Work

When gestures catch the eye: The influence of gaze direction on co-speech gesture comprehension in triadic communication

Year: 2012

Type: article

Abstract: Co-speech gestures are an integral part of human face-to-face communication, but little is known about how pragmatic factors influence our comprehension of those gestures.The present study investigates how different types of recipients process iconic gestures in a triadic communicative situation.Participants (N = 32) took on the role of one of two recipients in a triad and were presented with 160 video clips of an actor speaking, or speaking and gesturing.Crucially, the actor's eye gaze was manipulated in that she alternated her gaze between the two recipients.Participants thus perceived some messages in the role of addressed recipient and some in the role of unaddressed recipient.In these roles, participants were asked to make judgements concerning the speaker's messages.Their reaction times showed that unaddressed recipients did comprehend speaker's gestures differently to addressees.The findings are discussed with respect to automatic and controlled processes involved in gesture comprehension.

Source: eScholarship (California Digital Library)

Authors: Judith Holler, Spencer D. Kelly, Peter Hagoort, Aslı Özyürek

Institutions: Max Planck Society, University of Manchester, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Colgate University

Language: English

Topic: Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies

Subfield: Language and Linguistics

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: European Commission

Award: From action to communication: the role of intention and social cues in the perception of gestures as communicative acts

OpenAlex ID: W1520411281

FWCI: 10.93

Cites: 24

Cited by: 10

Related to: 10