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Gestures in Geology: The Roles of Spatial Skills, Expertise, and Communicative Context

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Spatial Cognition VII (Spatial Cognition 2010)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 6222))

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Abstract

Spatial thinking is an essential part of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), domains that entail external spatial representations such as 2D graphics, 3D models, and—the focus here—gestures. University students (a) read aloud information about the geological concepts of strike and dip, (b) completed strike and dip tasks, and (c) explained these concepts to another student via audio and video. Gestural patterns varied across reading, audio, and video contexts in interaction with participant variables of spatial skill and prior geology coursework. Only novices gestured during reading, interpreted as novices’ attempts to aid their own conceptual understanding of new information. All participant groups produced different gestural patterns in audio versus video contexts, suggesting the communicative intent of many gestures.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    Lynn S. Liben & Adam E. Christensen

  2. Department of Earth &, Environmental Sciences and Columbia University, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, NY, 10964, USA

    Kim A. Kastens

Authors
  1. Lynn S. Liben
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  2. Adam E. Christensen
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  3. Kim A. Kastens
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Cognitive Science, Institute of Computer Science and Social Research, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Friedrichstraße 50, 79098, Freiburg, Germany

    Christoph Hölscher

  2. Department of Psychology, Temple University, Weiss Hall 1701 North 13th Street, 19122-6085, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Thomas F. Shipley  & Nora S. Newcombe  & 

  3. Department of Psychology, ’Sapienza’ University of Rome, Via dei Marsi 78, 00185, Rome, Italy

    Marta Olivetti Belardinelli

  4. FB 10, Faculty of Linguistics and Literary Sciences, University of Bremen, Building GW2, Bibliothekstraße 1, 28334, Bremen, Germany

    John A. Bateman

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Liben, L.S., Christensen, A.E., Kastens, K.A. (2010). Gestures in Geology: The Roles of Spatial Skills, Expertise, and Communicative Context . In: Hölscher, C., Shipley, T.F., Olivetti Belardinelli, M., Bateman, J.A., Newcombe, N.S. (eds) Spatial Cognition VII. Spatial Cognition 2010. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 6222. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-14749-4_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-14749-4_11

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-14748-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-14749-4

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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