is a professor in the Department of Psychology at The

University of Warwick , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (202 ...

. Kita's 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 non-verbal 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 o ...

s accompanying speech, relations between spatial language and cognition,

language development Language development in humans is a process starting 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 begi ...

, and

sound symbolism In linguistics, sound symbolism is the resemblance between sound and meaning. It is a form of linguistic iconicity. For example, the English word ''ding'' may sound similar to the actual sound of a bell. Linguistic sound may be perceived as simi ...

Biography

Kita received his PhD from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of 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 Mimesis (; grc, μίμησις, ''mīmēsis'') is a term used in literary criticism and philosophy that carries a wide range of meanings, including ''imitatio'', imitation, nonsensuous similarity, receptivity, representation, mimicry, the act ...

. From 1993-2003 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 situated on the campus of Radboud University Nijmegen located ...

, one of the research foci of the MPI. From 2017-2023, 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 International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

from 2012–2014, and vice-president from 2010-2012. Kita's research has been funded by the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

, the

Leverhulme Trust The Leverhulme Trust () is a large national grant-making organisation in the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the n ...

, 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 Red brick university, red brick Russell Group research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Society of Merchant Venturers, Merchant Venturers' sc ...

* 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 located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...

* 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

* Chu, M., & Kita, S. (2011). The nature of gestures' beneficial role in spatial problem solving. ''Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 140(1''), 102-115. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0021790 * 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. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2008.07.015 * Kita, S. (1997). Two-dimensional semantic analysis of Japanese mimetics. ''Linguistics'', ''35'', 379-415. https://doi.org/10.1515/ling.1997.35.2.379 *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. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0749-596X(02)00505-3 *Mumford, K. H., & Kita, S. (2014). Children Use Gesture to Interpret Novel Verb Meanings. ''Child Development, 85(3''), 1181-1189. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12188 *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. https://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1100199 Open Access Pre-Print: http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/66237/

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 scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines. Released in beta in November 2004, the Google Scholar index includes p ...

References

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