Spatial working memory is critical for gesture processing: Evidence from gestures with varying semantic links to speech.

ABSTRACT: Gestures express redundant or complementary information to speech they accompany by depicting visual and spatial features of referents. In doing so, they recruit both spatial and verbal cognitive resources that underpin the processing of visual semantic information and its integration with speech. The relation between spatial and verbal skills and gesture comprehension, where gestures may serve different roles in relation to speech is yet to be explored. This study examined the role of spatial and verbal skills in processing gestures that expressed redundant or complementary information to speech during the comprehension of spatial relations between objects. Turkish-speaking adults (N=74) watched videos describing the spatial location of objects that involved perspective-taking (left-right

SUBMITTER: Ozer D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12325567 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature