Gesture Reduces Mapping Difficulties in the Development of Spatial Language Depending on the Complexity of Spatial Relations

Datos Bibliográficos

ID7150309
AutoresErcenur Ünal (0000-0001-9572-8923, Multimodal Language Department Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, autor de correspondencia), Kevser Kırbaşoğlu (Department of Psychology Ozyegin University), Dilay Z Karadöller (0000-0001-5160-7679, Multimodal Language Department Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics), Beyza Sümer (0000-0002-1605-4551, Multimodal Language Department Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics), Aslı Özyürek (0000-0003-4914-2643, Multimodal Language Department Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics), Asli Özyürek (0000-0002-0914-8381, Radboud University Nijmegen)
Año2025
Volumen49
Número2
Páginase70046-e70046
Fecha de publicación2025-02-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaCognitive Science (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0364-0213 • E-ISSN: 1551-6709
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/cogs.70046
PMID39992958
OpenAlexW4407945412
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas72

In spoken languages, children acquire locative terms in a cross‐linguistically stable order. Terms similar in meaning to in and on emerge earlier than those similar to front and behind , followed by left and right . This order has been attributed to the complexity of the relations expressed by different locative terms. An additional possibility is that children may be delayed in expressing certain spatial meanings partly due to difficulties in discovering the mappings between locative terms in speech and spatial relation they express. We investigate cognitive and mapping difficulties in the domain of spatial language by comparing how children map spatial meanings onto speech versus visually motivated forms in co‐speech gesture across different spatial relations. Twenty‐four 8‐year‐old and 23 adult native Turkish‐speakers described four‐picture displays where the target picture depicted in‐on, front‐behind, or left‐right relations between objects. As the complexity of spatial relations increased, children were more likely to rely on gestures as opposed to speech to informatively express the spatial relation. Adults overwhelmingly relied on speech to informatively express the spatial relation, and this did not change across the complexity of spatial relations. Nevertheless, even when spatial expressions in both speech and co‐speech gesture were considered, children lagged behind adults when expressing the most complex left‐right relations. These findings suggest that cognitive development and mapping difficulties introduced by the modality of expressions interact in shaping the development of spatial language

Cognition · Cognitive psychology · Gesture · Linguistics · Locative case · Spatial analysis · Spatial cognition · Spatial relation · Categorization, perception, and language · Communication · Computer Science · Hearing Impairment and Communication · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Mathematics · Psychology · Artificial Intelligence