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Measuring gesture: its cultural and clinical correlates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Peter Sainsbury  and
Elizabeth Wood
Peter Sainsbury*
Affiliation:
From the MRC Clinical Psychiatry Unit, Graylingwell Hospital, Chichester
Elizabeth Wood
Affiliation:
From the MRC Clinical Psychiatry Unit, Graylingwell Hospital, Chichester
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr Peter Sainsbury, Medical Research Council, Clinical Psychiatry Unit, Gray-lingwell Hospital, Chichester, Sussex.
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Synopsis

An ultrasonic system for measuring psychomotor behaviour is described, and then applied to compare the extent to which English and French students gesticulate.

The findings supported the hypotheses that: (1) French students gesticulate more than the English both when using descriptive speech and when discussing their feelings; (2) descriptive speech elicits more gesture then affectively-toned speech; (3) when verbal expression is more difficult the use of gesture increases; (4) individuals tend to maintain a characteristic level of gesturing.

We concluded the ultrasonic system provides a reliable and sensitive method for measuring gesture activity and can be applied clinically to the study of psychomotor behaviour.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , February 1977 , pp. 63 - 72
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1977

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References

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