The Impact of Gesture and Prior Knowledge on Visual Attention During Math Instruction
- Katharine Guarino, Developmental Psychology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Elizabeth Wakefield, Developmental Psychology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Miriam A. Novack, Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, United States
- Eliza L. Congdon, Department of Psychology, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, United States
- Steven Franconeri, Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, United States
- Susan Goldin-Meadow, Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States
AbstractInclusion of gesture – meaningful movements of the hands – during mathematics instruction is beneficial for teaching naïve learners novel concepts, and it can affect a learner’s allocation of visual attention. Yet, it is unknown how children with pre-existing knowledge of a math concept approach instruction that includes gesture. Here, we examine how children’s prior knowledge and either the presence or absence of gesture during instruction drive patterns in visual attention during a lesson. We find that prior knowledge does determine visual attention patterns, independent of type of instruction (i.e. with or without gesture). These findings further our understanding of the attentional mechanisms of gesture and have implications for real-world classrooms, where levels of prior knowledge are often mixed.