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Gesture, language and thought
This presentation concerns a theory on how gestures (accompanying speaking and silent thinking) are generated and how gestures facilitate the gesturer’s own cognitive processes. I will present evidence that gestures are generated from a general-purpose Action Generator, which also generates “practical” actions such as grasping a cup to drink, and that the Action Generator generates gestural representation in close coordination with the speech production process (Kita & Ozyurek, 2003, Journal of Memory and Language). I will also present evidence that gestures facilitate thinking and speaking through four functions: gesture activates, manipulates, packages and explores spatio-motoric representations (Kita, Chu, & Alibali, 2017, Psychological Review). Further, I will argue that schematic nature of gestural representation plays a crucial role in these four functions. To summarise, gesture, generated at the interface of action and language, shapes the way we think and we speak.
Date:
15 May 2024, 17:30
Venue:
All Souls College, High Street OX1 4AL
Venue Details:
Hovenden Room and Zoom
Speaker:
Sotaro Kita (University of Warwick)
Organising department:
Oxford School of Global and Area Studies
Organiser:
Dr Anna Wilson (IMCC, University of Oxford)
Organiser contact email address:
megi.kartsivadze@area.ox.ac.uk
Host:
Dr Anna Wilson (IMCC, University of Oxford)
Part of:
IMCC Seminar Talks
Booking required?:
Not required
Audience:
Public
Editor:
Megi Kartsivadze
