Spatial Language as an Embodied Memory Tool: a Comparison of Speech and Sign Language Linguistic Processing

Abstract

Embodied cognition is a rapidly developing and topical subject in the field of cognitive science. Sign language possesses the unique visuospatial nature of utilizing gestures to communicate. Recent advancements in technology have enabled comparisons between information processing in spoken verbal languages and in visual sign languages. Deaf sign language users deprived of auditory stimulation exhibit neural plasticity, as visual information is treated as auditory information due to its universal linguistic structure. The modal differences between the languages and the brain’s ability to make adjustments in neural connections has implications for short-term memory. The visual nature of sign language also impacts long-term memory. Sign language’s use of bodily movement relative to the environment as a means of communication makes it a form of embodied cognition. The various impacts of sign language on memory explore significant topics in the enhancing capabilities of embodied cognition. While a critique of embodied cognition as a theory utilizes lexical representations as support for its argument, sign language can be used as evidence to the contrary, supporting that visuospatial lexical representations are in fact embodied. Sign language’s embodied nature and its positive impacts on cognition are an important subject area for advancing research in cognitive science.