Abstract
The aim of this study was to explore differences in gesture use during a free recall task among individuals of different ages and different development of conceptual thinking. Sixty-three children (aged 7–14 years) and 30 adults participated in an experiment in which they first witnessed a live staged event and a week later were interviewed about the event and tested using the Word Meaning Structure Test. Results showed that adults used more gesture types and showed higher gesture use frequency than children. Further, we found that word meaning structure and gesture use – specifically metaphoric and iconic gestures – predicted more accurate free recall in children. Our findings suggest that gestures may function differently during varying developmental stages, with gesture use being related to word meaning structure and the benefits of gesture use in free recall being more evident in children than adults.
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