Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

The embodied cognition framework holds that cognition is grounded in action (Glenberg, 2010). This perspective impliesthat actions can influence learning. Actions may also influence the gestures made when later recalling the concept learned.According to the Gesture-as-Simulated-Action hypothesis, gestures derive from action simulations that underlie thinkingand speaking (Hostetter & Alibali, 2008). When concepts are learned through action, those same actions may be activatedwhen recalling that concept. Thus, learners actions may leave a legacy in their gestures. Moreover, gestures are a form ofaction, and as such, gestures may directly influence learning.This study investigated childrens (N=94) learning about mathematical equivalence both without actions (control), andusing mathematical manipulatives that afforded differing actions (stacking blocks, a pan balance, and buckets and bean-bagsin which children simulated a balance scale with their bodies). Working with the manipulatives did not enhancelearning relative to control, but gestures differed.