ABSTRACT
The experimental support for the benefits of enactment primarily comes from traditional laboratory research in which undergraduates are asked to recall a list of action phrases. Vision and action combine to improve both memory and reasoning. The initial examples show how action can aid people's memory for skills such as typing, recalling phrases, and learning dialogue. Gesturing therefore reduced the memory demands of explaining the solution, particularly when the gestures and verbal explanation were compatible. In commenting on the mixed results of research on the effectiveness of manipulatives in teaching mathematical concepts, Thompson argued that it is necessary to look at the total instructional environment to understand the effectiveness of concrete materials.
