Gestures as retrieval cues from an information processing perspective: An experiment in facilitation of recall

Linda Quinn Allen, Purdue University

Abstract

This study investigates the contextual role of semantic gestures on the retrieval of simultaneously presented French sentences. A pretest posttest repeated measures design was used to examine the dependent variables. Three groups consisting of a total of 112 first semester university French students participated in the study. No gestures were used in the pretests of any of the three groups. Group #1, the experimental group, learned the gestures and used them to recall the sentences in the posttest. Group #2, a comparison group, did not see the gestures at any time. Group #3, a comparison group, did not learn the gestures, but did see them in the posttest. Results of the study support the hypothesis that semantic gestures as context can be used as effective retrieval cues for simultaneously presented French sentences. The mean posttest scores of group #3 showed that students did not ignore the French sentence entirely and infer meaning from the gestures alone. Durability of recall was affected in all three groups. However, the two groups who saw the gestures in the posttests remembered more sentences at the end of the study than the group who did not see the gestures at the posttests.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Garfinkel, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Curricula|Teaching

COinS