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Gesture as a window onto children's number knowledge.

Elizabeth A Gunderson1, Elizabet Spaepen2, Dominic Gibson2

  • 1Temple University, 1701 North 13th St., Philadelphia, PA 19122, United States.

Cognition
|July 27, 2015
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Children use gestures to communicate number concepts they haven't yet mastered with words. Gestures accurately represent numbers words cannot, aiding early number development.

Keywords:
ApproximationCardinalityGestureGesture–speech mismatchNumber words

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Development
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Numerical Cognition

Background:

  • Children struggle to accurately label set sizes with number words before understanding the cardinal principle.
  • It's unclear if this is a general numerical deficit or specific to number word limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if children's gestures reveal numerical knowledge not yet expressed verbally.
  • To explore if gestures are more effective than words for communicating number concepts, especially those above a child's 'knower-level'.

Main Methods:

  • Examined number words and gestures used by 3- to 5-year-olds to label set sizes (1-4 exactly, 5-10 approximately).
  • Compared accuracy of gesture versus speech for numerical labeling, particularly in cases of gesture-speech mismatch.

Main Results:

  • Children lacking the cardinal principle were twice as accurate labeling small sets (2-3 items) with gestures than words.
  • Gestures were more accurate than words for approximating larger set sizes (5-10).
  • Gesture accuracy increased when it differed from accompanying speech, suggesting distinct information conveyed.

Conclusions:

  • Children convey numerical information through gestures that they cannot yet articulate verbally.
  • Number gestures may play a crucial role in the development of children's understanding of number concepts.