Fewer hand gestures with aphasia and use of webcam

When people communicate with each other through a webcam, they make a lot fewer hand gestures than when they are together, even when they can see each other completely on the screen.

According to Tilburg University researcher Lisette Mol we use much less body language when we make a video call. This is partly because when seeing each other via a webcam we do not look each other in the eye. As a result we can’t interpret the viewing direction of the other person very well. If people, instead of a regular webcam, use a device that stimulates eye contact, we make as many gestures as when we see each other face to face in real life, concludes Mol. Next week, she will defend her thesis ‘Language in the hands’.

Mol also researched the relationship between aphasia and hand gestures. Aphasia is a language disorder caused by brain damage. The hand and body language gestures that people with aphasia make are much less clear than gestures of people without aphasia, Mol’s research shows. They also used fewer ways to express themselves. It seems that aphasia often results in both a reduction in speech and in the use of gestures.

_Advertentie.