Department of Psychology Department of Psychology
Do you ever find yourself waving your hands about as you talk but aren't quite sure why? Well, the central focus of my research with Dr. Martha Alibali is trying to figure out why you (and the majority of humans) gesture while they speak.
Currently, I am working on a project investigating the cognitive sources (such as verbal and spatial skill) that underlie individual differences in gesture production. I am also interested in how gesture relates to the speech production process, and specifically, how it can help a speaker understand and express his/her meaning.
As an undergraduate at Berry College in Rome, Georgia, I worked with Dr. Bill Hopkins at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center where we investigated the origins of language in chimpanzees. Specific projects included examining their gestural production, testing the extent to which they recognize the attentional status of another, and measuring their hand preferences on a variety of tasks.
Hopkins, W. D., Russell, J. L., Hostetter, A. B., Pilcher, D., & Dahl, J. F. (in press). Grip preference, dermatoglyphics, and hand use in captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Journal of American Anthropology
Leavens, D. A., Hostetter, A. B., Wesley, M. J., & Hopkins, W. D. (2004). Tactical use of unimodal and bimodal communication by chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes. Animal Behaviour, 67, 467-476.
Hopkins, W. D., Cantalupo, C., Wesley, M .J., Hostetter, A. B.,& Pilcher, D. L. (2002). Grip morphology and hand use in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): Evidence of a left hemisphere specialization in motor skill. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 131, 412-423.
Hostetter, A. B. & Hopkins, W. D. (2002). The effect of thought structure on the production of lexical movements. Brain and Language, 82, 22-29.
Wesley, M. J., Fernandez-Carriba, S., Hostetter, A., Pilcher, D., Poss, S., & Hopkins, W. D. (2002). Factor analysis of multiple measures of hand use in captive chimpanzees: An alternative approach to the assessment of handedness in nonhuman primates. International Journal of Primatology, 23, 1155-1168.
Hostetter, A. B., Cantero, M., & Hopkins, W. D. (2001). Differential use of vocal and gestural communication by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in response to the attentional status of a human (Homo sapiens). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 115, 337-343.
Hopkins, W. D., Fernandez-Carriba, S., Wesley, M. J., Hostetter, A., Pilcher, D., & Poss, S. (2001). The use of bouts and frequencies in the evaluation of hand preferences for a coordinated bimanual task in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): An empirical study comparing two different indices of laterality. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 115, 294-299.