Language, gesture, action! A test of the Gesture as Simulated Action framework

The Gesture as Simulated Action (GSA) framework (Hostetter & Alibali, 2008) holds that representational gestures are produced when actions are simulated as part of thinking and speaking. Accordingly, speakers should gesture more when describing images with which they have specific physical experience than when describing images that are less closely tied to action. Experiment 1 supported this hypothesis by showing that speakers produced more representational gestures when describing patterns they had physically made than when describing patterns they had only viewed. Experiment 2 replicated this finding and ruled out the possibility that the effect is due to decreased opportunity for verbal rehearsal when speakers physically made the patterns. Experiment 3 ruled out the possibility that the effect in Experiments 1 and 2 was due to motor priming from making the patterns. Taken together, these experiments support the central claim of the GSA framework by suggesting that speakers gesture when they express thoughts that involve simulations of actions.