Gesture Based Learning Efficacy

    While talking, many of us spontaneously find ourselves using gestures to convey complex ideas. These actions may seem unassuming at first, but research suggests that gestures play a larger role in learning than one would expect. Dr. Wakefield’s (2019) study “Learning math by hand: The neural effects of gesture-based instruction in 8-year-old children” explained the mechanism that gestures use to facilitate learning particularly in the domain of mathematics. Her research paradigm found that when speech and gestures are used while learning, compared to just speech, the frontal premotor and parietal motor regions of the brain are recruited (in addition to the regions associated with arithmetic being the bilateral superior parietal lobe and the inferior parietal gyrus of the left hemisphere). fMRI scans further supported this finding showing that even when the gestures are not being performed, the motor regions of the brain are activated when doing tasks that were learned while performing gestures. These findings are consequential and raise more questions about the quantifiable effectiveness of gestures. Even though we know that supplemental motor regions of the brain are being activated, what does that mean in terms of recall ability which is a reliable objective measurement for learning efficacy?

       In “Make Gestures to Learn: Reproducing Gestures Improves the Learning of Anatomical Knowledge More than Just Seeing Gestures” published in Frontiers of Psychology, Dr. Cherdieu (2017) explores this concept. Both Dr. Wakefield and Dr. Cherdieu support the idea that motor system activation of the brain provides supplementary cues to consolidate and re-enact the mental traces created during the learning process. Taking this finding a step further, Dr. Cherdieu chose to apply this finding to the domain of anatomy (due to its difficulty to learn). Two groups watched a forearm anatomy video involving a model making gestures to the forearm while explaining concepts. One group was instructed to imitate the gestures while the other group did not. Unsurprisingly, the results showed that recall of anatomy-structure names and their localization on a diagram is improved in the imitation group. However, a deeper dive into Dr. Cherdieu’s results show that the improvements are not seen when recall takes place right after the learning phase. A significant increase in recall is only seen after the long-term assessment that took place 2-3 days after the learning phase. Dr. Cherdieu explains that this happens because of the crucial role of sleep in declarative and procedural memory consolidation. More specifically, it enhances the memory traces by simulating the reactivation of the experience (in the hippocampus) and reorganizing the memory trace (which strengthens the connection between the hippocampus and motor systems).

         Dr. Wakefield’s (2019) findings beautifully complement Dr. Cherdieu’s (2017) findings. While Dr. Cherdieu’s proved that gesture enhanced learning increases recall ability, Dr. Wakefield identified the specific regions of the brain that are activated in gesture enhanced learning. An interesting detail I noticed was the age range of participants used for both of the studies. While Dr. Cherdieu used participants aged 18-44, Dr. Wakefield’s participants were aged 7-9. Prior research shows that childhood versus adult learning can occur differently due to their different stages of development (Edosomwan, 2006). Knowing this, it would be interesting if future studies looked to see if certain age groups receive a larger benefit from gesture enhanced learning. A similar research paradigm as Dr. Cherdieu could be used and researchers could look to see if there is a statistically significant difference between the amount recalled between age groups. 

Works Cited 

Cherdieu, M., Palombi, O., Gerber, S., Troccaz, J., & Rochet-Capellan, A. (2017). Make Gestures to Learn: Reproducing Gestures Improves the Learning of Anatomical Knowledge More than Just Seeing Gestures. Frontiers in Psychology, 8:1689. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01689

Edosomwan, S. O. (2016). Childhood Learning vs. Adulthood Learning: The Theory of Pedagogy and Andragogy. US-China Education Review A, 6(2), 115-123. doi:10.17265/2161-623x/2016.02.004

Wakefield, E. M., Congdon, E. L., Novack, M. A., Goldin-Meadow, S., & James, K. H. (2019). Learning math by hand: The neural effects of gesture-based instruction in 8-year-old children. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 81(7), 2343-2353. doi:10.3758/s13414-019-01755-y