It is well established that observing and producing gesture by a learner can enhance comprehension of verbal messages, including narratives. What is less well understood, however, is under which conditions gestures benefit comprehension most. This study examined the role of gesture observation and production in adult narrative comprehension, through investigating whether gesture production moderates the effect of gesture observation. Crucially, observing typical gestures, but not atypical gestures, significantly benefited narrative comprehension. Furthermore, no significant benefit of producing gestures was found, and there was no evidence that gesture production moderated the differential effects of observing typical and atypical gestures on narrative comprehension. Overall, the current study not only provides evidence that iconic gestures can benefit adult narrative comprehension, but also highlights under which conditions gestures are likely to be of benefit.

众所周知，学习者观察和产生手势可以增强对口头信息（包括叙述）的理解。然而，人们很少了解在什么情况下手势最有助于理解。这项研究通过调查手势产生是否减轻了手势观察的效果，研究了手势观察和产生在成人叙事理解中的作用。至关重要的是，观察典型的手势而不是非典型的手势，极大地有利于叙事理解。此外，没有发现产生手势的显着好处，也没有证据表明手势产生可以缓解观察典型和非典型手势对叙事理解的不同影响。总体，