msc informatics informatics research proposal the ... · in order to investigate this relatively...
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Msc InformaticsInformatics Research Proposal
The Cognitive Role of Representational Gestures:An Investigation of GestureSpeech Mismatch Using Euler Diagrams
Luke Maxwells0450776
The Cognitive Role of Representational Gestures:An Investigation of GestureSpeech Mismatch Using Euler Diagrams
1 Introduction
Gestures are traditionally an important subject for cognitive science because of theircommunicative function. However, recent research has suggested the existence of acognitive aspect of gesture, meaning that our thought processes are in some waydirectly affected by gesture in a way not purely associated with communication.A number of studies focusing on the gestural responses of subjects observed during areasoningbased problem solving activity have indicated a relationship betweenconcepttransition and instances of gesturespeech mismatch (see below). It is suggested that these mismatched gestures correspond to representationalgestures that could be aiding cognition as well as communication.In order to investigate this relatively new field of research, a variation on thereasoning task could be introduced, which offers ways of engaging cognition that mayproduce significantly different, or significantly similar, gestural and verbal responsesfrom subjects. The suggested task will involve the use of diagrammatical methods tosolve syllogisms, and is believed to differ from the previous tasks in a number ofcrucial ways.
2 Purpose
The field of research concerning gesturespeech mismatch needs to be complimentedwith futher research in order to establish the existence of gesturespeech mismatchesin the context that they have been placed. Furthermore, we need to understand whatthe implications of such phenomena are. Finally, we should understand whatunderstanding might offer to other fields of research.
As such, the reasearch that is proposed will investigate whether the particularinstances of gesturespeech mismatch can be observed in subjects filmed participatingin syllogistic reasoning tasks involving Euler diagrams. The results will be comparedto those of previous studies.
It will be argued that introducing a diagrammatic task involving Euler diagrams mightengage gesture in a way that has been hitherto unexamined by both encouragingproblem representation and encouraging the use of gestures. In addition, it is possiblethat the introduction of shape via diagrammatic representation will facillitate moredistinct correlations between the meanings of the gestures produced and the concepts
being reperesented.
3 Background
Susan GoldinMeadow has authored a number of publications concerning gesturespeech mismatch(GoldinMeadow,1986,1992,1993,1999,2002). This phenomenonconcerns an apparant contrast between the meaning of gestures when accompanyingcertain utterances. These utterances relate to attempts by both adults and children toexplain or describe certain problems or tasks which they have been set. The contrastseems to concern a point at which the subjects have difficulty solving a problem orunderstanding a concept. When asked to describe the problem or how it is to besolved, the subjects appear to demonstrate, through gesturespeech mismatch,alternate representations of the problem which are seemingly contradictory. GoldinMeadow obtained these conclusions through a series of experiments on adultsand children. During one experiment, participants were set the Tower of Hanoiproblem (GoldinMeadow, 1993). The problem consists of two vertical pegs, onesurrounded from bottom to top with rings of increasing size. The task involvedtransferring the set of hoops from one peg to the other and placing them in the sameformation. Participants were not allowed to lift more than one peg at a time and thehoops had always to be left on one or other of the pegs (rather than on the floor).From these experiments GoldinMeadow observed the phenomenon of gesturespeechmismatch; the participants would recount their actions in speech while attempting toexplain why they made certain moves and while doing so would demonstratecontradictory representations with their hands. The mismatch was by no meanscontinuous. In fact, it seemed to occur at crucial moments in the participants' thoughtprocess; the stages where the participants were uncertain of the correctness of theircurrent or future decisions. Thus an important finding was that mismatch seemed tooccur when the participants were learning a new process or concept. GoldinMeadowwas careful to select participants that had never tried the test before. What sheobserved was that mismatch did not occur when the problem solving strategy wasfamiliar to them. GoldinMeadow is not alone in her views concerning the cognitive signigicance ofreresentational gestures. Sotaro Kita argues that gesture is involved in the conceptualplanning of the message to be verbalised(Kita, in press). He claims that these gestureshelp to “ package” spatiomotoric information so that it is easier to verbalize. Morespecically, speakers use gesture to explore alternative ways of encoding andorganising spatial and perceptual information(Alibali,Kita&Young, 2000):
“ ..gesture plays a role in speech production because it plays a role in the process ofconceptualisation. This opens the possibility that gesture may play a role, not only inspeech production, but also in other cognitive activities, such as reasoning andproblem solving.” (Alibali,Kita&Young, 2000)
According to Kita, analytical thinking is responsible for the hierarchical structuring ofconcepts, presumably so that they conform to the linguistic codes of speechproduction (Kita, in press, pg.164). A function of our spatiomotoric thinking is
therefore to organize information gathered from our interactions with the environment(Kita, in press, pg.164). Kita continues by suggesting that spatiomotoric thinking can be applied to some kindof virtual environment of internal imagery (Kita, in press, pg.165). This seems vitallyimportant if we are to discover how gesturing really does help us think and what thespecific interactions of the various forms of thinking which we employ consist of.Although the details of the virtual envirnoment are yet to be fully elucidated, Kita'sdiscussion may offer a useful bridge between the linguistic explanations of gestureproduction and the more semantically ambiguous notion of gestures as indexes oftransitional knowledge. We are still left with the fundamental issues, however,concerning what the cognitive significance of the representational gestures involvedin mismatch actually are.To analyse gesturespeech mismatch further, an investigation of other reasoning tasksseems pertinent. By adding to the reasoning tasks which we consider we may yet beable to isolate the cognitive processes more clearly. Keith Stenning(Stenning, 2002)has proposed that by analysing the ways in which we solve syllogistic reasoningproblems we may gain an insight into the higher level thinking processes. Byincorporating this approach in our analysis of gesturespeech mismatch we may enrichour understanding of the phenomena. Through his discussion of Euler diagrams and the difficulty of selection involved indiagrammatical problem solving, Stenning offers us the perfect context within whichwe may be able to ask further questions relating to gesturespeech mismatch. Not onlyare they part of a classical reasoning task that embodies the problem of representationselection, they introduce the concept of external representation. Even the process ofcreating and discussing them involves gesturing of some kind. Stenning refers to thevariety of alternative ways in which we might solve syllogisms as the representationalsupermarket. In this light we can understand that the difficulty in solving them comes,in part, from the difficulty in selecting the correct method. Furthermore, the methodsrelate to the ways in which the problem can be represented. If the aim is to analyse thenature of gesturespeech mismatch, and to ascertain the possible implications, thenusing syllogistic reasoning against the backdrop of Euler diagrams must be areasonable step.
4 Hypotheses
The suggested task offers an interesting test platform for the hypothesis because itdiffers from previous experiments in two important ways. Firstly, the principlemethod of diagrammatical reasoning involves an explicit rerepresention of theproblem which has been missing from the previous investigations. Hitherto, theproblems have involved mathematical problems, or reasoningbased exercised whereno specific problemsolving guidelines were given. Introducing Euler circles offersthe opportunity to observe gestural activity in a context where an alternativerepresentation of the problem is described and explained. In doing so, it introducesalternative cognitive responses which might prove different or similar to thepreviously observed examples in some significant way espoused by the hypothesise.Furthermore, because individuals vary in terms of their suitability to such problem
solving approaches, it will be interesting to record the possible effects both on thosewho react positively to the diagrammatical method and those who don't .
The research is intended to determine whether subjects will respond to the reasoningtask in similar ways to those who underwent the GoldinMeadow experiments. It ishoped that they will demonstrate instances of representational gesture that contradictthe verbalizations that they accompany. If such instances can be observed then wehave support for our initial hypothesis:
1. Instances of gesturespeech mismatch occur during reasoning tasksincorporating syllogistic reasoning tasks and Euler diagrams.
Due to the exploratory nature of the research, the focus must be on whether thephenomena can actually be observed at all. However, if instances of mismatch areobserved, then there are another of other hypotheses that can also be tested. The extentof the investigation will necessarily depend on the extent of the observations ofmismatch that are made.
If such instances can be observed at times where the subject is undergoing atransitional phase of understanding then we will have support for a furtherhypothesis:
2.Instances of gesturespeech mismatch involving representational gesturesobserved during reasoning tasks consitute an index of transitional knowledge, asproposed by GoldinMeadow.
If the particular gestures observed as part of the mismatch indicate a trend where theyrepresent some concept utilised in solving the task, then we have some evidencesupporting another hypothesis. It relates to what the extra element might be. If thereis a cognitive role, then how can it be defined. In order to address this question, thethird hypothesis states:
3.The gestural component of mismatches represent more than the difficultychoice of appropriate problem representation.
5 Methodology
Design
The experiments will involve the teaching of logical syllogisms using Euler diagrams.Participants will be asked to listen to an explanation of a method of solvingsyllogisms and then asked to try solving them on their own. The task will involve an
introduction to the syllogistic problem, followed by an explanation of thediagrammtical method for solving problems of this type. Subjects will then try tosolve example syllogism problems using the method. Throughout the session, theparticipants will be encouraged to describe their problems or solutions. An analysis of the findings will then incorporate a classification of gesture, aninterpretation of the meanings of gesture, and an evaluation of the observed results.The first part of the evaluation will concern whether the proposed mismatches havebeen observed and whether they appeared to index phases of transitional knowledge.The second part, dependent upon the results of the first, will evaluate the context andmeanings of any gestures observed in mismatch situations, and compare them to theprogress of the participant. This will reveal how particular gestures affect the learningprocess by showing how they correspond to the concept which is being learned.
Aims
The research is intended firstly to determine whether any instances of gesturemismatch can be observed in subjects participating in a reasoning task incorportingsyllogisms and Euler diagrams. If they can, the second challenge is to provideevidence that the gestures observed correspond to concepts which the participanteventually learned and also, that they occur at a stage which precedes the point atwhich subjects were able verbalize their understanding. If this can be achieved, thenthe argument that representational gestures play an important cognitive role inlearning can be developed.Analysis will be performed regrarding the meaning of the gestures produced in thecontext of the task. This will be implemented through a comparison of theverbalizatoins which the gestures accompany to determine in what way, if any, theyare mismatching. Conclusions can then be drawn concerning the meaning of thegesturese and their cognitive significance.
Data collection
The data for the research will be collected by video taping the experiments. The rangeof gestures exhibited will be examined and described. The various gestures will thenbe categorized according to the appropriate framework.
Subjects
The subjects will be undergraduate university students recruited and paid an hourlyrate for participation
Materials and Procedures
Experiments will require the use of a classroom and a video camera. They will lastapproximately 60 minutes. An outline of the experimental struture is provided below:
• Introduction to nature of experiment – a general outline of the research alongwith an appropriate explanation of the experiment and the role of the subjects
• Description of tasks format of the tasks explained e.g. use of blackboard, paperand pencil, rules etc.
(10mins)
• Explanation of syllogisms – a definition of a syllogism accompanied withexamples.
• Example problems – a small set of famous example problems involvingsyllogisms.
• Demonstration of Euler circles and diagrammatical method for solvingsyllogisms.
(20mins)
• Solving syllogisms using Euler circles(30mins)
6 Data Analysis and Evaluation
Assessing Participant Contiribution
The contribution of the participants will be documented and recorded using a videocamera. The video will then be analysed in both in terms of how well the participantsperfomed the task, and whether any of the described gesturespeech mismatch wasobserved. In cases where the described phenomena appears to occur, theverbalizations will be transcribed and the accompanying gestures described in adetailed and formal way(see below).
Catgorizing gestures
In order that any instances of gesturespeech mismatch can be recognised, it isimportant that the gestural activity is understood. In order to do this, a detailed andexplicit statement of the framework by which the gestures are classified must beprovided. The framework will address a number of crucial methodological aspects:
1. The criteria for gesture2. The categories of gesture3. The defining characteristics of each category of gesture
The hypotheses can only by tested if the data is collected and classified explicitly.Experiments involving live recording of subjects is by nature a difficult undertaking.It is important that any results obtained should be verifiable as much as possible. Assuch, it is important that the appropriate framework for categorizing gesture isadopted. This means that a formal classification must be described and tested forinterrater reliability.
Interpreting gesture
Any observable instances will be analysed in terms of their relation to the meanings ofthe verbal responses of the subject, and the concepts involved. This will be done afteran acceptable classification of the observed gestures has been completed. The contextof each example of gesturespeech mismatch will then be examined in order to revealany trends in representational gestures that correspond to the concept eventuallylearned.
7 Outputs
The anticipated results of the research project are outlined below:
• Observation of gesturespeech mismatch• Evidence that the mismatch occurs when there exists a choice between mulitple
possible interpretations of concept.
Other possible outcomes of the project may be:
• Evidence that gestural component of speechgesture mismatch represents the actualconcept implemented to solve the problem.
• Support for argument that gesture represents a mode of commmunicating andacquiring concepts that precedes our ability to articulate our understanding of theconcept.
The research will contribute to ongoing research of gesturespeech mismatch. Theintroduction of the diagrammatical method explicitly places the gestural activitieswithin a context of problem representation. This is intended to explore any possiblelink between representational gestures and the cognitive processes involved inlearning. It is possible that the link will prove more than the association betweengestures and language and will incorporate features of cognitive understandingassimilated through the use of gesture.
8 Workplan
The research will be conducted over the summer semester. The timetable for theresearch and analysis is provided below:
Research preparation
Conducting the research will entail detailed planning. A framework for thecategorization of gesture must be explicitly formulated before any results can beanalyzed.Video camera and room booking arrangements will need to be organized to
cover the period designated for conducting the experiments. The format of theexperiment sessions will need to be structured to allow sufficient time for explanationof task and subject participation. The task must be of the appropriate complexity toallow for an enviroment where mismatches may be observed. A period of planningand practice is therefore essential to allow for meaningful experimenation to becompleted.
Research experimentation
The actual experimentation phase will depend in part, on the results of the preparatoryphase. This will determine how easily gesturemismatch can be observed and howappropriate the reasoning task is for the purpose of the research. Decisions conceningthe number of subjects required and the optimal number of subjects per test can thenbe made. It is likely that the experimentation phase will be ongoing throughout thesummer and that analysis and research will be done simulatneously.
Analysis of Data
After each experimentation, an analysis of the video will be carried out. This willinvolve transcription of verbal responses where appropriate. Descriptions of thephysical activity of the subjects will be described and applied to the framework forgesture in order to determine the character of the gestures observed and to classifythem accordingly.
Analysis of Findings
An analysis of the results will be undertaken in order to evaluate the varioushypothese in the context of the observations. This will involve a discussion of whetherany particular instances of gestuespeech mimatch have been observed, and whetherthe instances represent an index of transistional knowledge. Further analysis will concern the meaning of the gestures in this context and whetherthey correspond to representatioins that are incorporated into a concept that is learned.Conclusions will then be drawn concerning the cognitive role of representationalgestures.
Activity Description Timescale
Research preparation • Determination of framework forgesture categorization
• Administration arrangements
• Planning and testing of reasoning task
• Recruiting subjects
14 May 05 –1 June 05
Research experimentation • Testing subjects Ongoing
Activity Description Timescale
Analysis of recorded data • Transcription of verbal and gesturalresponses.
• Classification of gesture
• Description of observed gestures
Ongoing
Analysiswill beperformedafter eachexperiment
Analysis of results
Writing of research paper
• Description of research
• Literature review
• Discussion of observed gestures andgesturespeech mismatch
• Discussion of meaning of gesturesassociated with observed mismatches
• Discussion of cognitive aspect ofrepresentational gestures againstbackdrop of results.
August 05 –finalsubmission
References
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