Unraveling the Contribution of Left-right Language on Spatial Perspective Taking

Overview

Journal Spat Cogn Comput

Date 2021 Mar 26

PMID 33767577

Citations 4

Authors

Linda Abarbanell

Peggy Li

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

We examine whether acquiring left/right language affects children's ability to take a non-egocentric left-right perspective. In Experiment 1, we tested 10-13 year-old Tseltal (Mayan) and Spanish-speaking children from the same community on a task that required they retrieve a coin they previously seen hidden in one of four boxes to the left/right/front/back of a toy sheep after the entire array was rotated out of view. Their performance on the left/right boxes correlated positively with their comprehension and use of left-right language. In Experiment 2, we found that training Tseltal-speaking children to apply left-right lexical labels to represent the location of the coin improved performance, but improvement was more robust among a second group of children trained to use gestures instead.

Citing Articles

Gesture Reduces Mapping Difficulties in the Development of Spatial Language Depending on the Complexity of Spatial Relations.

Unal E, Kirbasoglu K, Karadoller D, Sumer B, Ozyurek A Cogn Sci. 2025; 49(2):e70046.

PMID: 39992958 PMC: 11849910. DOI: 10.1111/cogs.70046.

Different reference frames on different axes: Space and language in indigenous Amazonians.

Pitt B, Carstensen A, Boni I, Piantadosi S, Gibson E Sci Adv. 2022; 8(47):eabp9814.

PMID: 36427312 PMC: 9699666. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abp9814.

Children's use of egocentric reference frames in spatial language is related to their numerical magnitude understanding.

Lindner N, Moeller K, Hildebrandt F, Hasselhorn M, Lonnemann J Front Psychol. 2022; 13:943191.

PMID: 35936244 PMC: 9355684. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.943191.

Late sign language exposure does not modulate the relation between spatial language and spatial memory in deaf children and adults.

Karadoller D, Sumer B, Unal E, Ozyurek A Mem Cognit. 2022; 51(3):582-600.

PMID: 35301680 PMC: 9992020. DOI: 10.3758/s13421-022-01281-7.

Easier Said Than Done? Task Difficulty's Influence on Temporal Alignment, Semantic Similarity, and Complexity Matching Between Gestures and Speech.

De Jonge-Hoekstra L, Cox R, van der Steen S, Dixon J Cogn Sci. 2021; 45(6):e12989.

PMID: 34170013 PMC: 8365723. DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12989.

References

Goldin-Meadow S . Using our hands to change our minds. Wiley Interdiscip Rev Cogn Sci. 2016; 8(1-2). PMC: 5182093. DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1368. View

Miller H, Vlach H, Simmering V . Producing Spatial Words Is Not Enough: Understanding the Relation Between Language and Spatial Cognition. Child Dev. 2016; 88(6):1966-1982. PMC: 5422135. DOI: 10.1111/cdev.12664. View

So W, Shum P, Wong M . Gesture is more effective than spatial language in encoding spatial information. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove). 2015; 68(12):2384-401. DOI: 10.1080/17470218.2015.1015431. View

JOHNSTON J, Slobin D . The development of locative expressions in English, Italian, Serbo-Croatian and Turkish. J Child Lang. 1979; 6(3):529-45. DOI: 10.1017/s030500090000252x. View

Li P, Abarbanell L, Gleitman L, Papafragou A . Spatial reasoning in Tenejapan Mayans. Cognition. 2011; 120(1):33-53. PMC: 3095761. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2011.02.012. View

Li P, Abarbanell L . Competing perspectives on frames of reference in language and thought. Cognition. 2017; 170:9-24. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2017.09.005. View

Gallistel C . Language and spatial frames of reference in mind and brain. Trends Cogn Sci. 2002; 6(8):321-322. DOI: 10.1016/s1364-6613(02)01962-9. View

Spaepen E, Coppola M, Flaherty M, Spelke E, Goldin-Meadow S . Generating a lexicon without a language model: Do words for number count?. J Mem Lang. 2013; 69(4). PMC: 3811965. DOI: 10.1016/j.jml.2013.05.004. View

Goldin-Meadow S, Nusbaum H, Kelly S, Wagner S . Explaining math: gesturing lightens the load. Psychol Sci. 2002; 12(6):516-22. DOI: 10.1111/1467-9280.00395. View

10.

Haun D, Rapold C, Janzen G, Levinson S . Plasticity of human spatial cognition: spatial language and cognition covary across cultures. Cognition. 2011; 119(1):70-80. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2010.12.009. View

11.

Ehrlich S, Levine S, Goldin-Meadow S . The importance of gesture in children's spatial reasoning. Dev Psychol. 2006; 42(6):1259-68. DOI: 10.1037/0012-1649.42.6.1259. View

12.

Maki R, Grandy C, Hauge G . Why is telling right from left more difficult than telling above from below?. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform. 1979; 5(1):52-67. DOI: 10.1037//0096-1523.5.1.52. View

13.

Frank M, Everett D, Fedorenko E, Gibson E . Number as a cognitive technology: evidence from Pirahã language and cognition. Cognition. 2008; 108(3):819-24. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2008.04.007. View

14.

Alibali M . How children change their minds: strategy change can be gradual or abrupt. Dev Psychol. 1999; 35(1):127-45. DOI: 10.1037//0012-1649.35.1.127. View

15.

Ratliff K, Newcombe N . Reorienting when cues conflict: evidence for an adaptive-combination view. Psychol Sci. 2009; 19(12):1301-7. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02239.x. View

16.

Loewenstein J, Gentner D . Relational language and the development of relational mapping. Cogn Psychol. 2005; 50(4):315-53. DOI: 10.1016/j.cogpsych.2004.09.004. View

17.

Woodward A . Infants selectively encode the goal object of an actor's reach. Cognition. 1999; 69(1):1-34. DOI: 10.1016/s0010-0277(98)00058-4. View

18.

Rigal R . Right-left orientation: development of correct use of right and left terms. Percept Mot Skills. 1994; 79(3 Pt 1):1259-78. DOI: 10.2466/pms.1994.79.3.1259. View

19.

Rigal R . Right-left orientation, mental rotation, and perspective-taking: when can children imagine what people see from their own viewpoint?. Percept Mot Skills. 1996; 83(3 Pt 1):831-42. DOI: 10.2466/pms.1996.83.3.831. View

20.

Chu M, Kita S . Spontaneous gestures during mental rotation tasks: insights into the microdevelopment of the motor strategy. J Exp Psychol Gen. 2008; 137(4):706-23. DOI: 10.1037/a0013157. View