ABSTRACT
People largely adhere to views that the mind functions quite well on its own, without much aid from the body, so long as our basic physical needs are met. In the Stroop task, readers are made aware of the automatic nature of Type 1 processing of symbols when they experience a conflict. Connection making is a fundamental process to support learning. Analogy, much like metaphor, establishes a mapping between a familiar “source” domain, and a novel “target” domain. Children benefit from analogy when learning such basic abilities as how to spell and decode novel words by mapping them to similar looking and sounding words. Students also demonstrate superior inference making for science concepts when analogies are provided when compared to literal descriptions of the concepts. Gestures are effective resources for supporting learning through off-loading. Gestures may seem to be for the benefit of the listener because they are expressive and performative.
