School of Psychology Research Groups:

Children’s gestures and cognitive development

Researchers:

Professor Karen Pine, Elizabeth Kirk, Sarah Critten, Cathal Butler, Avril Nash

We have an active ongoing programme of research looking at both the production and the reception of gestures in children and adults.

Our work investigates the importance of children’s gestures for their linguistic and cognitive development, as well as whether gestures in the spoken message facilitate communication (or are more of an aid to speech production). This work is conducted as part of grant funded research (ESRC), and as postgraduate and undergraduate projects. We are also evaluating how gesturing to babies links to their language development; this work forms the focus of Liz Kirk’s PhD.

Further details of the Gesture and Communication Research Centre

People still gesture even when there is a screen obscuring their view of the other person (Student mini-project)

Other research projects are looking at children’s conceptual development in domains of mathematics and balance and how children’s spelling and reading representations develop.

Liz Kirk, Cathal Butler and Sarah Critten

We are also involved in research looking at the effects of advertising on children.

Research Leader