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Major
Psychology
Anticipated Graduation Year
2022
Access Type
Open Access
Abstract
Gestures are hand movements that tend to co-occur with speech. The Integrated Model of speech and gesture proposes that these two modalities function as a single integrated form of communication. This model therefore implies that there is a unique relationship underlying produced speech and gesture. Church et al. (2014) tested this theory by considering the temporal relationship between speech and gesture and another form of movement we make in our daily lives – actions on objects. Specifically, they asked whether speech and gesture are produced closer together in time than speech and action. They found that speech and gesture were more temporally synchronized than speech and action, providing evidence for the Integrated Model of speech and gesture. In the current study, our main goal was to replicate the results of Church and colleagues. During a Zoom session, we asked participants to describe how they use common household objects objects using both gesture and action (e.g., “Can you show me how you use a hairbrush?”). We then compared the differences in onset times between speech and gesture and speech and action. We found that the onsets of speech and gesture were significantly closer in time to one another than the onsets of speech and action. We are currently collecting data from children (ages 5-12) to ask whether this phenomenon is stable across development. Our findings provide additional support to the Integrated Model of speech and gesture.
Community Partners
Williams College and Northwestern University
Faculty Mentors & Instructors
Dr. Elizabeth Wakefield, Department of Psychology
Supported By
Dr. Eliza Congdon, Williams College; Dr. Miriam Novack, Northwestern University
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Investigating the Temporal Synchrony of Speech and Gesture
Gestures are hand movements that tend to co-occur with speech. The Integrated Model of speech and gesture proposes that these two modalities function as a single integrated form of communication. This model therefore implies that there is a unique relationship underlying produced speech and gesture. Church et al. (2014) tested this theory by considering the temporal relationship between speech and gesture and another form of movement we make in our daily lives – actions on objects. Specifically, they asked whether speech and gesture are produced closer together in time than speech and action. They found that speech and gesture were more temporally synchronized than speech and action, providing evidence for the Integrated Model of speech and gesture. In the current study, our main goal was to replicate the results of Church and colleagues. During a Zoom session, we asked participants to describe how they use common household objects objects using both gesture and action (e.g., “Can you show me how you use a hairbrush?”). We then compared the differences in onset times between speech and gesture and speech and action. We found that the onsets of speech and gesture were significantly closer in time to one another than the onsets of speech and action. We are currently collecting data from children (ages 5-12) to ask whether this phenomenon is stable across development. Our findings provide additional support to the Integrated Model of speech and gesture.