Pearce, Philip L., and Caltabiano, Nerina J. (1982) Gesture decoding and encoding in children: the effects of ethnicity, age and sex. Australian Journal of Psychology, 34 (1). pp. 17-24.

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Abstract

Two hundred and forty children, selected according to their age, ethnicity and sex, participated in a study of the encoding and decoding of symbolic hand gestures. Twenty-two gestures, chosen from a larger list of 101 gestures, were classified in a pre-test as either Italian or Australian gestures and were presented to the children in ordinary or stroboscopic photographs. Both the encoding and decoding studies conformed to a 2 (Italian or Australian ethnic background) x 2 (male or female) x 2 (3-year or 6-year-old) design. Age and ethnic background were shown to be major variables affecting gesture decoding. A significant interaction between age, ethnicity and sex was found for gesture encoding of Italian gestures. It was suggested that verbal fluency and the social roles of children in the Italo-Australian sub-culture might account for the superiority of the 6-year-old Italo-Australian girls in encoding Italian gestures. The need to investigate the larger issue of the effects of acculturation on non-verbal behavior was noted.

Item ID:	28259
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1742-9536
Keywords:	gesture decoding, gesture encoding, children, ethnicity, age, sex
Date Deposited:	31 Jul 2013 04:16
FoR Codes:	17 PSYCHOLOGY AND COGNITIVE SCIENCES > 1701 Psychology > 170113 Social and Community Psychology @ 100%
SEO Codes:	97 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 970117 Expanding Knowledge in Psychology and Cognitive Sciences @ 100%
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