Gesture Development

While research has shown that adults can benefit from the presence of beat gestures in word recall tasks, studies have failed to conclusively generalize these findings to preschool children. This study investigates whether the presence of beat gestures helps children to recall information when these gestures have the function of singling out a linguistic element in its discourse context. One hundred and six 3-to-5-year-old children were asked to recall a list of words within a pragmatically child-relevant context (i.e., a story-telling activity) in which the target word was accompanied or not by a beat gesture. Results showed that children recalled the target word significantly better when it was accompanied by a beat gesture than when not, indicating a local recall effect. Moreover, the recall of adjacent non-target words did not differ depending on the condition, revealing that beat gestures seem to have a strictly local highlighting function (i.e., no global recall effect). Interestingly, even though the effect was weak, the analyses show that the children's ability to recall the target word improved with age only in the beat condition. These results demonstrate that preschoolers benefit from the pragmatic contribution offered by beat gestures when they function as multimodal markers of prominence. Children's word recall improves when the target word is associated with a beat gesture Children's ability to benefit from beat gestures develops during the preschool years

Although research has shown that adults can benefit from the presence of beat gestures in word recall tasks, studies have failed to conclusively generalize these findings to preschool children. This study investigated whether the presence of beat gestures helps children to recall information when these gestures have the function of singling out a linguistic element in its discourse context. A total of 106 3- to 5-year-old children were asked to recall a list of words within a pragmatically child-relevant context (i.e., a storytelling activity) in which the target word was or was not accompanied by a beat gesture. Results showed that children recalled the target word significantly better when it was accompanied by a beat gesture than when it was not, indicating a local recall effect. Moreover, the recall of adjacent non-target words did not differ depending on the condition, revealing that beat gestures seem to have a strictly local highlighting function (i.e., no global recall effec...

La prevention des TMS est devenue un objectif prioritaire de la politique de sante au travail non seulement pour les autorites sanitaires, mais aussi et surtout pour bon nombre d'entreprises. La difficulte d'une telle prevention tient au grand nombre de facteurs pathogenes, de nature differente, responsables de ces maladies. L'experience desormais accumulee dans ce domaine de la prevention montre que, s'il est indispensable d'agir sur les parametres biomecaniques des gestes en modifiant l'ergonomie des postes de travail ou encore en agissant sur les gestes eux-memes, il est non moins decisif d'agir simultanement sur d'autres parametres. L'action qui sert d'appui a cette communication mobilise deux ressources parmi les plus frequemment citees comme indispensables a la prevention, et surtout a sa perennite : d'une part, la construction d'un collectif de travail sur les gestes qui puisse devenir une ressource pour l'action de chacun d...

The musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) pose a problem of knowledge and a problem of efficiency of their prevention. From our experiment, we question biomechanics of movement from the psychological analysis of real activity. The concept of gesture is redefined in order to support the assumption that hypersolicitation of organism results from hyposolicitation of activity. Based on the work of Bernstein, we propose a psychological analysis model of movement postulating that movement, gesture and automatism are three aspects of the same psychophysiological reality. This model allows us to explore the development of the realizable gesture. We find that the variety of the situations and the development of the repetitions beyond of them self allow the workers to find adequate answers to the motor problems posed by their activity. On the opposite, the impeded development locks up the gesture in identical repetitions, engaging the subjects towards pathogenic compulsive activities. The underdevelopment of the repetitions plunges its roots in the professional activity underdevelopment. The prevention of the MSD should depend on the history of the repetitions by multiplying the gestural experiments and confrontations with the others possible gestures, one's own gestures and those from the others in the collective of work. KEYWORDS Clinic of activity, Gesture development, prevention of musculoskeletal disorders. Les troubles musculosquelettiques (TMS) du membre supérieur sont en progression constante depuis plusieurs années. Ils sont souvent à l'origine des demandes d'analyse de l'activité qui nous sont adressées. Les stratégies diagnostiques privilégiant la clinique et une démarche étiologique basée sur la recherche des facteurs professionnels sont désormais courantes pour organiser la prévention de ces affections périarticulaires. Cependant, il faut bien reconnaître que les mécanismes complexes conduisant aux TMS sont encore relativement mal appréhendés du fait des multiples interactions entre les divers facteurs intervenant dans leur genèse.

Gesture is a form of non-verbal communication. Down syndrome (DS) is one of the most common congenital syndromes in which speech and language deficits are prominent. Earlier studies have revealed mixed results regarding the advanced use of gestures among children with DS in Western literature. Indian culture influences parent-child interactions and gesture use differently. This study aims to assess whether a gesture advantage exists among DS children in the Indian context. Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, 5 Tamil-speaking children with DS and 5 typically developing (TD) language-age-matched controls were observed. Their spontaneous interactions with their mothers were analyzed for type and frequency of gestures and gestureword combinations using a checklist. Results: Except for the frequency of deictic (requesting, giving) gestures, all the other gestures, namely deictic (pointing, showing), symbolic and representational gestures, and word-gesture combinations (equivalent, complementary, and supplementary) were observed much less frequently in DS children, although only pointing had a statistical significance. Also, fewer types of gestures were observed among DS children. Conclusion: Children with DS in the Indian context do not exhibit a gesture advantage. This study highlights the importance of gesture assessment and intervention among these children.

Passerelle L'analyse psychologique du développement des gestes professionnels : une perspective pour la prévention des TMS ? The psychological analysis of the development of occupational movements and gestures: a perspective for prevention of MSDs.? El análisis psicológico del desarollo de gestos profesionales : una perspectiva para la prevención de los TME?

The purpose of this study was to examine gesture use in Turkish children with autism, Down syndrome, and typically developing children. Participants included 30 children in three groups: Ten children with Down syndrome, ten children with autism between 24-60 months of age, and ten typically developing children between 12-18 months of age. Principal Caregiver-child and researcher-child interactions were video-recorded in this descriptive study. Significant group differences were found for total gesture use, communicative functions, and types of gestures. Results revealed significant differences for gestures within the category of behavior regulation between the groups. The typically developing children used gestures more frequently than other groups. The lowest frequency of gesture use have been found for children with autism. It was found that children with autism have more difficulties in gesture use within the category of Social interaction and joint attention than Down syndrome a...

The purpose of this study was to examine gesture use in Turkish children with autism, Down syndrome, and typically developing children. Participants included 30 children in three groups: Ten children with Down syndrome, ten children with autism between 24-60 months of age, and ten typically developing children between 12-18 months of age. Principal Caregiver-child and researcher-child interactions were video-recorded in this descriptive study. Significant group differences were found for total gesture use, communicative functions, and types of gestures. Results revealed significant differences for gestures within the category of behavior regulation between the groups. The typically developing children used gestures more frequently than other groups. The lowest frequency of gesture use have been found for children with autism. It was found that children with autism have more difficulties in gesture use within the category of Social interaction and joint attention than Down syndrome and typically developing groups. Children with Down syndrome have become more successful in the use of these gestures than other two groups. It was found that researcher-child interaction provides more information about the frequency of gestures than parent-child interaction. The differences between groups are discussed in terms of the communicative functions of gestures.

The purpose of this study was to examine gesture use in Turkish children with autism, Down syndrome, and typically developing children. Participants included 30 children in three groups: Ten children with Down syndrome,
ten children with autism between 24–60 months of age, and ten typically developing children between 12–18 months of age. Principal Caregiver-child and researcher-child interactions were video-recorded in this descriptive
study. Significant group differences were found for total gesture use, communicative functions, and types of gestures. Results revealed significant differences for gestures within the category of behavior regulation between
the groups. The typically developing children used gestures more frequently than other groups. The lowest frequency of gesture use have been found for children with autism. It was found that children with autism have more difficulties in gesture use within the category of Social interaction and joint attention than Down syndrome
and typically developing groups. Children with Down syndrome have become more successful in the use of these gestures than other two groups. It was found that researcher-child interaction provides more information about the frequency of gestures than parent-child interaction. The differences between groups are discussed in terms of the communicative functions of gestures.