Identifying Gestures Expressing Mental States from the Perspective of Cognitive Science

Document Type : مقالات علمی پژوهشی

Authors
Ali Yousef Vatankhah 1
Mohammadreza Khaki 2
Vahid Nejati 3
Hojjatollah Farahani 4
1 Department of Acting and Directing, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran. ²Faculty Member, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran
2 Associate Professor, Department of Acting and Directing, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
3 Professor, Department of Psychology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
4 Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
10.48311/LRR.16.6.12
Abstract
Research on mental states, emotion, and motivation lies at the intersection of behavioral science and the cognitive study of human expression. Addressing the actor’s motivational and emotional questions during university-level training requires empirical and replicable data supported by validated experimental findings rather than anecdotal quotations from famous acting teachers. This study explores the body’s capacity to represent mental states, emotions, and nonverbal reactions to stimuli in human communication from the perspective of cognitive science.
Fifty professional theatre actors participated in an experiment designed to identify the bodily gestures that express specific mental states. Thirty target mental states—derived from Simon Baron-Cohen’s theory of mind paradigms—were induced in the actors, each of whom created corresponding body postures while wearing a neutral mask. Over 2,000 photographs were taken, and 321 observers (145 men and 176 women, aged 10–66) participated in an online recognition test. The gestures with the highest recognition scores were evaluated for reliability and validity using a newly developed “Body Reading Test” software.
The findings revealed that the human body is capable of transmitting identifiable mental states independent of facial cues. Thirty validated body postures were cataloged, demonstrating strong correlations with cognitive theory of mind tasks (Baron-Cohen et al., 2001). Female participants exhibited higher accuracy in recognizing bodily expressions than males. The study resulted in the first verified image bank of body gestures representing mental states among actors. These results support the embodied cognition perspective, highlighting the body’s role as a medium for encoding and decoding mental and emotional information
1. Introduction
Human beings are inherently social and spend most of their lives engaging with others. Successful communication depends on the ability to infer and express mental states such as intentions, desires, and emotions. In acting, this inferential capacity—commonly referred to as “theory of mind”—plays a fundamental role. The body, as an expressive medium, converts inner cognitive and affective states into perceivable gestures. Traditional actor-training schools often rely on subjective interpretations of body language; however, this study employs an evidence-based cognitive framework to investigate how bodily forms represent mental states in a systematic and reproducible way.
Research Question(s)
1. Can the human body express identifiable mental states without facial or verbal cues?
2. To what extent can observers accurately recognize those states from bodily gestures?
3. What are the implications of these findings for acting pedagogy and embodied cognition?
 
2. Literature Review
Cognitive science regards “theory of mind” as the ability to attribute mental states to oneself and others (Baron-Cohen et al., 2000). Previous studies have examined this capacity through the eyes, face, voice, and film stimuli (Baron-Cohen et al., 2001; Golan et al., 2007). However, there has been limited research on the body as a channel for mental-state expression. Studies in embodied cognition suggest that the body and mind operate as an integrated system (Nejati, 2014; Pouriliyaei, 2014). Within the field of theatre, the actor’s body is a communicative instrument capable of visualizing thoughts and emotions. The present study bridges these fields—cognitive science and performance studies—by empirically testing how bodily form can reveal mental content.
 
3. Methodology
A total of 50 theatre actors (25 men and 25 women) were photographed performing 30 induced mental states, following cognitive theory paradigms. Facial cues were neutralized using plain masks. Over 2,000 images were produced and digitally standardized (black and white, 50×50 cm, 300 dpi).
Subsequently, 321 participants (145 males, 176 females; aged 10–66) evaluated the images through a computer-based recognition task developed in SPSS 25 and custom “Body Reading Test” software. Participants rated the correspondence between each image and four possible mental-state descriptors on a nine-point Likert scale. Content validity was established using expert review (CVR > 0.8), and test–retest reliability was confirmed (r = 0.61, p < .05).




Number of Actors


50 (25 male, 25 female)




Number of Images Captured


~2,000




Number of Evaluators


321 (145 M, 176 F)




Age Range


10–66 years




Selected Valid Gestures


30




Test–retest Reliability


r = 0.61, p < .05




 
4. Results
Statistical analysis confirmed significant differences between the experimental and control groups (p < .001), indicating that participants could accurately identify mental states from bodily gestures alone. The thirty selected gestures corresponded to mental states such as Confident, Preoccupied, Indecisive, Fantasizing, Cautious, Defiant, Decisive, Playful, Accusing, Thoughtful, Pensive, and Friendly.
Gender analysis revealed that women performed better in recognizing gestures than men. No significant correlation was found between recognition accuracy and participants’ age groups. The study produced a validated image bank of 30 gestures suitable for future research and training applications in both psychology and performing arts.
 
5. Discussion and Conclusion
This research provides experimental evidence that the human body functions as a channel for expressing and decoding mental states, independent of the face or speech. The identified gestures demonstrate that bodily postures have semantic value and are universally interpretable within cultural boundaries. From a cognitive standpoint, these findings expand the concept of theory of mind by integrating embodied cognition, suggesting that mental representation is enacted through motor and postural systems.
In acting pedagogy, this study offers a scientific foundation for training methods that emphasize body awareness and physical expressiveness. The established gesture bank can serve as a resource for actor training, emotion recognition studies, and cross-disciplinary collaboration between cognitive science and theatre arts.

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Language Related Research
Volume 16, Issue 6 - Serial Number 90
January and February 2026
Pages 361-397