Critically evaluate how effective gestures are at communicating information to others.

Question	Answer
Two gesture types	Symbolic and Spontaneous
Three symbolic types	Emblematic - wave Mixed - specific word like crazy Propositional - 'this' big
Four spontaneous types	Iconic - scissors Metaphoric - on and on Deictic - pointing Beat - gesturing when stuck in speech
2 studies to suggest extra info in gesturing	Large cake, gesture 'round', remembered as round McNeil - chases him out, gesture swinging object, remembered as threatening
3 studies to suggest better speech understanding	Hostetter - better comprehension of speech when that is accompanied by visible gestures Valenzo - children watching lesson with gestures = better test results Church - Similar results
2 studies to suggest speaker intends gestures to be communicative	Cohen - when face to face participants used significantly more gestures than over intercom Melinger - multiple pieces of info conveyed through gesture (size, shape)
1 criticism on communicative intentions	More complex = less communicated through gestures
3 studies suggesting gestures convey spatial info	Driskell - guess spatial words in fewer tries if gestures used Graham - english vs italian, high accuracy when using gestures to describe shapes Chen - restriction of spatial = less fluent
2 studies suggesting gestures convey complex info	Hardison - gestures help bilinguals understand second language McNeill - gestures more beneficial to preschool than kindergarten

Resource summary

	Created by Carly Brinded almost 6 years ago