Nm. Mcneil et al., The role of gesture in children's comprehension of spoken language: Now they need it, now they don't, J NONVERB B, 24(2), 2000, pp. 131-150
Two experiments investigated gesture as a form of external support for spok
en language comprehension. In both experiments, children selected blocks ac
cording to a set of videotaped instructions. Across trials, the instruction
s were given using no gesture, gestures that reinforced speech, and gesture
s that conflicted with speech. Experiment 1 used spoken messages that were
complex for preschool children but not for kindergarten children. Reinforci
ng gestures facilitated speech comprehension for preschool children but not
for kindergarten children, and conflicting gestures hindered comprehension
for kindergarten children but nor for preschool children. Experiment 2 tes
ted preschool children with simpler spoken messages. Unlike Experiment 1, p
reschool children's comprehension was not facilitated by reinforcing gestur
es. However, children's comprehension also was not hindered by conflicting
gestures. Thus, the effects of gesture on speech comprehension depend both
on the relation of gesture to speech, and on the complexity of the spoken m
essage.