Individual differences in working memory predict the efficacy of experimenter-manipulated gestures in first-grade children

Abstract

Why is instructional gesture ineffective in some contexts? And what is it about learners that predicts whether they will learn from gestures? This between-subjects linear measurement training study compares gesture instruction to two controls-operant action and transient action-in a diverse sample of first-grade students (N = 174, M_age = 7.01 years; N_female = 84; N_male = 90, 10% Latinx-identified; 70% White; 6% Black; 6% Asian; 18% multiple racial categories, M_income = $59,750, SD_income ≈ $25,000; data collected 03/16-03/19). Results show that instructor-manipulated gestures may be less effective than demonstrative actions in part because they are iterative and do not leave a lasting trace. Verbal working memory, but not spatial, positively predicted an ability to learn from gesture and transient action in children with the lowest context knowledge.