< Back to previous page

Project

Cognitive skills and the gesture use and alignment in atypically developing individuals

Individuals with language difficulties (e.g., vocabulary or forming sentences) can find it difficult to express their thoughts through speech. Speech-language therapists sometimes encourage these individuals to use hand gestures. By using gestures, individuals with language difficulties may not only find it easier to express their thoughts but their communication partners may also find it easier to understand them. Presently, little is known about the cognitive processes that underlie the use of gestures in individuals with intellectual disabilities and individuals with language impairment. Our research questions are twofold. Which cognitive skills help to produce highly understandable gestures, and to what extent are individuals inclined to adopt gestures from their communication partner? The answers to these questions can help to improve gesture therapy programs.
We will focus on the role of semantic processing, visuospatial processing and language impairment in the use of highly understandable gestures. How is gesture use shaped by insight into semantic properties, by the ability to manipulate mental visual images, and by expressive language skills? Analyzing both experimental gesture elicitation tasks and natural contexts such as conversations, we compare gesture use and its influencing factors between adults with moderate intellectual disabilities, children with severe language impairment but no intellectual disabilities, and typically developing children.

Date:1 Oct 2018 →  30 Sep 2021
Keywords:atypically developing individuals, cognitive skills, gesture use
Disciplines:Neurosciences, Biological and physiological psychology, Cognitive science and intelligent systems, Developmental psychology and ageing, General psychology, Other psychology and cognitive sciences