We previously observed students gesturing during a symmetry and group theory activity. This prompted additional interviews, wherein we attempted to understand the semiotic function of these gestures. We report here on the gestures that students used in this context to represent symmetry elements, symmetry operations, and other related ideas. In…

Effective communication is vital in both social and professional contexts, yet the nuanced relationship between nonverbal communication (NVC) and affectivity, particularly in relation to demographic factors, has not been fully understood. The lack of clarity in how these elements interact poses a challenge in developing tailored communication…

The study explores whether racial identity and appearance-based trustworthiness judgments can affect recognition of pain in medical students differing in levels of resting heart rate variability (HRV), a measure of parasympathetic control of the heart. After undergoing HRV assessment, 68 medical students (37 females) participated in a dynamic pain…

Nudge theory, a strategy to influence decision-making, holds promise for enhancing an adult's use of evidence-based strategies during a read-aloud experience with a young child. This study examined the effectiveness of a nudge theory approach in increasing adult gesture use during a book-reading activity with a young child. Notably, 31 U.S.…

Studying early language development has been a challenging task throughout the years. Earlier studies mostly documented language competence only after toddlers had started producing their first words. Theoretical and methodological advances in this domain brought about more sophisticated ways of probing into early development by exploiting overt…

One limitation of the naturalistic observation method is that it is understudied how accurately personal relationships may be judged by observers in real-life settings. To assess this judgment accuracy, we observed 285 dyads of individuals in public places and then asked whether they were affiliated or strangers. We found that human observers were…

Gestures accent and illustrate our communication. Although previous studies have uncovered the positive effects of gestures on communication, little is known about the specific cognitive functions of different types of gestures, or the instantaneous multi-brain dynamics. Here we used the fNIRS-based hyperscanning technique to track the brain…

Meaningful gestures enhance degraded speech comprehension in neurotypical adults, but it is unknown whether this is the case for neurodivergent populations, such as autistic individuals. Previous research demonstrated atypical multisensory and speech-gesture integration in autistic individuals, suggesting that integrating speech and gestures may…

The improvements in attention by mindfulness training have been proved. However, the effects of mindfulness training on attention to emotional stimuli were mixed. We employed a randomized, controlled design to investigate the effects of mindfulness training on attention to emotional expressions, and investigated whether baseline levels of…

Although previous research provides insights into how gestures function as a pedagogical tool, relatively little is known about how gesture is related to language, together creating a key meaning-making teaching resource. Drawing on the system of logico-semantic relations in Systemic Functional Linguistic theory and McNeill's description of…

Background: Initiating meaningful moments of interaction with people with profound intellectual disabilities can prove to be difficult for support staff. Exploring the behaviour of support staff that precedes the initiations of behaviour by people with profound intellectual disabilities helps to shed light upon the potential facilitating effects…

Multiple movement methods have been used in the music classroom for educational and research purposes. Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) is a movement framework that has been used with conductors, but there is limited research using Laban movements with K-12 band ensemble students. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Laban…

Research on gesture development has mostly focused on home environments. Little is known about early communicative development in other relevant contexts, such as early-year-schools. These settings, rich in diverse educative situations, objects, and communicative partners, provide a contrast to parent-child interactions, complementing our…

In e-learning environments, most adaptive systems do not consider the learner's emotional state when recommending activities for learning difficulties, blockages, or demotivation. In this paper, we propose a new approach of emotion-based adaptation in e-learning environments. The system will allow recommendation resources/activities to motivate…

In an attempt to shed light on the social decision difficulties experienced by autistic adults, the current study examines the dynamics of experience-based social decisions. We developed an experiential task where participants' goal was to select the most kind and pleasant agent out of four, based on the valence (positivity/negativity) of the…