Sotaro Kita Explained

is a professor in the Department of Psychology at The University of Warwick.^[1] Kita's work focuses on the psycholinguistic properties of gestures accompanying speech, relations between spatial language and cognition, language development, and sound symbolism.

Biography

Kita received his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1993, working in the lab of David McNeill.^[2] His dissertation focused on spontaneous gestures and Japanese mimetics.^[3] From 1993-2003 Kita led the Gesture Project at Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, one of the research foci of the MPI.^[4]

From 2017-2023, Kita has served as the editor of GESTURE (published by John Benjamins).^[5] Kita was president of the International Society for Gesture Studies from 2012–2014, and vice-president from 2010-2012.^[6]

Kita's research has been funded by the National Science Foundation,^[7] the Leverhulme Trust,^[8] 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
• 2006-2013 Reader at the School of Psychology in the University of Birmingham
• 2013–present Professor of Psychology of Language at University of Warwick

Books

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

Selected publications

• Chu . Mingyuan . Kita . Sotaro . The nature of gestures' beneficial role in spatial problem solving. . Journal of Experimental Psychology: General . 2011 . 140 . 1 . 102–116 . 10.1037/a0021790 . 21299319 . 11858/00-001M-0000-000F-83DC-4 . free .
• Imai . Mutsumi . Kita . Sotaro . Nagumo . Miho . Okada . Hiroyuki . Sound symbolism facilitates early verb learning . Cognition . October 2008 . 109 . 1 . 54–65 . 10.1016/j.cognition.2008.07.015 . 18835600 . 12490557 .
• Kita . Sotaro . Two-dimensional semantic analysis of Japanese mimetics . Ling . 1997 . 35 . 2 . 379–416 . 10.1515/ling.1997.35.2.379 . 144380452 .
• Kita . Sotaro . Özyürek . Asli . 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 . January 2003 . 48 . 1 . 16–32 . 10.1016/S0749-596X(02)00505-3 . 11858/00-001M-0000-0013-1ED2-4 . free .
• Mumford . Katherine H. . Kita . Sotaro . Children Use Gesture to Interpret Novel Verb Meanings . Child Development . May 2014 . 85 . 3 . 1181–1189 . 10.1111/cdev.12188 . 24266553 .
• Senghas . Ann . Kita . Sotaro . Özyürek . Asli . Children Creating Core Properties of Language: Evidence from an Emerging Sign Language in Nicaragua . Science . 17 September 2004 . 305 . 5691 . 1779–1782 . 10.1126/science.1100199 . 15375269 . 2004Sci...305.1779S . 11858/00-001M-0000-0013-1AEF-8 . 145088158 . free .

External links

• Sotaro Kita's Warwick University homepage
• Sotaro Kita publications indexed by Google Scholar

Notes and References

1. Web site: Sotaro Kita. 2021-07-21. warwick.ac.uk. en-GB.
2. Web site: McNeill Lab Friends.
3. . Kita . Sotaro . 1993 . Language and thought interface: A study of spontaneous gestures and Japanese mimetics .
4. Web site: Nijmegen Gesture Centre (NGC) - Home.
5. Web site: Kita. Sotaro. Gesture. 2021-07-21. GEST. English.
6. Web site: ISGS Executive Board.
7. Web site: NSF Award Search: Award # 0002117 - A Crosslinguistic Developmental Study of Spatial Thinking and Speaking. 2021-07-21. www.nsf.gov.
8. Web site: BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grants Awards 2020-21. 2021-07-21. The British Academy. en.