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Gesture for generalization: gesture facilitates flexible learning of words for actions on objects
Author(s) -
Wakefield Elizabeth M.,
Hall Casey,
James Karin H.,
GoldinMeadow Susan
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
developmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.801
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1467-7687
pISSN - 1363-755X
DOI - 10.1111/desc.12656
Subject(s) - gesture , object (grammar) , verb , action (physics) , generalization , psychology , communication , cognitive psychology , cognitive science , linguistics , artificial intelligence , computer science , mathematics , mathematical analysis , philosophy , physics , quantum mechanics
Verb learning is difficult for children (Gentner, [Gentner, D., 1982]), partially because children have a bias to associate a novel verb not only with the action it represents, but also with the object on which it is learned (Kersten & Smith, [Kersten, A.W., 2002]). Here we investigate how well 4‐ and 5‐year‐old children ( N = 48) generalize novel verbs for actions on objects after doing or seeing the action (e.g., twisting a knob on an object) or after doing or seeing a gesture for the action (e.g., twisting in the air near an object). We find not only that children generalize more effectively through gesture experience, but also that this ability to generalize persists after a 24‐hour delay.