is a Japanese psycholinguist. He is a professor in the Department of Psychology at The

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

. His work focuses on the

psycholinguistic Psycholinguistics or psychology of language is the study of the interrelation between linguistic factors and psychological aspects. The discipline is mainly concerned with the mechanisms by which language is processed and represented in the mind ...

properties of

gesture A gesture is a form of nonverbal communication or non-vocal communication in which visible bodily actions communicate particular messages, either in place of, or in conjunction with, speech. Gestures include movement of the hands, face, or othe ...

s accompanying speech, relations between spatial language and cognition,

language development Language development in humans is a process which starts early in life. Infants start without knowing a language, yet by 10 months, babies can distinguish speech sounds and engage in babbling. Some research has shown that the earliest learning b ...

, and

sound symbolism In linguistics, sound symbolism is the perceptual similarity between speech sounds and concept meanings. It is a form of linguistic iconicity. For example, the English word ''ding'' may sound similar to the actual sound of a bell. Linguistic ...

Education and career

Kita received his PhD from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

in 1993, working in the lab of

David McNeill Glenn David McNeill (born 1933 in California, United States) is an American psychologist and writer specializing in scientific research into psycholinguistics and especially the relationship of language to thought, and the gestures that accom ...

. His dissertation focused on spontaneous gestures and Japanese mimetics. From 1993 to 2003, Kita led the Gesture Project at

Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics The Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics (German: ''Max-Planck-Institut für Psycholinguistik''; Dutch: ''Max Planck Instituut voor Psycholinguïstiek'') is a research institute located on the campus of Radboud University Nijmegen in Nijm ...

, one of the research foci of the MPI. From 2017 to 2023, Kita has served as the editor of ''GESTURE'' (published by

John Benjamins John Benjamins Publishing Company is an independent academic publisher in social sciences and humanities with its head office in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The company was founded in the 1960s by John and Claire Benjamins and is currently managed ...

). Kita was president of the International Society for Gesture Studies from 2012 to 2014, and vice-president from 2010 to 2012. Kita's research has been funded by the

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

, the

Leverhulme Trust The Leverhulme Trust () is a large national grant-making organisation in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1925 under the will of the 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), with the instruction that its resources should be used to cover ...

, and other agencies.

Appointments

* 1993-2003 Led the Gesture Project at Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics * 1993-1994 Postdoctoral Researcher at Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics * 1994-2003 Senior Researcher at Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics * 2003-2006 Senior Lecturer at the Dept. of Experimental Psychology in the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

* 2006-2013 Reader at the School of Psychology in the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

* 2013–present Professor of Psychology of Language at University of Warwick

Books

* Kita, S. (2002). ''Jesuchaa: kangaeru karada esture: the body that thinks'' Kaneko Shobo. *Kita, S. (Ed.) (2003). ''Pointing: Where language, culture, and cognition meet''. Psychology Press

Selected publications

* * * * * *

External links

Sotaro Kita's Warwick University homepageSotaro Kita
publications indexed by

Google Scholar Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of Academic publishing, scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines. Released in Beta release, beta in November 2004, th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kita, Sotaro Linguists from Japan University of Chicago alumni Psycholinguistics Psycholinguists 1963 births Living people Date of birth missing (living people)