The roles of motion, gesture, and embodied action in the processing of mathematical concepts

Omid Khatin-Zadeh; Danyal Farsani; Zahra Eskandari; Fernando Marmolejo-Ramos

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.969341

The roles of motion, gesture, and embodied action in the processing of mathematical concepts

Front Psychol. 2022 Oct 14:13:969341. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.969341. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Omid Khatin-Zadeh¹, Danyal Farsani^{2

3

4}, Zahra Eskandari⁵, Fernando Marmolejo-Ramos⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Foreign Languages, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.
² Department of Teacher Education, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
³ Facultad de Educación, Psicología y Familia, Universidad Finis Terrae, Santiago, Chile.
⁴ Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação Matemática, State University of São Paulo (UNESP), Rio Claro, Brasil.
⁵ Department of English, Chabahar Maritime University, Chabahar, Sistan and Baluchestan, Iran.
⁶ Center for Change and Complexity in Learning, The University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia.

Abstract

This article discusses perspective and frame of reference in the metaphorical description of mathematical concepts in terms of motions, gestures, and embodied actions. When a mathematical concept is described metaphorically in terms of gestures, embodied actions, or fictive motions, the motor system comes into play to ground and understand that concept. Every motion, gesture, or embodied action involves a perspective and a frame of reference. The flexibility in taking perspective and frame of reference allows people to embody a mathematical concept or idea in various ways. Based on the findings of past studies, it is suggested that the graphical representation of a mathematical concept may activate those areas of the motor system that are involved in the production of that graphical representation. This is supported by studies showing that when observers look at a painting or handwritten letters, they simulate the painter's or writer's hand movements during painting or writing. Likewise, the motor system can contribute to the grounding of abstract mathematical concepts, such as functions, numbers, and arithmetic operations.

Keywords: embodied action; frame of reference; gesture; motion; perspective.