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R Wesp

Publications and source records attributed to R Wesp.

3 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Gestures maintain spatial imagery.

Recent theories suggest alternatives to the commonly held belief that the sole role of gestures is to communicate meaning directly to listeners. Evidence suggests that gestures may serve a cognitive function for speakers, possibly acting as lexical primes. We observed that participants gestured more often when describing a picture from memory than when the picture was present and that gestures were not influenced by manipulating eye contact of a listener. We argue that spatial imagery serves a short-term memory function during lexical search and that gestures may help maintain spatial images. When spatial imagery is not necessary, as in conditions of direct visual stimulation, reliance on gestures is reduced or eliminated.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Object recognition may distort size perception.

Size estimation may be influenced by characteristics recalled about the object viewed. This study evaluated the influence of object familiarity on estimation of size. We compared size estimates of several familiar objects with size estimates of undefined objects matched for dimensions of pattern and color. Those estimating the size of the familiar objects made significantly larger errors than those estimating the size of the undefined objects. In a second study size estimation errors from memory were larger than when objects were directly viewed. Experience with the objects appears to decrease accuracy of estimates of size but errors may be reduced by directly observing the object.

Color Perception↗