Gesture and Language Production in Communication through Bar Graphs

Bar graphs and line graphs are commonly used ways of graphical communication. Due to the difference in their perceptual visuo-spatial properties, they facilitate comprehension of different events. Bar graphs are commonly used in the domain of precipitation although the data intrinsically carry information that is averaged over long time spans. In this study, we investigate how the presence of incongruence between consecutive graph pairs influences conceptualization of the represented information about precipitation. For this, we analyzed gestures and verbal descriptions produced by the participants as indicators of event conceptualizations. The results of the experimental investigation reveals that when incongruent graph pairs are presented, the participants show tendency to produce directional gestures that accompany the verbal descriptions of the specific regions represented by one/two bars, indicating that bar graphs presented in consecutive order facilitates comprehension of trend information as well as of discrete entities. Additionally, the presence of incongruence seems to enhance the production of comparative words accompanied with non-directional gestures.