How does the perspective of gesture presentation affect children's spatial performances?


Orakçı E., Karadöller Astarlıoğlu D. Z.

14th Budapest CEU Conference on Cognitive Development, Budapest, Hungary, 4 - 06 January 2024, pp.100-101

  • Publication Type: Conference Paper / Summary Text
  • City: Budapest
  • Country: Hungary
  • Page Numbers: pp.100-101
  • Istanbul University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Using spatial language, including visuospatial directive information and the speaker’s gesture use, enhances the children’s spatial performances (Austin & Sweller, 2014; Simms & Gentner, 2019). However, while the speaker’s gestures are presented to children, the perspective, upper-back angle for the hands of the speaker, has not been investigated yet; it is an emergent context in online educational tools. Thus, this study investigates children’s performance on the visuo-spatial map in varying speaker conditions: speech-only, speech-gesture, and speech-gesture from upper-back angle.  Monolingual Turkish children aged between 5-6 years have been included in the study. The Directions Task has been used as the primary stimulus presented on a tablet screen. Children have been shown route descriptions on visuospatial maps. Route descriptions have been presented with a video of the speaker on the upper right corner of the screen. Descriptions are based on speech-only, speech-gesture, and speech-upper-back gesture conditions. The speaker’s face is not visible in all conditions, yet her speech is present. Three stimuli per condition, each with a different road path, have been presented. After each stimulus, children were asked to describe the road verbally and then show the path by drawing on a printed map. The Ghost Task, PTT-C, RMTS, and The Frog Story have been included to assess children’s spatial abilities.  Two ANCoVA analyses will be used, and the behavioral performance (correctness of the road drawn by children) and verbal descriptions of children have been considered dependent variables. The conditions (speech-no gesture, speech-gesture, speech-upper back gestures) of the Directions task have been considered independent variables. Children are expected to perform better in the speech-gesture condition than in the no-gesture condition. The effect of the speech-upper-back gestures condition will be explored; however, it is expected to affect children’s performances more than the no-gesture condition but lower than the gesture condition.