I see it in my hands’ eye: Representational gestures reflect conceptual demands

The Information Packaging Hypothesis (Kita, 2000) holds that gestures play a role in conceptualising information for speaking. According to this view, speakers will gesture more when describing difficult-to-conceptualise information than when describing easy-to-conceptualise information. In the present study, 24 participants described ambiguous dot patterns under two conditions. In the dots-plus-shapes condition, geometric shapes connected the dots, and participants described the patterns in terms of those shapes. In the dots-only condition, no shapes were present, and participants generated their own geometric conceptualisations and described the patterns. Participants gestured at a higher rate in the dots-only condition than in the dots-plus-shapes condition. The results support the Information Packaging Hypothesis and suggest that gestures occur when information is difficult to conceptualise.