Gestures Enhance Executive Functions for the Understating of Mathematical Concepts.

Embodied cognition Executive functions Gestures Mathematical concepts

Journal

Integrative psychological & behavioral science
ISSN: 1936-3567
Titre abrégé: Integr Psychol Behav Sci
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 101319534

Informations de publication

Date de publication:
20 Apr 2022
Historique:
accepted: 09 04 2022
entrez: 20 4 2022
pubmed: 21 4 2022
medline: 21 4 2022
Statut: aheadofprint

Résumé

This article discusses the role of gestures in enhancing inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility as the three components of executive functions during the processing of mathematical concepts that are metaphorically described in terms of motion events. Gestures can contribute to the process of inhibition by highlighting the relevant information and keeping the irrelevant information out of focus of attention. Gestures contribute to working memory in two ways during mathematical processing. They increase activity in the motor areas of the brain. Therefore, they may facilitate the process of understanding those mathematical concepts that are described in terms of motion event, as the motor system could play a role in the grounding and the processing of these concepts. Also, gestures can function as an external working memory and keep the visual representation of some parts of information for a short period of time in order to manipulate that information in later stages of processing. Gestures enhance cognitive flexibility by allowing us to have a spatial representation of that concept or idea for a period of time. During this time, we can shift our perspective and process that concept or idea from a variety of perspectives.

Identifiants

pubmed: 35441337
doi: 10.1007/s12124-022-09694-4
pii: 10.1007/s12124-022-09694-4
doi:

Types de publication

Journal Article

Langues

eng

Sous-ensembles de citation

IM

Informations de copyright

© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

Références

Alibali, M. W., & DiRusso, A. A. (1999). The function of gesture in learning to count: More than keeping track. Cognitive Development, 14(1), 37–56
doi: 10.1016/S0885-2014(99)80017-3
Alibali, M. W., & Goldin-Meadow, S. (1993). Transitions in learning: What the hands reveal about a child’s state of mind. Cognitive Psychology, 25, 468–523
doi: 10.1006/cogp.1993.1012
Alibali, M. W., & Kita, S. (2010). Gesture highlights perceptually present information for speakers. Gesture, 10(1), 3–28
doi: 10.1075/gest.10.1.02ali
Alibali, M. W., & Nathan, M. J. (2007). Teachers’ gestures as a means of scaffolding students’ understanding: Evidence from an early algebra lesson. In R. Goldman, R. Pea, B. Barron, & S. J. Derry (Eds.), Video research in the learning sciences (pp. 349–365). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum
Baddeley, A. D., & Hitch, G. J. (1994).Developments in the concept of working memory Neuropsychology, 8(4),485–493
Basilio, M., & Rodríguez, C. (2017). How toddlers think with their hands: social and private gestures as evidence of cognitive self-regulation in guided play with objects. Early Child Development and Care, 187(12), 12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2016.1202944
doi: 10.1080/03004430.2016.1202944
Bates, E., Thal, D., Whitesell, K., Fenson, L., & Oakes, L. (1989). Integrating language and gesture in infancy. Developmental Psychology, 25(6), 1004–1019. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.25.6.1004
doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.25.6.1004
Burgess, P. W., & Simons, J. S. (2005). Theories of frontal lobe executive function: clinical applications. In P. W. Halligan, & D. T. Wade (Eds.), Effectiveness of Rehabilitation for Cognitive Deficits (pp. 211–231). New York: Oxford University Press
doi: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198526544.003.0018
Cavalcante, S., Rodríguez, C., & Martí, E. (2019). Early understanding of cardinal number value: Semiotic, social, and pragmatic dimensions in a case study with a child from 2 to 3 years old. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 53(3), 397–417. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-018-9464-4
doi: 10.1007/s12124-018-9464-4
Camaioni, L., Perucchini, P., Muratori, F., & Milone, A. (1997). A longitudinal examination of the communicative gestures deficit in young children with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 27(6), 715–725. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025858917000
doi: 10.1023/A:1025858917000
Cameron-Faulkner, T., Malik, N., Steele, C., Coretta, S., Serratrice, L., & Lieven, E. (2021). A cross-cultural analysis of early prelinguistic gesture development and its relationship to language development. Child Development, 92(1), 273–290. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13406
doi: 10.1111/cdev.13406
Church, R. B., & Goldin-Meadow, S. (1986). The mismatch between gesture and speech as an index of transitional knowledge. Cognition, 23(1), 43–71
doi: 10.1016/0010-0277(86)90053-3
Cohen, R. L. (1981). On the generality of some memory laws. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 22(4), 267–281
doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9450.1981.tb00402.x
Cook, S. W., & Fenn, K. M. (2017). The function of gesture in learning and memory. In R. B. Church, M. W. Alibali, & S. D. Kelly (Eds.), Why Gesture? How the Hands Function in Speaking, Thinking and Communicating (pp. 129–153). John Benjamins Publishing Company
Cook, S. W., Yip, T. K., & Goldin-Meadow, S. (2010). Gesturing makes memories that last. Journal of Memory and Language, 63(4), 465–475. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2010.07.002
doi: 10.1016/j.jml.2010.07.002
Cook, S. W., Yip, T. K., & Goldin-Meadow, S. (2012). Gestures, but not meaningless movements, lighten working memory load when explaining math. Language and Cognitive Processes, 27(4), 594–610. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/01690965.2011.567074
doi: 10.1080/01690965.2011.567074
Cragg, L., & Gilmore, C. (2014). Skills underlying mathematics: The role of executive function in the development of mathematics proficiency. Trends in Neuroscience and Education, 3(2), 63–68
doi: 10.1016/j.tine.2013.12.001
Davidson, M. C., Amso, D., Anderson, L. C., & Diamond, A. (2006). Development of cognitive control and executive functions from 4 to 13 years: Evidence from manipulations of memory, inhibition, and task switching. Neuropsychologia, 44(11), 2037–2078. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.02.006
doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.02.006
Diamond, A. (2013). Executive functions. Annual Review of Psychology, 64, 135–168
doi: 10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143750
Espy, K. A. (2004). Using developmental, cognitive, and neuroscience approaches to understand executive control in young children. Developmental Neuropsychology, 26(1), 379–384
doi: 10.1207/s15326942dn2601_1
Flevares, L. M., & Perry, M. (2001). How many do you see? The use of nonspoken representations in first-grade mathematics lessons. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93(2), 330–345
doi: 10.1037/0022-0663.93.2.330
Gallese, G., & Lakoff, G. (2005). The brain’s concepts: The role of the sensory-motor system in conceptual knowledge. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 22(3), 455–479
doi: 10.1080/02643290442000310
Garon, N., Bryson, S. E., & Smith, I. M. (2008). Executive function in preschoolers: a review using an integrative framework. Psychological Bulletin, 134(1), 31–60. doi: https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.134.1.31
doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.134.1.31
Gibbs, R. W. (2006). Embodiment and Cognitive Science. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press
Glenberg, A. M. (2010). Embodiment as a unifying perspective for psychology. Reviews: Cognitive Science, 1(4), 586–596
Goldin-Meadow, S., Cook, S. W., & Mitchell, Z. A. (2008). Gesturing gives children new ideas about math. Psychological Science, 20(3), 267–272
doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02297.x
Goldin-Meadow, S., Kim, S., & Singer, M. (1999). What the teachers’ hands tell the students’ minds about math. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91(4), 720–730
doi: 10.1037/0022-0663.91.4.720
Goldin-Meadow, S., Nusbaum, H., Kelly, S. D., & Wagner, S. (2001). Explaining math: Gesturing lightens the load. Psychological Science, 12(6), 516–522
doi: 10.1111/1467-9280.00395
Goldin-Meadow, S., & Wagner, S. M. (2005). How our hands help us learn. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9(5), 234–241
doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2005.03.006
Hostetter, A. B., & Alibali, M. W. (2008). Visible embodiment: Gestures as simulated action. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 15(3), 495–514
doi: 10.3758/PBR.15.3.495
Johnson-Glenberg, M. C., & Megowan-Romanowicz, C. (2017). Embodied science and mixed reality: How gesture and motion capture affect physics education. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 2, 24. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-017-0060-9
doi: 10.1186/s41235-017-0060-9
Khatin-Zadeh, O. (2021). How does representational transformation enhance mathematical thinking? Axiomathes. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10516-021-09602-2
Khatin-Zadeh, O., Yazdani-Fazlabadi, B., & Eskandari, Z. (2021). The grounding of mathematical concepts through fictive motion, gesture and the motor system. For the Learning of Mathematics, 41(3), 19–21
Kirsh, D., & Maglio, P. (1994). On distinguishing epistemic from pragmatic actions. Cognitive Science, 18(4), 513–549
doi: 10.1207/s15516709cog1804_1
Kita, S. (2000). How representational gestures help speaking. In D. McNeill (Ed.), Language and Gesture (pp. 162–185). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press
doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511620850.011
Kita, S., Alibali., M. W., & Chu, M. (2017). How do gestures influence thinking and speaking? The gesture-for-conceptualization hypothesis. Psychological Review, 124(3), 245–266. doi: https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000059
doi: 10.1037/rev0000059
Kita, S., & Davies, T. S. (2009). Competing conceptual representations trigger co-speech representational gestures. Language & Cognitive Processes, 24(5), 761–775
doi: 10.1080/01690960802327971
Lakoff, G., & Núñez, R. (2001). Where Mathematics Comes from: How the Embodied Mind Brings Mathematics into Being. New York, NY: Basic Books
Lehto, J. E., Juujärvi, P., Kooistra, L., & Pulkkinen, L. (2003). Dimensions of executive functioning: Evidence from children. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 21(1), 59–80. https://doi.org/10.1348/026151003321164627
doi: 10.1348/026151003321164627
Macedonia, M. (2019). Embodied learning: Why at school the mind needs the body. Frontiers in Psychology, (10). 10:2098. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02098
Marghetis, T., & Núñez, R. (2013). The motion behind the symbols: A vital role for dynamism in the conceptualization of limits and continuity in expert mathematics. Topics in Cognitive Science, 5(2), 299–316
doi: 10.1111/tops.12013
McNeill, D. (2005). Gesture and Thought. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press
doi: 10.7208/chicago/9780226514642.001.0001
Miller, E. K., & Cohen, J. D. (2001). An integrative theory of prefrontal cortex function. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 24(1), 167–202
doi: 10.1146/annurev.neuro.24.1.167
Miyake, A., Friedman, N. P., Emerson, M. J., Witzki, A. H., Howerter, A., & Wager, T. D. (2000). The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex “Frontal Lobe” tasks: a latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychology, 41(1), 49–100. doi: https://doi.org/10.1006/cogp.1999.0734
doi: 10.1006/cogp.1999.0734
Moreno-Núñez, A., Rodríguez, C., & Del Olmo, M. J. (2015). The rhythmic, sonorous and melodic components of adult-child-object interactions between 2 and 6 months old. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 49(4), 737–756. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-015-9298-2
doi: 10.1007/s12124-015-9298-2
Morsella, E., & Krauss, R. M. (2004). The role of gestures in spatial working memory and speech. The American Journal of Psychology, 117(3), 411–424. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/4149008
doi: 10.2307/4149008
Nathan, M. J., & Walkington, C. (2017). Grounded and embodied mathematical cognition: Promoting mathematical insight and proof using action and language. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 2, 9.10.1186/s41235-016-0040-5
Núñez, R. (2005). Do real numbers really move? Language, thought, and gesture: The embodied cognitive foundations of mathematics. In F. Iida, R. Pfeifer, L. Steels, & Y. Kuniyoshi (Eds.), Embodied Artificial Intelligence (pp. 54–73). Berlin, Germany: Springer-Verlag
Núñez, R., & Lakoff, G. (1998). What did Weierstrass really define? The cognitive structure of natural and δ-ε continuity. Mathematical Cognition, 4(2), 85–101
doi: 10.1080/135467998387343
Perry, M., Church, R. B., & Goldin-Meadow, S. (1988). Transitional knowledge in the acquisition of concepts. Cognitive Development, 3(4), 359–400
doi: 10.1016/0885-2014(88)90021-4
Ping, R. M., & Goldin-Meadow, S. (2010). Gesturing saves cognitive resources when talking about nonpresent objects. Cognitive Science, 34(4), 602–619
doi: 10.1111/j.1551-6709.2010.01102.x
Posner, M. I., & DiGirolamo, G. J. (1998). Executive attention: conflict, target detection, and cognitive control. In R. Parasuraman (Ed.), The Attentive Brain (p. 401423). Cambridge: MIT Press
Radford, L. (2003). Gestures, speech, and the sprouting of signs: A semiotic-cultural approach to students’ types of generalization. Mathematical Thinking and Learning, 5(1), 37–70. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327833MTL0501_02
doi: 10.1207/S15327833MTL0501_02
Radford, L. (2009). Why do gestures matter? Sensuous cognition and the palpability of mathematical meanings. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 70, 111–126
doi: 10.1007/s10649-008-9127-3
Ravizza, S. (2003). Movement and lexical access: Do noniconic gestures aid in retrieval? Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 10(3), 610–615
doi: 10.3758/BF03196522
Richland, L. E., Zur, O., & Holyoak, K. J. (2007). Cognitive supports for analogies in the mathematics classroom. Science, 316, 1128–1129
doi: 10.1126/science.1142103
Rodríguez, C., & Moreno-Llanos, I. (2020). A pragmatic turn in the study of early executive functions by object use and gestures. A case study from 8 to 17 months of age at a nursery school. Integrative psychological and Behavioral Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-020-09578-5
doi: 10.1007/s12124-020-09578-5
Rodríguez, C., & Palacios, P. (2007). Do private gestures have a self-regulatory function? A case study. Infant Behavior & Development, 30(2), 180–194. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2007.02.010
doi: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2007.02.010
Singer, M. A., Radinsky, J., & Goldman, S. R. (2008). The role of gesture in meaning construction. Discourse Processes, 45(4–5), 365–386
doi: 10.1080/01638530802145601
Smith, E. E., & Jonides, J. (1999). Storage and executive processes in the frontal lobes. Science, 283(5408), 1657–1661. doi: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.283.5408.1657
doi: 10.1126/science.283.5408.1657
Theeuwes, J. (2010). Top-down and bottom-up control of visual selection. Acta Psychologica, 135(2), 77–99. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2010.02.006
doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2010.02.006
Volterra, V., Capirci, O., Rinaldi, P., & Sparaci, L. (2018). From action to spoken and signed language through gesture: Some basic developmental issues for a discussion on the evolution of the human language-ready brain. Interaction Studies: Social Behavior and Communication in Biological and Artificial Systems, 19(1–2), 216–238. https://doi.org/10.1075/is.17027.vol
doi: 10.1075/is.17027.vol
Wagner, S. M., Nusbaum, H., & Goldin-Meadow, S. (2004). Probing the mental representation of gesture: Is handwaving spatial? Journal of Memory and Language, 50(4), 395–407
doi: 10.1016/j.jml.2004.01.002
Wesp, R., Hess, J., Keutmann, D., & Wheaton, K. (2001). Gestures maintain spatial imagery. American Journal of Psychology, 114(4), 591–600
doi: 10.2307/1423612
Yeo, A., Ledesma, I., Nathan, M. J., Alibali, M. W., & Church, B., R (2017). Teachers’ gestures and students’ learning: sometimes “hands off” is better. Cognitive. Research: Principles and Implications, 2, https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-017-0077-0

Auteurs

Omid Khatin-Zadeh (O)

School of Foreign Languages, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China. khatinzadeh.omid@yahoo.com.

Zahra Eskandari (Z)

Chabahar Maritime University, Chabahar, Iran.

Fernando Marmolejo-Ramos (F)

Center for Change and Complexity in Learning, The University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia.

Classifications MeSH