Gestures Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

The study investigated performance on pantomime and imitation of transitive and intransitive gestures in 80 stroke patients, 42 with left (LHD) and 38 with right (RHD) hemisphere damage. Patients were also categorized in two groups based... more

The study investigated performance on pantomime and imitation of transitive and intransitive gestures in 80 stroke patients, 42 with left (LHD) and 38 with right (RHD) hemisphere damage. Patients were also categorized in two groups based on the time that has elapsed between their stroke and the apraxia assessment: acute-subacute (n = 42) and chronic (n = 38). In addition, patterns of performance in apraxia were examined. We expected that acute-subacute patients would be more impaired than chronic patients and that LHD patients would be more impaired than RHD patients, relative to controls. The hemisphere prediction was confirmed, replicating previous findings. The frequency of apraxia was also higher in all LHD time post-stroke groups. The most common impairment after LHD was impairment in both pantomime and imitation in both transitive and intransitive gestures. Selective deficits in imitation were more frequent after RHD for transitive gestures but for intransitive gestures they were more frequent after LHD. Patients were more impaired on imitation than pantomime, relative to controls. In addition, after looking at both gesture types concurrently, we have described cases of patients who suffered deficits in pantomime of intransitive gestures with preserved performance on transitive gestures. Such cases show that the right hemisphere may be in some cases critical for the successful pantomime of intransitive gestures and the neural networks subserving them may be distinct. Chronic patients were also less impaired than acute-subacute patients, even though the difference did not reach significance. A longitudinal study is needed to examine the recovery patterns in both LHD and RHD patients.

Background: The comparison of human related communication skills of socialized canids may help to understand the evolution and the epigenesis of gesture comprehension in humans. To reconcile previously contradicting views on the origin of... more

Background: The comparison of human related communication skills of socialized canids may help to understand the evolution and the epigenesis of gesture comprehension in humans. To reconcile previously contradicting views on the origin of dogs' outstanding performance in utilizing human gestures, we suggest that dog-wolf differences should be studied in a more complex way. Methodology/Principal Findings: We present data both on the performance and the behaviour of dogs and wolves of different ages in a two-way object choice test. Characteristic behavioural differences showed that for wolves it took longer to establish eye contact with the pointing experimenter, they struggled more with the handler, and pups also bit her more before focusing on the human's signal. The performance of similarly hand-reared 8-week-old dogs and wolves did not differ in utilizing the simpler proximal momentary pointing. However, when tested with the distal momentary pointing, 4-monthold pet dogs outperformed the same aged hand reared wolves. Thus early and intensive socialisation does not diminish differences between young dogs and wolves in behaviour and performance. Socialised adult wolves performed similarly well as dogs in this task without pretraining. The success of adult wolves was accompanied with increased willingness to cooperate. Conclusion/Significance: Thus, we provide evidence for the first time that socialised adult wolves are as successful in relying on distal momentary pointing as adult pet dogs. However, the delayed emergence of utilising human distal momentary pointing in wolves shows that these wild canines react to a lesser degree to intensive socialisation in contrast to dogs, which are able to control agonistic behaviours and inhibition of actions in a food related task early in development. We suggest a ''synergistic'' hypothesis, claiming that positive feedback processes (both evolutionary and epigenetic) have increased the readiness of dogs to attend to humans, providing the basis for dog-human communication.

The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses,... more

The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms

This case study describes a Wernicke's aphasic who had spontaneously developed a communication pattern involving a large portion of body communication to convey factual information. The study is longitudinal and compares the development... more

This case study describes a Wernicke's aphasic who had spontaneously developed a communication pattern involving a large portion of body communication to convey factual information. The study is longitudinal and compares the development of body communication and speech (here: the use of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and pronouns) during the 18-month period of rehabilitation. There is a clear development, showing an increased use of nouns, verbs, and ajectives and a decreased use of body communication to convey factual information. This is taken to show that compensatory body communication for factual information can be used by Wernicke's aphasics, something that is easily obscured by the finding often reported that most aphasics tend to show body communication patterns that are in accordance with their speech patterns. The role of pronouns and gestures for turnkeeping at an intermediate stage, when the patient is shifting from gestures to words for factual content, is also discussed.

This article examines two issues: the role of gesture in the communication of spatial information and the relation between communication and mental representation. Children (8-10 years) and adults walked through a space to learn the... more

This article examines two issues: the role of gesture in the communication of spatial information and the relation between communication and mental representation. Children (8-10 years) and adults walked through a space to learn the locations of six hidden toy animals and then explained the space to another person. In Study 1, older children and adults typically gestured when describing the space and rarely provided spatial information in speech without also providing the information in gesture. However, few 8-yearolds communicated spatial information in speech or gesture. Studies 2 and 3 showed that 8-year-olds did understand the spatial arrangement of the animals and could communicate spatial information if prompted to use their hands. Taken together, these results indicate that gesture is important for conveying spatial relations at all ages and, as such, provides us with a more complete picture of what children do and do not know about communicating spatial relations.

the interaction between phonological similarity, articulatory suppression, and stimulus presentation mode in verbal short-term memory as potentially providing important support for the phonological loop hypothesis. They find such an... more

the interaction between phonological similarity, articulatory suppression, and stimulus presentation mode in verbal short-term memory as potentially providing important support for the phonological loop hypothesis. They find such an interaction but attribute it to "perceptual organization masquerading as phonological storage". We present data using shorter letter sequences and find clear evidence of the interaction predicted by the phonological loop hypothesis, which, unlike the evidence of Jones et al., is not limited to recency, and which provides continued support for the phonological loop hypothesis.

Limb apraxia is a neurological disorder characterized by an inability to pantomime and/or imitate gestures. It is more commonly observed after left hemisphere damage (LHD), but has also been reported after right hemisphere damage (RHD).... more

Limb apraxia is a neurological disorder characterized by an inability to pantomime and/or imitate gestures. It is more commonly observed after left hemisphere damage (LHD), but has also been reported after right hemisphere damage (RHD). The Conceptual-Production Systems model suggests that three systems are involved in the control of purposeful movements: the conceptual, the production and the sensory/perceptual system. Depending on which system is damaged different patterns of apraxia are expressed. To determine the apraxia pattern, pantomime, delayed, and concurrent imitation tasks need to be administered, as well as conceptual tasks assessing one's knowledge of actions. Based on the model, eight patterns of apraxia should emerge. The purpose of this study is to determine whether these patterns are in fact observed in stroke patients and examine their frequency. If the performance of most stroke patients falls into one of the patterns, then we would have strong support for the conceptual-production model. Stroke (34 LHD and 39 RHD) patients and 27 age-and education-matched healthy controls participated in the study. Participants were assessed in four task modalities: pantomime, delayed imitation, concurrent imitation and conceptual knowledge (two tasks were used: tool naming by action and action identification). Patients were categorized as impaired on a task if they scored 2 SD below the mean performance of the controls for gesture production tasks, or below a cut-off score on the conceptual tasks. They were then classified into patterns depending on their performance on the four task modalities. Most patients (86%) fell into one of seven patterns originally predicted from the Conceptual-Production Systems model. The two most common patterns were deficits in pantomime and imitation with preserved gesture recognition and conduction apraxia (selective deficit in imitation). Four new patterns emerged, but mostly single cases of these were found. Overall, the study provides strong support for the Conceptual-Production Systems model.

We present Scratch Input, an acoustic-based input technique that relies on the unique sound produced when a fingernail is dragged over the surface of a textured material, such as wood, fabric, or wall paint. We employ a simple sensor that... more

We present Scratch Input, an acoustic-based input technique that relies on the unique sound produced when a fingernail is dragged over the surface of a textured material, such as wood, fabric, or wall paint. We employ a simple sensor that can be easily coupled with existing surfaces, such as walls and tables, turning them into large, unpowered and ad hoc finger input surfaces. Our sensor is sufficiently small that it could be incorporated into a mobile device, allowing any suitable surface on which it rests to be appropriated as a gestural input surface. Several example applications were developed to demonstrate possible interactions. We conclude with a study that shows users can perform six Scratch Input gestures at about 90% accuracy with less than five minutes of training and on wide variety of surfaces.

Apraxia Aphasia Non-verbal semantic processing a b s t r a c t Patients suffering from severe aphasia have to rely on non-verbal means of communication to convey a message. However, to date it is not clear which patients are able to do so.

This article maintains that John Lydgate’s 'Testament' is not a rejection of his secular career but a literary palinode that attempts to impress a sense of coherence onto a diverse body of work. As the language of... more

This article maintains that John Lydgate’s 'Testament' is not a rejection of his secular career but a literary palinode that attempts to impress a sense of coherence onto a diverse body of work. As the language of conversion, the repetitive litaneutical code at the end of the poem is vindicated by the earlier performance of poetic bravado. Lydgate’s textual piety, which I show to be indebted to the devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus, is paradoxically sustained by the displacement of prior secular forms. In a central gesture, the kneeling monk-poet presents his life’s work to God, who acts as his patron. Finally, I demonstrate that manuscript illuminations depicting a kneeling Lydgate confirm the reception of such a pose as simultaneously pious yet secular. As a result, I suggest that we view Lydgate not as a Chaucerian, but first and foremost as a poet dedicated to reconciling the writing of secular literature with a spiritual calling. From: The Chaucer Review Volume 49, Number 3, 2015 pp. 265-293 http://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/chaucer_review/v049/49.3.sobecki.html http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/chaucerrev.49.3.issue-3

This paper investigates uses of inscriptions -graphic acts and the marks resulting from them -as rhetorical and socio-symbolic devices in face-to-face interaction. The analysis of a business-negotitition between two German entrepreneurs... more

This paper investigates uses of inscriptions -graphic acts and the marks resulting from them -as rhetorical and socio-symbolic devices in face-to-face interaction. The analysis of a business-negotitition between two German entrepreneurs reveals that the integration of inscriptions and talk often yields hybrid symbols: while signifying within an instrumental domain such as record-keeping or accounting, they may simultaneously participate in the 'mise-en-s&e' of conversational action or serve as metaphoric 'graphic gestures'. Reconstructing these local meanings of inscriptions requires close analysis of the co-ordination of talk and graphic activity, of the movement patterns of graphic acts, and of the visual gestalt of graphic marks. The paper ends with a discussion of inscriptions as turn-construction units.

Lexical production in children with Down syndrome (DS) was investigated by examining spoken naming accuracy and the use of spontaneous gestures in a picture naming task. Fifteen children with DS (range 3.8-8.3 years) were compared to... more

Lexical production in children with Down syndrome (DS) was investigated by examining spoken naming accuracy and the use of spontaneous gestures in a picture naming task. Fifteen children with DS (range 3.8-8.3 years) were compared to typically developing children (TD), matched for chronological age and developmental age (range 2.6-4.3 years). Relative to TD children, children with DS were less accurate in speech (producing a greater number of unintelligible answers), yet they produced more gestures overall and of these a sig-niWcantly higher percentage of iconic gestures. Furthermore, the iconic gestures produced by children with DS accompanied by incorrect or no speech often expressed a concept similar to that of the target word, suggesting deeper conceptual knowledge relative to that expressed only in speech.

Background: Recent data support the beneficial role of gesturing during mental practice. The present study examined whether coupling motor imagery (MI) with some movement sequences (dynamic imagery condition) impacted motor performance to... more

Background: Recent data support the beneficial role of gesturing during mental practice. The present study examined whether coupling motor imagery (MI) with some movement sequences (dynamic imagery condition) impacted motor performance to a greater extent than performing MI while remaining motionless. Methods: A group of active high jumpers imagined their jump both with and without associated arm movement. Three outcome variables were measured: the number of successful attempts, the temporal congruence between MI and actual jump performance, and the technical quality of the jump. Results: Data revealed that dynamic imagery enhanced both MI quality and temporal congruence between MI and motor performance, and further improved the technical efficacy of the jump. Athletes also reported more vivid representation while coupling MI with actual movement. Conclusions: These data support the hypothesis that performing dynamic imagery might contribute to enhance MI quality and efficacy, and sketch potentially fruitful new directions for MI practice.

A paradigm was tested for measuring the tendency of children to send accurate nonverbal signals to others via spontaneous facial expressions and gestures. This paradigm was derived from studies on adults that suggest that women are more... more

A paradigm was tested for measuring the tendency of children to send accurate nonverbal signals to others via spontaneous facial expressions and gestures. This paradigm was derived from studies on adults that suggest that women are more accurate nonverbal "senders" than men in certain situations. Eighteen male and 11 female preschoolers (aged 4 to 6 years) watched a series. of emotionally loaded color slides while they were observed via a hidden television camera by their mothers. Videotapes of the child were later observed by groups of undergraduates. Results indicated that significant overall communication occurred, with large individual differences in "sending ability" between children. There was no evidence of a large sex difference in sending ability in children, although on one measure girls were more accurate senders than boys when viewed by undergraduates. Sending ability was positively related to teacher's ratings of activ.ty level, aggressiveness, impulsiveness, bossiness, sociability, etc., and negatively related to shyness, cooperation, emotional inhibition and control, etc.

The paper examines the current state in the use of augmentative and alter native communication (hereinafter AAC) with special primary schools pupils in the Czech Republic. It defi nes the systems of AAC that are currently used at special... more

The paper examines the current state in the use of augmentative and alter native communication (hereinafter AAC) with special primary schools pupils in the Czech Republic. It defi nes the systems of AAC that are currently used at special primary schools in the Czech Republic as a tool of commu nication and education of pupils with a greater degree of intellectual disabilities. It describes the contribution of such tools to the development of specifi c segments of personality of the individuals with a greater degree of intellectual disabilities. It defi nes the preferred aspects for the choice of the communication system of the given target group, and it identifi es the range of specialists that participate in the selection of the AAC system for special elementary schools pupils in practice. Furthermore, the paper describes the current state in the use of technical and non-technical devices that work on the basis of AAC, and it maps current situation in the area of further education of pedagogues that deal with AAC. The paper also discusses individual problems encountered by pedagogues of special primary schools during the application of AAC in practice.

In this paper, we aim to contribute to the discussion of the role of the human body and of the concrete artefacts and signs created by humankind in the constitution of meanings for mathematical practices. We argue that cognition is both... more

In this paper, we aim to contribute to the discussion of the role of the human body and of the concrete artefacts and signs created by humankind in the constitution of meanings for mathematical practices. We argue that cognition is both embodied and situated in the activities through which it occurs and that mathematics learning involves the appropriation of practices associated with the sets of artefacts that have historically come to represent the body of knowledge we call mathematics. This process of appropriation involves a coordination of a variety of the semiotic resources-spoken and written languages, mathematical representation systems, drawings, gestures and the like-through which mathematical objects and relationships might be experienced and expressed. To highlight the connections between perceptual activities and cultural concepts in the meanings associated with this process, we concentrate on learners who do not have access to the visual field. More specifically, we present three examples of gesture use in the practices of blind mathematics students-all involving the exploration of geometrical objects and relationships. On the basis of our analysis of these examples, we argue that gestures are illustrative of imagined reenactions of previously experienced activities and that they emerge in instructional situations as embodied abstractions, serving a central role in the sense-making practices associated with the appropriation of mathematical meanings.

Dogs' (Canis familiaris) and cats' (Felis catus) interspecific communicative behavior toward humans was investigated. In Experiment 1, the ability of dogs and cats to use human pointing gestures in an object-choice task was compared using... more

Dogs' (Canis familiaris) and cats' (Felis catus) interspecific communicative behavior toward humans was investigated. In Experiment 1, the ability of dogs and cats to use human pointing gestures in an object-choice task was compared using 4 types of pointing cues differing in distance between the signaled object and the end of the fingertip and in visibility duration of the given signal. Using these gestures, both dogs and cats were able to find the hidden food; there was no significant difference in their performance. In Experiment 2, the hidden food was made inaccessible to the subjects to determine whether they could indicate the place of the hidden food to a naive owner. Cats lacked some components of attention-getting behavior compared with dogs. The results suggest that individual familiarization with pointing gestures ensures high-level performance in the presence of such gestures; however, species-specific differences could cause differences in signaling toward the human.

We present the neuropsychological and linguistic follow-up of a girl with bilateral perisylvian polymicrogyria during 4 years of gestural and verbal speech therapy. Some researchers have suggested that children with bilateral perisylvian... more

We present the neuropsychological and linguistic follow-up of a girl with bilateral perisylvian polymicrogyria during 4 years of gestural and verbal speech therapy. Some researchers have suggested that children with bilateral perisylvian polymicrogyria mentally fail to reach the syntactic phase and do not acquire a productive morphology. This patient achieved a mean length of utterance in signs/gestures of 3.4, a syntactic phase of completion of the nuclear sentence and the use of morphological modifications. We discuss the link between gesture and language and formulate hypotheses on the role of gestural input on the reorganization of compensatory synaptic circuits.

The strong predominance of right-handedness appears to be a uniquely human characteristic, whereas the left-cerebral dominance for vocalization occurs in many species, including frogs, birds, and mammals. Right-handedness may have arisen... more

The strong predominance of right-handedness appears to be a uniquely human characteristic, whereas the left-cerebral dominance for vocalization occurs in many species, including frogs, birds, and mammals. Right-handedness may have arisen because of an association between manual gestures and vocalization in the evolution of language. I argue that language evolved from manual gestures, gradually incorporating vocal elements. The transition may be traced through changes in the function of Broca's area. Its homologue in monkeys has nothing to do with vocal control, but contains the so-called "mirror neurons," the code for both the production of manual reaching movements and the perception of the same movements performed by others. This system is bilateral in monkeys, but predominantly left-hemispheric in humans, and in humans is involved with vocalization as well as manual actions. There is evidence that Broca's area is enlarged on the left side in Homo habilis, suggesting that a link between gesture and vocalization may go back at least two million years, although other evidence suggests that speech may not have become fully autonomous until Homo sapiens appeared some 170,000 years ago, or perhaps even later. The removal of manual gesture as a necessary component of language may explain the rapid advance of technology, allowing late migrations of Homo sapiens from Africa to replace all other hominids in other parts of the world, including the Neanderthals in Europe and Homo erectus in Asia. Nevertheless, the long association of vocalization with manual gesture left us a legacy of right-handedness.

Abstract— Groups of MA-matched autistic, normal and non-autistic retarded children were tested for their ability to choose drawn and photographed facial expressions of emotion to “go with” a person videotaped in gestures, vocalizations... more

Abstract— Groups of MA-matched autistic, normal and non-autistic retarded children were tested for their ability to choose drawn and photographed facial expressions of emotion to “go with” a person videotaped in gestures, vocalizations and contexts indicative of four emotional states. Although both autistic and control subjects were adept in choosing drawings of non-personal objects to correspond with videotaped cues, the autistic children were markedly impaired in selecting the appropriate faces for the videotaped expressions and contexts. Within the autistic group, the children's performance in this task of emotion recognition was related to MA. It is suggested that autistic children have difficulty in recognizing how different expressions of particular emotions are associated with each other, and that this might contribute to their failure to understand the emotional states of other people.

Background: Only few standardized apraxia scales are available and they do not cover all domains and semantic features of gesture production. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of a... more

Background: Only few standardized apraxia scales are available and they do not cover all domains and semantic features of gesture production. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of a newly developed test of upper limb apraxia (TULIA), which is comprehensive and still short to administer. Methods: The TULIA consists of 48 items including imitation and pantomime domain of non-symbolic (meaningless), intransitive (communicative) and transitive (tool related) gestures corresponding to 6 subtests. A 6-point scoring method (0-5) was used (score range 0-240). Performance was assessed by blinded raters based on videos in 133 stroke patients, 84 with left hemisphere damage (LHD) and 49 with right hemisphere damage (RHD), as well as 50 healthy subjects (HS).

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between hand preference for communicative gestures and language during development. Hand preference for pointing gestures and level of language were assessed in 46 toddlers between... more

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between hand preference for communicative gestures and language during development. Hand preference for pointing gestures and level of language were assessed in 46 toddlers between 12 and 30 months of age. Results showed a right-hand preference for pointing and the use of a developmental quotient (DQ) for language revealed a significant correlation between the degree of hand preference and DQ for language in children with a quotient above 100. Thus, these children were more right-handed for pointing gestures as DQ increased. These results highlight the close association between the development of hand preference for pointing and the speed of language development, suggesting a new direction for studies of language-gesture links in toddlers. ß 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 55: 757-765, 2013.

An increasing number of today's consumer devices such as mobile phones or tablet computers are equipped with various sensors. The extraction of useful information such as gestures from sensor-generated data based on mainstream imperative... more

An increasing number of today's consumer devices such as mobile phones or tablet computers are equipped with various sensors. The extraction of useful information such as gestures from sensor-generated data based on mainstream imperative languages is a notoriously difficult task. Over the last few years, a number of domain-specific programming languages have been proposed to ease the development of gesture detection. Most of these languages have adopted a declarative approach allowing programmers to describe their gestures rather than having to manually maintain a history of event data and intermediate gesture results. While these declarative languages represent a clear advancement in gesture detection, a number of issues are still unresolved. In this paper we present relevant criteria for gesture detection and provide an initial classification of existing solutions based on these criteria in order to foster a discussion and identify opportunities for future gesture programming languages.

Conversational or ''co-speech'' gestures play an important role in communication, facilitating turntaking, providing visuospatial information, clarifying subtleties of emphasis, and other pragmatic cues. Consistent with other pragmatic... more

Conversational or ''co-speech'' gestures play an important role in communication, facilitating turntaking, providing visuospatial information, clarifying subtleties of emphasis, and other pragmatic cues. Consistent with other pragmatic language deficits, individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are said to produce fewer conversational gestures, as specified in many diagnostic measures. Surprisingly, while research shows fewer deictic gestures in young children with ASD, there is a little empirical evidence addressing other forms of gesture. The discrepancy between clinical and empirical observations may reflect impairments unrelated to frequency, such as gesture quality or integration with speech. Adolescents with high-functioning ASD (n 5 15), matched on age, gender, and IQ to 15 typically developing (TD) adolescents, completed a narrative task to assess the spontaneous production of speech and gesture. Naïve observers rated the stories for communicative quality. Overall, the ASD group's stories were rated as less clear and engaging. Although utterance and gesture rates were comparable, the ASD group's gestures were less closely synchronized with the co-occurring speech, relative to control participants. This gesture-speech synchrony specifically impacted communicative quality across participants. Furthermore, while story ratings were associated with gesture count in TD adolescents, no such relationship was observed in adolescents with ASD, suggesting that gestures do not amplify communication in this population. Quality ratings were, however, correlated with ASD symptom severity scores, such that participants with fewer ASD symptoms were rated as telling higher quality stories. Implications of these findings are discussed in terms of communication and neuropsychological functioning in ASD.

A B S T R A C T Parent report has proven a valid and cost-effective means of evaluating early child language. Norming datasets for these instruments, which provide the basis for standardized comparisons of individual children to a... more

A B S T R A C T Parent report has proven a valid and cost-effective means of evaluating early child language. Norming datasets for these instruments, which provide the basis for standardized comparisons of individual children to a population, can also be used to derive norms for the acquisition of individual words in production and comprehension and also early gestures and symbolic actions. These lexical norms have a wide range of uses in basic research, assessment and intervention. In addition, crosslinguistic comparisons of lexical development are greatly facilitated by the availability of norms from diverse languages. This report describes the development of CLEX, a new web-based cross-linguistic database for lexical data from adaptations of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories. CLEX provides tools for a range of analyses within and across languages. It is designed to incorporate additional language datasets easily, and to permit users to define

The most familiar emotional signals consist of faces, voices, and whole-body expressions, but so far research on emotions expressed by the whole body is sparse. The authors investigated recognition of whole-body expressions of emotion in... more

The most familiar emotional signals consist of faces, voices, and whole-body expressions, but so far research on emotions expressed by the whole body is sparse. The authors investigated recognition of whole-body expressions of emotion in three experiments. In the first experiment, participants performed a body expression-matching task. Results indicate good recognition of all emotions, with fear being the hardest to recognize. In the second experiment, two alternative forced choice categorizations of the facial expression of a compound face-body stimulus were strongly influenced by the bodily expression. This effect was a function of the ambiguity of the facial expression. In the third experiment, recognition of emotional tone of voice was similarly influenced by task irrelevant emotional body expressions. Taken together, the findings illustrate the importance of emotional whole-body expressions in communication either when viewed on their own or, as is often the case in realistic circumstances, in combination with facial expressions and emotional voices.

Co-speech gestures embody a form of manual action that is tightly coupled to the language system. As such, the co-occurrence of speech and co-speech gestures is an excellent example of the interplay between language and action. There are,... more

Co-speech gestures embody a form of manual action that is tightly coupled to the language system. As such, the co-occurrence of speech and co-speech gestures is an excellent example of the interplay between language and action. There are, however, other ways in which language and action can be thought of as closely related. In this paper we will give an overview of studies in cognitive neuroscience that examine the neural underpinnings of links between language and action. Topics include neurocognitive studies of motor representations of speech sounds, action-related language, sign language and co-speech gestures. It will be concluded that there is strong evidence on the interaction between speech and gestures in the brain. This interaction however shares general properties with other domains in which there is interplay between language and action.

The paper presents a framework for classifying gestures in terms of different parameters, and shows that the parameter of iconicity cuts across that of cognitive construction, which distinguishes codified gestures — those represented in... more

The paper presents a framework for classifying gestures in terms of different parameters, and shows that the parameter of iconicity cuts across that of cognitive construction, which distinguishes codified gestures — those represented in memory as stable signal–meaning pairs — from creative ones — those invented on the spot on the basis of a few generative rules. While creative gestures are necessarily iconic, because they can be understood only thanks to their iconicity, codified gestures can be iconic too. A model for the generation of iconic gestures is presented, according to which, to create a new gesture, people select the features of the meaning to imitate in terms of their distinctiveness, ease of representation and ontological type. Finally, some principles for measuring the iconicity of gestures of Hearers and Signs of the Deaf are illustrated, thus outlining the continuity of iconic devices between creative and codified gestures.

Human communication occurs through both verbal and visual/motoric modalities. Simultaneous conversational speech and gesture occurs across all cultures and age groups. When verbal communication is compromised, more of the communicative... more

Human communication occurs through both verbal and visual/motoric modalities. Simultaneous conversational speech and gesture occurs across all cultures and age groups. When verbal communication is compromised, more of the communicative load can be transferred to the gesture modality. Although people with aphasia produce meaning-laden gestures, the communicative value of these has not been adequately investigated. To investigate the communicative effectiveness of pantomime gesture produced spontaneously by individuals with aphasia during conversational discourse. Sixty-seven undergraduate students wrote down the messages conveyed by 11 people with aphasia that produced pantomime while engaged in conversational discourse. Students were presented with a speech-only, a gesture-only and a combined speech and gesture condition and guessed messages in both a free description and a multiple-choice task. As hypothesized, listener comprehension was more accurate in the combined pantomime gest...

We present VBGhost: an accessible, educational smartphone game for people who are blind or low vision. It is based on the word game Ghost, in which players take turns adding letters to a word fragment while attempting to not complete a... more

We present VBGhost: an accessible, educational smartphone game for people who are blind or low vision. It is based on the word game Ghost, in which players take turns adding letters to a word fragment while attempting to not complete a word. VBGhost uses audio and haptic feedback to reinforce Braille concepts. Players enter letters in the game by using Braille dot patterns on a touchscreen interface. Players can raise or lower dots to create Braille characters using taps and audio feedback from the phone. When a "raised" dot is touched on the screen, the phone vibrates. In VBGhost, a player can either play against the computer or against another person. We demonstrate the potential for the development of fun, accessible and educational games.

The creation of team spirit is one of the most important and difficult challenges of contemporary sports. Team spirit is on one hand important for team efficiency and team success and on the other difficult to account for due to its... more

The creation of team spirit is one of the most important and difficult challenges of contemporary sports. Team spirit is on one hand important for team efficiency and team success and on the other difficult to account for due to its emergent and impervious nature. Team spirit is especially important in the midst of the dynamic on-the-field game action where sport teams rely on active communication between team members in order to meet the many challenges of sporting contests. Verbal communication is however often problematic during games and members of a team need to make use of symbolic gestures to communicate. The literature has however been inattentive to the role of symbolic gestures in sports, especially in regard to team spirit and team performance. This paper is a case study of a single football match. It makes use of micro-sociological theory and perspective to account for players´ use of symbolic communication and gestures in regard to team spirit. The findings from the analysed match reveal players’ use of various forms of symbolic communication and gestures, which could be recognized as positive, negative or neutral for on-the-field team spirit.

Purpose: Reciprocal imitation training (RIT) is a naturalistic behavioral intervention that teaches imitation to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) within a socialcommunicative context. RIT has been shown to be effective at... more

Purpose: Reciprocal imitation training (RIT) is a naturalistic behavioral intervention that teaches imitation to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) within a socialcommunicative context. RIT has been shown to be effective at teaching spontaneous, generalized object and gesture imitation. In addition, improvements in imitation are associated with increases in verbal imitation and spontaneous language. Method: This study used a modified multiple-baseline design across 4 children to examine whether adding gesture imitation training improves the overall rate of appropriate language use in children with ASD who have already been participating in object imitation training. Results: Three of the 4 children showed greater improvements in their use of appropriate language after gesture imitation was begun. Further, the children were more likely to use verbal imitation during gesture imitation training than during object imitation training. Conclusion: These findings suggest that adding gesture imitation training to object imitation training can lead to greater gains in rate of language use than object imitation alone. Implications for both language development and early intervention are discussed.

Non-verbal communication is the study of communication without words. Our actions are the means of communication, subject to interpretation by others. Even the failure to act is a way of communicating. Today when we interact with others,... more

Non-verbal communication is the study of communication without words. Our actions are the means of communication, subject to interpretation by others. Even the failure to act is a way of communicating. Today when we interact with others, we continuously give and receive wordless signals. All of our nonverbal behaviors—the gestures we make, the way we sit, how fast or how loud we talk, how close we stand, how much eye contact we make—send strong messages. These messages don't stop when you stop speaking either. Even when you're silent, you're still communicating nonverbally. Facial expressions, body movements, eye contact, vocal qualities all help us to communicate without words. These silent messages communicate our feelings during any form of interpersonal communication that we have with our friends, teachers, seniors, subordinates or colleagues. The present paper deals with what is non-verbal communication, its various forms and types, how to interpret them, and also some tips of how to enhance these non-verbal communication.

Come e perché un linguista si interessa di gesti? Quali sono i principali risultati a oggi prodotti nel campo della teoria e della pratica lessicografica applicata alla gestualità italiana? Che cosa è stato fatto e resta ancora da fare... more

Come e perché un linguista si interessa di gesti? Quali sono i principali risultati a oggi prodotti nel campo della teoria e della pratica lessicografica applicata alla gestualità italiana? Che cosa è stato fatto e resta ancora da fare per un’educazione integrale alla lingua e ai gesti in classe? Per rispondere a queste domande, il volume affronta il tema della gestualità italiana da un punto di vista linguistico. Vengono prima presentate le classificazioni adottate per individuare i gesti, dei quali sono poi evidenziate le caratteristiche salienti, anche all’interno di un quadro variazionale. Seguono una rassegna dei dizionari dei gesti italiani finora editi e la proposta di un modello per la costruzione di un nuovo dizionario chiamato Gestibolario. Chiudono il volume alcune indicazioni per una didattica della gestualità nei corsi universitari.

This paper describes a highly structured assessment protocol with objective behavioral measures for joint attention responding and initiation. The assessment was given to 26 children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders and 21... more

This paper describes a highly structured assessment protocol with objective behavioral measures for joint attention responding and initiation. The assessment was given to 26 children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders and 21 typically developing children, aged two to four years. Interobserver agreement was high for all behavioral measures. Children with autism had relatively minor deficits in joint attention responding and more severe deficits in joint attention initiation, relative to typically developing children. These results replicate those reported in previous research. The protocol can be used reliably to assess behavior indicative of joint attention responding and initiation in typically developing children and children with autism. #

The present study examined the neural correlates of speech and hand gesture comprehension in a naturalistic context. Fifteen participants watched audiovisual segments of speech and gesture while event-related potentials (ERPs) were... more

The present study examined the neural correlates of speech and hand gesture comprehension in a naturalistic context. Fifteen participants watched audiovisual segments of speech and gesture while event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded to the speech. Gesture influenced the ERPs to the speech. Specifically, there was a right-lateralized N400 effect-reflecting semantic integrationwhen gestures mismatched versus matched the speech. In addition, early sensory components in bilateral occipital and frontal sites differentiated speech accompanied by matching versus non-matching gestures. These results suggest that hand gestures may be integrated with speech at early and late stages of language processing.

Old master paintings speak their own language, which is not conveyed by vocal words but mainly by meaningful hand gestures. Painters used them to transmit theological concepts, popular customs, scientific ideas, political values,... more

Old master paintings speak their own language, which is not conveyed by vocal words but mainly by meaningful hand gestures. Painters used them to transmit theological concepts, popular customs, scientific ideas, political values, emotional states and social identities. Despite the importance of the pictorial codified gestures in art history, noteworthy but only partial studies have been dedicated to this subject so far. The aim of this book is to propose an extensive and unifying study of the genealogy and the particularities of the language of hands in art, as well as to establish clear definitions of each one of the main pictorial chirograms (graphical representation of a hand sign). Thanks to their flexibility, the hands are able to form signs of multiples shapes and to cover a vast range of conceptions. Nevertheless, the pictorial chirograms are fundamentally different from real life gestures – they are frozen signs. Painters took advantage of this problem and created a unique well-structured and long-term communicative system. It is based on the combination of complementary signs (forming chirographic accords), the clarity of gestures shared by numerous cultures (such as the deictics), as well as the popularity of the iconographic models. The meanings of the chirograms were deciphered here using a vast repertoire of sources, mainly from social and artistic contexts of the 17th and 18th century, such as art theory, everyday life customs, liturgical rituals, theater, dance, oratory, anatomical studies, physiognomony, monastic sign language, sign language of the Deaf, etc. Around 160 gestures from different fields are addressed in the book and listed in an index. The study of chirology during the Early Modern period does not only reveal the multiple conceptions related to the hands, but also the rich iconography of drawings and engravings, illustrating this knowledge. In painting, some gestures are commonly used and widespread in Europe, while others are extremely rare. The most frequent pictorial chirograms are studied in separate chapters, including: pointed forefinger; joined palms; intertwined fingers of both hands; thumb, forefinger and middle finger raised (benedictio); raised palms; finger on the mouth (signum harpocraticum); hands crossed on the chest; extended open hand; head leaning on the hand (melancholy sign); finger of one hand touching or holding a finger of the other hand (comput); thumb inserted between the forefinger and middle finger bent (fig sign); forefinger and little finger extended (horns); fist; little finger raised; hand shake (dextrarum junctio) and self-holding hands. In addition, some rare pictorial chirograms are also presented in separate chapters, including: joint thumb and forefinger (ring gesture); thumb up or pointing thumb; hand underneath the chin; hand in the elbow (manichetto) and tense extended arms. The study of hands language in art reveals how those frozen signs relate to living cultures and contributes to the conservation of the European gesture heritage.

Gesture and speech are assumed to form an integrated system during language production. Based on this view, we propose the integrated-systems hypothesis, which explains two ways in which gesture and speech are integrated-through mutual... more

Gesture and speech are assumed to form an integrated system during language production. Based on this view, we propose the integrated-systems hypothesis, which explains two ways in which gesture and speech are integrated-through mutual and obligatory interactions-in language comprehension. Experiment 1 presented participants with action primes (e.g., someone chopping vegetables) and bimodal speech and gesture targets. Participants related primes to targets more quickly and accurately when they contained congruent information (speech: "chop"; gesture: chop) than when they contained incongruent information (speech: "chop"; gesture: twist). Moreover, the strength of the incongruence affected processing, with fewer errors for weak incongruities (speech: "chop"; gesture: cut) than for strong incongruities (speech: "chop"; gesture: twist). Crucial for the integrated-systems hypothesis, this influence was bidirectional. Experiment 2 demonstrated that gesture's influence on speech was obligatory. The results confirm the integrated-systems hypothesis and demonstrate that gesture and speech form an integrated system in language comprehension.

Nous allons d’abord préciser les acceptions de notions fondamentales telles que mouvement, geste, gestuelle coverbale, intonation, tension, rythmes phonétiques, phonation, polysensorialité, optimalité, spatioception, affectivité, valeurs... more

Nous allons d’abord préciser les acceptions de notions fondamentales telles que mouvement, geste, gestuelle coverbale, intonation, tension, rythmes phonétiques, phonation, polysensorialité, optimalité, spatioception, affectivité, valeurs de la langue parlée. Il s’agit de revisiter les notions générales par le biais des procédés pratiques issus de la théorie verbo-tonale. Ce faisant, nous montrerons ce que ces notions apportent d’essentiel à la créativité de la démarche verbo-tonale. On vise à tracer les voies de l’entrelacement de la corporalité et de la parole. En effet, la phonation dépasse l’activité des organes phonatoires. Elle découle de l’activité concertée de l’ensemble structural du corps entier. La langue parlée n´est pas susceptible d´être assimilée en dehors de l’être humain et de son corps. La correction phonétique verbo-tonale porte sur ce lien entre la production des sons en tant que résultat du corps et la perception de ces mêmes sons par la structure neurologique de l’être humain.

How does gesturing help children learn? Gesturing might encourage children to extract meaning implicit in their hand movements. If so, children should be sensitive to the particular movements they produce and learn accordingly.... more

How does gesturing help children learn? Gesturing might encourage children to extract meaning implicit in their hand movements. If so, children should be sensitive to the particular movements they produce and learn accordingly. Alternatively, all that may matter is that children move their hands. If so, they should learn regardless of which movements they produce. To investigate these alternatives, we manipulated gesturing during a math lesson. We found that children required to produce correct gestures learned more than children required to produce partially correct gestures, who learned more than children required to produce no gestures. This effect was mediated by whether children took information conveyed solely in their gestures and added it to their speech. The findings suggest that body movements are involved not only in processing old ideas, but also in creating new ones. We may be able to lay foundations for new knowledge simply by telling learners how to move their hands. PS YC HOLOGICA L SC IENCE Volume ]]]-Number ]] 1

While attachment research has demonstrated that parents’ internal working models of attachment relationships tend to be transmitted to their children, affecting children’s developmental trajectories, this study specifically examines... more

While attachment research has demonstrated that parents’ internal working models of attachment relationships tend to be transmitted to their children, affecting children’s developmental trajectories, this study specifically examines associations between adult attachment status and observable parent, child, and dyadic behaviors among children with autism and associated neurodevelopmental disorders of relating and communicating. The Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) was employed to derive parental working models of attachment relationships. The Functional Emotional Assessment Scale (FEAS) was used to determine the quality of relational and functional behaviors in parents and their children. The sample included parents and their 4- to 16-year-old children with autism and associated neurodevelopmental disorders. Hypothesized relationships between AAI classifications and FEAS scores were supported. Significant correlations were found between AAI classification and FEAS scores, indicating that children with autism spectrum disorders whose parents demonstrated secure attachment representations were better able to initiate and respond in two-way pre-symbolic gestural communication; organize two-way social problem-solving communication; and engage in imaginative thinking, symbolic play, and verbal communication. These findings lend support to the relevance of the parent’s state of mind pertaining to attachment status to child and parent relational behavior in cases wherein the child has been diagnosed with autism or an associated neurodevelopmental disorder of relating and communicating. A model emerges from these findings of conceptualizing relationships between parental internal models of attachment relationships and parent-child relational and functional levels that may aid in differentiating interventions.