Writing in the Air: Contributions of Finger Movement to Cognitive Processing.

ABSTRACT: The present study investigated the interactions between motor action and cognitive processing with particular reference to kanji-culture individuals. Kanji-culture individuals often move their finger as if they are writing when they are solving cognitive tasks, for example, when they try to recall the spelling of English words. This behavior is called kusho, meaning air-writing in Japanese. However, its functional role is still unknown. To reveal the role of kusho behavior in cognitive processing, we conducted a series of experiments, employing two different cognitive tasks, a construction task and a stroke count task. To distinguish the effects of the kinetic aspects of kusho behavior, we set three hand conditions in the tasks; participants were instructed to use either kusho, unrelated f

SUBMITTER: Itaguchi Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4489584 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature