Using gesture and speech to capture transitions in learning

Journal/Book: Cognitive Develop. 1999; 14: 100 Prospect St, PO Box 811, Stamford, CT 06904-0811, USA. Ablex Publ Corp. 313-342.

Abstract: The present study compared 3 measures of knowledge variability to determine which measure predicts learning. Eighty-six children between the ages of 5 and 8 years participated in a pretest-training-posttest study of conservation understanding. Gesture-speech mismatches predicted learning better than both an across-task measure and a within-task measure of variability in speech explanations of conservation. This suggests that transitional knowledge may be best characterized as the simultaneous activation of multiple representations distributed across modalities. Implications for how gesture-speech mismatches may elucidate mechanisms underlying cognitive change are discussed.

Note: Article Church RB, NE Illinois Univ, Dept Psychol, 5500 N St Louis Ave, Chicago,IL 60625 USA

Keyword(s): COGNITIVE-DEVELOPMENT; MORAL DEVELOPMENT; KNOWLEDGE; ACQUISITION; MISMATCH; INDEX

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