The gestures children spontaneously produce when explaining a task predict whether they will subsequently learn that task. Why? Gesture might simply reflect a child’s readiness to learn a particular task. Alternatively, gesture might itself play a role in learning the task. To investigate these alternatives, we experimentally manipulated children’s gesture during instruction in a new mathematical concept. We found that requiring children to gesture while learning the new concept helped them retain the knowledge they had gained during instruction. In contrast, requiring children to speak, but not gesture, while learning the concept had no effect on solidifying learning. Gesturing can thus play a causal role in learning, perhaps by giving learners an alternative, embodied way of representing new ideas. We may be able to improve children’s learning just by encouraging them to move their hands.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2265003/
Another one: Using actions to enhance memory: effects of enactment, gestures, and exercise on human memory.
Since motor actions enhance memory (enactment effect), it seems reasonable to expect that gesturing may also affect memory encoding and retrieval. Supporting this notion, a number of studies have found that memory is enhanced in participants who observe a speaker who is also gesturing compared to observing a speaker who is not gesturing, or a gesturer who is not speaking (e.g., Thompson, 1995; Kelly et al., 1999). Thus, learning can be enhanced due to gesturing, even when one does not gesture themselves, but simply observes another gesturing. Considering that findings regarding the enactment effect found comparable recall rates with SPTs and EPTs, observing a gesture should be comparable to gesturing yourself.
Taking a more direct approach, Cook et al. (2010) presented participants with a series of short vignettes, after which they were asked to give detailed descriptions. The vignettes were then classified as either eliciting gestures during their description or not. Participants were given surprise free recall tasks after a brief delay, and after a 3-week delay. Recall rates were higher for vignettes associated with gesturing when described at both immediate and delayed tests, offering support for the notion that gestures can enhance learning and memory. In a subsequent experiment, enhanced memory performance was found even when participants were explicitly instructed to either gesture or not, rather than being allowed to spontaneously gesture. Stevanoni and Salmon (2005) found similar results with children, and recent studies have further investigated the influence of gestures on learning and memory (e.g., Straube et al., 2008; Macedonia et al., 2011; So et al., 2012).
Considering that motor actions can enhance memory for specific information, both through enactment and through gesturing, a further question is whether they can also enhance overall memory ability. In other words, can physical exercise enhance an individual’s memory capacity?
See also the movement tag for other pages about using movement with memorization.
