Psychological Development and Education ›› 2026, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (2): 153-161.doi: 10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2026.02.01

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The Effects of Iconic Gestures on Memory and Generalization of Chinese Action Verbs in 3~4-year-old Children

ZHANG Pan1, YANG Juan2, WANG Xiaoying1   

  1. 1. Faculty of Education, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024;
    2. School of Education Science, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou 221116
  • Published:2026-03-14

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Abstract: The effects of iconic gestures on the memory and generalization of Chinese action verbs in 3~4-year-old children were examined through two experimental tasks: A verb memory test and an improved verb generalization test. [JP3]The results showed that self-produced iconic gestures and observing others’ iconic gestures significantly enhanced the memory of Chinese action verbs in 3~4-year-old children to an equal extent; However, interactive gestures did not improve verb memory performance. Iconic gestures also facilitated the generalization of Chinese action verbs in this age group, and this facilitative effect was delayed. Iconic gestures can enhance children's vocabulary memory by highlighting key features of action verbs, and conveying lexical information in a representational manner. This helps children recognize the core actions denoted by verbs, thereby promoting their understanding of essential verb knowledge and enabling the inference of related verb information. The study suggests that parents and early childhood educators should leverage the positive effects of iconic gestures to facilitate children’s integration of higher-level verb concepts and derivation of subordinate verb knowledge. This approach can enhance the efficiency and flexibility of children’s verb learning.

Key words: iconic gesture, 3~4-year-old children, verb memory, verb generalization

CLC Number: 

  • B844
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