THE ROUGH GUIDE TO PSYCHOLOGYof an actor uttering different sentences while making either a mean-
ingful or a meaningless gesture. Those accompanied by a meaningful
gesture – for example, the actor pointing his index finger downwards
and drawing a circle, while stating “the buyer went round the property”
- were remembered more than sentences accompanied by a meaning-
less gesture (for example, the actor holding his right hand open, palm
upwards and saying “He runs to the nearest house”).
Of course, hand movements can even be choreographed to create
entire languages – as demonstrated by the sign languages used by deaf
people, including British Sign Language and American Sign Language.
These are fully formed language-systems with their own syntax and
vocabulary based on hand-shape, location, orientation and movement.
Amazingly, in the absence of formal tuition, deaf children invent their
own signs. Indeed, it’s thought that this spontaneous process led to the
formation of Nicaraguan Sign Language in the 1970s, after children in
one of the country’s main schools for the deaf were encouraged to read
lips and speak rather than use signs.