 hours. Participants learned about gestures and their functions in communication and thinking, through activities designed by me and Rachel Attfield. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.commotionarts.co.uk/gallery/ |
| Description | Individual differences in gesture production |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | A seminar talk at the School of Health Sciences at the City University London The talk lead to discussions of possible collaborative research with UCL and other London-based researchers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Individual differences in gesture production |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | A seminar talk at Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics (the Netherlands) The talk lead to discussions of international collaboration with researchers at Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |