Gesture-to-Speech Mismatch in the Construction of Problem Solving Insight

Abstract

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt:The present report analyzes a case of problem-solving insight achieved in a dyadic problem-solving discourse task. The task required two participants to work together to solve a murder mystery based on a story by Raymond Chandler. One participant appeared to use propositional speech and gestural simulation as checks on each other while he hypothesized alternative interpretations for the actions of a murder suspect. Each hypothetical scenario began with a gestural metaphor for a named kinship relationship between suspect and murder victim. Irreparable cross-modal mismatch between speech and gesture led to generation of a new kinship metaphor. Merging elements from the two gestural scenarios while maintaining semantic congruence between speech and gesture did not merely precede, but ac-tually constructed, problem-solving insight.