Distracting the imagination: does visuospatial or auditory interference influence gesture and speech during narrative production?

• Author / Creator

  Smithson, Lisa

• The relationship between imagery, iconic gesture production, and speech was assessed among 120 participants in a narrative task. Study 1 indicated no significant relationship between visuospatial working memory capacity and iconic gesture production, and demonstrated that when visual interference is eliminated, iconic gesture rate decreases. Study 2 provided evidence that as visual interference increases in difficulty, participants use iconic gestures to a greater extent. Study 3 provided suggestive evidence that as auditory interference increases in difficulty, participants use iconic gestures to a greater extent. With respect to speech production, strong associations between narrative length and iconic gesture production were demonstrated in every condition except for when visual perceptual interference was eliminated. These results were interpreted within a framework of embodied cognition wherein iconic gesture production and imagery interact bi-directionally to facilitate the activation of imagistic representations and speech production.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Visuospatial working memory
  • Embodied cognition
  • Iconic gestures

• Graduation date

  Fall 2011

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R33D8Z

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.