Hand gestures linked to better speaking

Can’t find the right word? You might want to start moving your hands. New research at the University of Alberta suggests that gesturing while you talk may improve your access to language.

Dr. Elena Nicoladis and her research colleagues observed the hand gestures of bilingual children as they told the same story twice, first in one language and then the other. The researchers were surprised by what they saw.

“The children used gestures a lot more when telling the story in what they considered to be their stronger language,” said Nicoladis, a psychologist at the U of A. “These results seemed counter-intuitive to us. We thought the children would be more inclined to use gestures to help them communicate in their weaker language.”

Based on these results and the results of earlier studies, Nicoladis believes there is a connection between language and memory access and gesturing.

Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

Like this author?
Catch up on other posts by John M. Grohol, PsyD (or subscribe to their feed).

Comments

This post currently has no comments. You can read the comments or leave your own thoughts on our new comments page.

Trackbacks

    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 10 May 2005
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.