• BA Mathematical Engineering (University of Tokyo)
• MA Information Engineering (University of Tokyo)
• PhD Psychology and Linguistics (University of Chicago)

After studying engineering in Japan (B.A., Mathematical engineering, University of Tokyo,1986; M.A. Information engineering, University of Tokyo, 1988), I moved to Chicago (USA). I received a Ph.D. in psychology and linguistics from the University of Chicago (1993) under the supervision of David McNeill. In 1993, I joined Cognitive Anthropology Research Group (lead by Stephen Levinson) at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in the Netherlands as a post doctoral fellow.

From 1994 to 2003, I worked at the Max Planck Institute as a Senior Researcher in Levinson's group. Throughout my stay at the Institute, I was the leader of the Gesture Project, one of the research foci of the Institute. From 2003 to 2006, I was a Senior Lecturer at the Dept. of Experimental Psychology in the University of Bristol. I have been in the current position since 2006.

Thanks to my PhD supervisor Professor David McNeill who helped get me involved in gesture research.

I am the  deputy director of MSci courses in Psychology and the director of MSci Psychology and Psychological Research.

Theoretical Issues in Nonverbal Behaviours (Year 3).

MSci Research Project (Year 4).

I am always looking for people who are keen to pursue research in my lab as a PhD or Master's student. If you are interested, please contact me via email.

My current and past PhD students are:

• Mandana Seyfedinnipur (2006)
• Mingyuan Chu (2008)
• Katerina Kantartzis (2011)
• Katherine Mumford (current)
• Sophie Milward (current)
• Paraskevi Argyriou (current)
• Mai Salem Al-Subhi (current)

Broadly speaking, my research interests are psycholinguistics and psychology of communication. The main focus has been on gestures that spontaneously accompany speech. My research on gesture spans both production and comprehension. It also includes investigation of patients and neurophysiological methods. Some of the key questions include:

• How are gesture and speech production processes inter-related? 
• Do gestures have self-oriented functions? If so, what is the nature of such functions? 
• How do we integrate information from speech and gesture in comprehension? 
• How does the brain produce and comprehend gestures in relation to speech? 
• What is the relationship between gesture development and speech development in children?

The second focus of my research, which has developed considerably in the last few years, is development of communicative abilities in children. I have studied mechanisms of word learning and the development of gestural communication.

In addition to the research on gesture and development of communicative abilities, I am also interested in issues concerning speech production (e.g., self-monitoring), semantics and pragmatics of spatial expressions (e.g., motion events), the relationship between language and thought, and sign language, cross-cultural variation of conversational style.

I am always looking for people who are keen to pursue the above and related areas of research in my lab as:

• Undergraduate research volunteers 
• Undergraduate summer research bursary holders 
• Ph.D. or Master's students 
• Postdocs

If you are interested, please contact me via email.

Selected Research Grants

Phonological properties of hand shapes in home signs used by deaf children in hearing family (ESRC, 2011-2012)

Infant word learning investigated through the habituation technique (BBSRC Research Development Fellowship, 2009-2012)

Impact of mimicry of communicative gestures on pro-social behaviours (British Academy, 2009-2010)

Individual differences in the production of speech-accompanying gestures (ESRC, 2009-2011)

Hand preference for spontaneous representational gestures during metaphoric speech (British Academy, 2006)

Verb learning and the use of syntactic cues: evidence from an argument drop (ESRC, 2005-2009)

Integration of speech and gesture: Neurophysiological investigation (BBSRC, 2003-2008)

A cross-linguistic developmental study of spatial thinking and speaking: What do spontaneous gesture reveal? (NSF, 2000-2003)

• NSF funded Spatial Intelligence and Learning Center (Member of their Spatial Network)
• I lead the Gesture Project at Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics between 1993-2003. (See The Nijmegen Gesture Centre)
• President for the International Society for Gesture Studies
• Advisor for the society for Japanese academic and research staff, visitors and postgraduate students at the University

Five representative publications

Senghas, A., Kita, S., & Özyürek, A. (2004). Children creating core properties of language: Evidence from an emerging sign language in Nicaragua. Science, 305(5697), 1779-1782. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1100199

Chu, M., & Kita, S. (2011). The nature of gestures' beneficial role in spatial problem solving. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 140(1), 102-115. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0021790

Kita, S., & Özyürek, A. (2003). What does cross-linguistic variation in semantic coordination of speech and gesture reveal?: Evidence for an interface representation of spatial thinking and speaking. Journal of Memory and Language, 48, 16-32.http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0749-596X(02)00505-3

Özyürek, A., Willems, R. M., Kita, S., & Hagoort, P. (2007). On-line integration of semantic information from speech and gesture: Insights from even-related brain potentials. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 19, 605-616.http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/jocn.2007.19.4.605

Imai, M., Kita, S., Nagumo, M., & Okada, H. (2008). Sound symbolism between a word and an action facilitates early verb learning. Cognition, 109(1), 54-65. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2008.07.015

Books

Kita, S. (Ed.) (2003). Pointing: where language, culture, and cognition meet. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Saito, H., & Kita, S. (Eds.) (2002). Jesuchaa, kooi, imi [Gesture, action, meaning]. Tokyo: Kyooritsu Shuppan.

Kita, S. (2002). Jesuchaa: kangaeru karada [Gesture: the body that thinks]. Tokyo: Kaneko Shobo.

Peer-reviewed Journal Articles

So, W. C., Kita, S., & Goldin-Meadow, S. (2013). When do speakers point? The role of language proficiency in semantic relation between pointing gestures and speech. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research. doi: 10.1007/s10936-012-9230-6.

Matsuo, A., Kita, S., Shinya, Y., Wood, G. C., & Naigles, L. (2012). Japanese two-year-olds use morphosyntax to learn novel verb meanings. Journal of Child Language, 39(3), 637-663. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0305000911000213

Alibali, M. W., Spencer, R. C., Knox, L., & Kita, S. (2011). Spontaneous Gestures Influence Strategy Choices in Problem Solving. Psychological Science, 22(9), 1138-1144. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0956797611417722

Cocks, N., Morgan, G., & Kita, S. (2011). Iconic gesture and speech integration in younger and older adults. Gesture, 11(1), 24-39. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/gest.11.1.02coc

Chu, M., & Kita, S. (2011). The nature of gestures' beneficial role in spatial problem solving. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 140(1), 102-115. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0021790

Kantartzis, K., Mutsumi, I., & Kita, S. (2011). Japanese sound symbolism facilitates word learning in English speaking children. Cognitive Science, 35(3), 575-586. http://dx.do.org/10.1111/j.1551-6709.2010.01169.x

Habets, B., Kita, S., Shao, Z., Özyürek, A., & Hagoort, P. (2011). The role of synchrony and ambiguity in speech-gesture integration during comprehension. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 23(8), 1845-1854. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/jocn.2010.21462

Alibali, M. W., & Kita, S. (2010). Gesture highlights perceptually present information for speakers. Gesture, 10(1), 3-28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/gest.10.1.02ali 

Gullberg, M. & Kita, S. (2009). Modulating addressees’ attention to speech-accompanying gestures: Eye movements and information uptake. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 33(4), 251-277. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10919-009-0073-2

Kita, S., & Davies, T. S. (2009). Competing conceptual representations trigger co-speech representational gestures. Language and Cognitive Processes, 24(5), 761-775.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01690960802327971

Cocks, N., Sautin, L., Kita, S., Morgan, G., & Zlotowitz, S. (2009). Gesture and speech integration: an exploratory study of a case of a man with aphasia. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 44(5), 795-804.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13682820802256965 

Kita, S. (2009). Cross-cultural variation of speech-accompanying gesture: A review. Language and Cognitive Processes, 24(2), 145-167.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01690960802586188

So, W. C., Kita, S., & Goldin-Meadow, S. (2009). Using the hands to keep track of who does what to whom: Gesture and speech go hand-in-hand. Cognitive Science, 33, 115-125.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1551-6709.2008.01006.x 

Chu, M., & Kita, S. (2008). Spontaneous gestures during mental rotation tasks: Insights into the microdevelopment of the motor strategy. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 137(4), 706-723.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0013157 

Imai, M., Kita, S., Nagumo, M., & Okada, H. (2008). Sound symbolism between a word and an action facilitates early verb learning. Cognition, 109(1), 54-65.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2008.07.015 

Seyfeddinipur, M., Kita, S., & Indefrey, P. (2008). How speakers interrupt themselves in managing problems in speaking: Evidence from self-repairs. Cognition, 108(3), 837-842.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2008.05.004

Özyürek, A., Kita, S., Allen, S., Brown, A., Furman, R., & Ishizuka, T. (2008). Development of cross-linguistic variation in speech and gesture: Motion events in English and Turkish. Developmental Psychology, 44(4), 1040-1054.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.44.4.1040 

Kita, S., & Lausberg, H. (2008). Speech-gesture discoordination in split brain patients' left-hand gestures: Evidence for right-hemispheric generation of co-speech gestures. Cortex, 44(2), 131-139.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2006.04.001

Kita, S., Özyürek, A., Allen, S., Brown, A., Furman, R., & Ishizuka, T. (2007). Relations between syntactic encoding and co-speech gestures: Implications for a model of speech and gesture production. Language and Cognitive Processes, 22(8), 1212-1236.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01690960701461426 

Enfield, N. J., Kita, S., & de Ruiter, J. P. (2007). Primary and secondary pragmatic functions of pointing gestures. Journal of Pragmatics 39(10), 1722-1741.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2007.03.001 

Kita, S., & Ide, S. (2007). Nodding, aizuchi, and final particles in Japanese conversation: How conversation reflects the ideology of communication and social relationships. Journal of Pragmatics, 39(7), 1242-1254.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2007.02.009 

Bohnemeyer, J., Enfield, N., Essegbey, J., Ibarretxe-Antuñano, I. Kita, S., Lüpke, F., & Ameka, F. K. (2007). Principles of event segmentation in language: The case of motion events. Language, 83, 495-532. 

Kita, S., de Condappa, O., & Mohr, C. (2007). Metaphor explanation attenuates the right-hand preference for depictive co-speech gestures that imitate actions. Brain and Language, 101, 185-197.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2006.11.006 

Özyürek, A., Willems, R. M., Kita, S., & Hagoort, P. (2007). On-line integration of semantic information from speech and gesture: Insights from even-related brain potentials. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 19, 605-616. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/jocn.2007.19.4.605

Melinger, A., & Kita, S. (2007). Conceptualization load triggers gesture production. Language and Cognitive Processes, 22(4), 473-500.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01690960600696916 

Hostetter, A. B., Alibali, W. M., & Kita, S. (2007). I see it in my hand's eye: Representational gestures are sensitive to conceptual demands. Language and Cognitive Processes, 22(3), 313-336.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01690960600632812 

Allen, S., Özyürek, A., Kita, S., Brown, A., Furman, R., Ishizuka, T., & Fujii M. (2007). How language specific is early syntactic packaging of Manner and Path? A comparison of English, Turkish, and Japanese. Cognition, 102, 16-48.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2005.12.006 

Vigliocco, G. & Kita, S (2006). Language-specific properties of the lexicon: Implications for learning and processing. Language and Cognitive Processes, 21(7-8), 790-816.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/016909600824070

Senghas, A., Özyürek, A., & Kita, S. (2005). Language emergence in vitro or in vivo? A reply to Russo and Volterra’s technical comment on children creating core properties of language. Science, 309 (5731), 56c.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1110901

Özyürek, A., Kita, S., Allen, S., Furman, R., & Brown, A. (2005). How does linguistic framing of events influence co-speech gestures? Insights from crosslinguistic variations and similarities. Gesture, 5(1), 215-237.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/gest.5.1.15ozy 

Senghas, A., Kita, S., & Özyürek, A. (2004). Children creating core properties of language: Evidence from an emerging sign language in Nicaragua. Science, 305(5697), 1779-1782.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1100199 

Majid, A., Bowerman, M., Kita, S., Haun, D. B. M., & Levinson, S. C. L. (2004). Can language restructure cognition? The case of space. TRENDS in Cognitive Sciences, 8, 108-114.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2004.01.003 

Kita, S., & Özyürek, A. (2003). What does cross-linguistic variation in semantic coordination of speech and gesture reveal?: Evidence for an interface representation of spatial thinking and speaking. Journal of Memory and Language, 48, 16-32.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0749-596X(02)00505-3 

Lausberg, H., & Kita, S. (2003). The content of the message influences the hand preference in co-speech gestures and in gesturing without speaking. Brain and Language, 86, 57-69.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0093-934X(02)00534-5 

Lausberg, H., Kita, S., Zaidel, E., & Ptito, A. (2003). Split-brain patients neglect left personal space during right-handed gestures. Neuropsychologia, 41, 1317-1329.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0028-3932(03)00047-2 

Lausberg, H., Cruz, R. F., Kita, S., Zaidel, E., & Ptito, A. (2003). Pantomime to visual presentation of objects: left hand dyspraxia in patients with complete callosotomy. Brain, 126, 343-360.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/brain/awg042 

Lausberg, H., & Kita, S. (2002). Dissociation of right and left hand gesture spaces in split-brain patients. Cortex, 38, 883-886.

Levinson, S.C., Kita, S., Haun, D. B. M., & Rasch, B. H. (2002). Re-turning the tables: Language affects spatial reasoning. Cognition, 84, 158-188.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0010-0277(02)00045-8

Kita, S. (2001). Semantic schism and interpretive integration in Japanese sentences with a mimetic: A reply to Tsujimura. Linguistics, 39, 419-436.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0010-0277(02)00045-8 

Kita, S., & Essegbey, J. (2001). Pointing left in Ghana: How a taboo on the use of the left hand influences gestural practice. Gesture, 1, 73-94.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/gest.1.1.06kit 

Kita, S. (2000). Hito wa naze jesuchaa o suru noka [why do people gesture?]. Ninchikagaku [Cognitive Studies], 7(1), 9-21.

Alibali, M. W., Kita, S., & Young, A. J. (2000). Gesture and the process of speech production: we think, therefore we gesture. Language and Cognitive Processes, 15, 593-613. 

Kita, S. (1999). Japanese Enter/Exit verbs without motion semantics. Studies in Language, 23, 317-340.

Pederson, E., Danziger, E., Wilkins, D., Levinson, S. C., Kita, S., & Senft, G. (1998). Semantic typology and spatial conceptualization. Language, 74, 557-589.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/417793 

Kita, S. (1997). Two-dimensional semantic analysis of Japanese mimetics. Linguistics, 35, 379-415.

Brugman, H., & Kita, S. (1995). Impact of digital video technology on transcription: a case of spontaneous gesture transcription. KODIKAS/CODE: Ars Semiotica, An international journal of semiotics, 18, 95-112.