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The creative interplay between hand gestures, convergent thinking, and mental imagery.
Gyulten Hyusein1, Tilbe Göksun1
1Department of Psychology, Koç University, Sarıyer, Istanbul, Turkey.
Plos One
|April 6, 2023
Summary
Hand gestures influence convergent thinking, particularly verbal tasks. Mental imagery and gesture type significantly moderate these effects, impacting problem-solving abilities differently across individuals.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Human Communication
Background:
- Hand gestures are known to benefit divergent thinking in children and verbal improvisation in adults.
- The relationship between gestures and convergent thinking, specifically verbal and visual, remains less understood.
- Individual differences in mental imagery skills may influence how gestures impact cognitive processes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between hand gestures and convergent thinking in young adults.
- To determine the role of mental imagery skills in mediating the gesture-convergent thinking relationship.
- To explore how different types of gestures (representational vs. beat) affect verbal and visual convergent thinking.
Main Methods:
- Participants completed verbal and visual convergent thinking tasks.
- Mental imagery skills were assessed and controlled for.
- Gesture frequency and type were recorded and analyzed in relation to performance.
- Spontaneous and encouraged gesturing conditions were examined.
Main Results:
- Gestures and mental imagery skills were associated with verbal, but not visual, convergent thinking.
- A complex interaction was found between gesture frequency, mental imagery, and verbal convergent thinking.
- Representational gestures aided performance for most, except those with low imagery and no task experience.
- Beat gestures showed varied effects based on mental imagery capacity and prior experience.
Conclusions:
- Hand gestures can modulate verbal convergent thinking, with effects contingent on mental imagery.
- The type of gesture and individual differences in imagery significantly influence cognitive outcomes.
- Findings contribute to embodied cognition and individual differences in gesture research, highlighting the nuanced role of gestures in problem-solving.
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