Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Children learn when their teacher's gestures and speech differ.

Melissa A Singer1, Susan Goldin-Meadow

  • 1University of Chicago, Department of Psychology, Chicago, IL 6037, USA. sgm@uchicago.edu

Psychological Science
|February 3, 2005
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Gesture-based Instruction Enhances Neural Synchrony and Predicts Children's Mathematical Learning.

Journal of cognitive neuroscience·2026
Same author

Adults' number gestures focus children on numeracy.

Cognition·2026
Same author

What can language creation tell us about language evolution?

The American psychologist·2025
Same author

What enables human language? A biocultural framework.

Science (New York, N.Y.)·2025
Same author

Talk to the hand: Black and White cultural differences in gesture use.

Journal of experimental psychology. General·2025
Same author

Signers and Speakers Show Distinct Temporal Kinematic Signatures in Their Manual Communicative Movements.

Open mind : discoveries in cognitive science·2025
Same journal

Boosting Media Literacy Using Lateral Reading and Online Search Interventions.

Psychological science·2026
Same journal

A Field Experiment Testing Whether Accountability Reduces Racial Gaps in Performance Evaluations.

Psychological science·2026
Same journal

Does Testosterone Affect Cognitive Reflection? Evidence From a Double-Blind, Randomized Controlled Study of 1,000 Participants.

Psychological science·2026
Same journal

Does Overconfidence Really Confer Adaptive Benefits to Children's Learning?

Psychological science·2026
Same journal

How Does the Mind Grow? Cross-Cultural Intuitive Theories of Mental Development.

Psychological science·2026
Same journal

Not All Practice Is Created Equal: Longitudinal Evidence From Over 40,000 Chess Players.

Psychological science·2026
See all related articles

Gestures enhance children's math learning when they convey information different from speech. This dual-message approach, particularly for multiple strategies, significantly boosts understanding of mathematical equivalence.

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Educational Psychology
  • Developmental Psychology

Background:

  • Teacher gestures often supplement verbal instruction.
  • Gestures can provide redundant or distinct information compared to speech.
  • Learners' use of multimodal information in educational settings is an area of ongoing research.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if children utilize distinct gestural information during mathematical equivalence instruction.
  • To determine the impact of congruent versus incongruent gestures on learning.
  • To examine the role of gesture in teaching single versus multiple problem-solving strategies.

Main Methods:

  • 160 third and fourth graders received instruction on mathematical equivalence.
  • Instructional conditions varied in speech content and accompanying gesture (none, congruent, incongruent).

Related Experiment Videos

  • Learning outcomes were assessed based on the number of strategies taught and gesture congruence.

    • Main Results:

    • Children significantly benefited from instruction when gestures conveyed information distinct from speech.
    • Learning gains were observed only when gestures offered novel information.
    • Teaching two strategies was effective only when the second strategy was presented via gesture, not speech.

    Conclusions:

    • Gesture plays an active role in children's learning, particularly when it provides complementary information.
    • Distinct gestural information enhances the learning of mathematical equivalence and multiple strategies.
    • Educational strategies incorporating congruent and incongruent gestures can optimize learning outcomes.