Gesture Helps, Only If You Need It: Inhibiting Gesture Reduces Tip-of-the-Tongue Resolution for Those With Weak Short-Term Memory.

ABSTRACT: People frequently gesture when a word is on the tip of their tongue (TOT), yet research is mixed as to whether and why gesture aids lexical retrieval. We tested three accounts: the lexical retrieval hypothesis, which predicts that semantically related gestures facilitate successful lexical retrieval; the cognitive load account, which predicts that matching gestures facilitate lexical retrieval only when retrieval is hard, as in the case of a TOT; and the motor movement account, which predicts that any motor movements should support lexical retrieval. In Experiment 1 (a between-subjects study; N = 90), gesture inhibition, but not neck inhibition, affected TOT resolution but not overall lexical retrieval; participants in the gesture-inhibited condition resolved fewer TOTs than participants w

SUBMITTER: Pyers JE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7808404 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature