Adults interpret iconicity in speech and gesture via the same modality-independent process.

ABSTRACT: Iconicity is the resemblance or similarity between the form of a signal and its meaning. In two studies, we investigated whether adults interpret iconicity in speech and gesture via a modality-independent mechanism (Study 1, N = 40; Study 2, N = 348). Participants in both studies completed two verb-action matching tasks. In these tasks, either spoken verbs or co-speech gestures were manipulated at different rates to iconically represent actions (i.e., manners of locomotion) performed at corresponding rates. We hypothesized that adult participants would map verbs spoken at a fast rate to fast actions and verbs spoken at a slow rate to slow actions. Similarly, we hypothesized that adult participants would map gestures produced with faster hand movements to fast actions and gestures produced

SUBMITTER: Li M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12426134 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature