Development of Geocentric Spatial Language and Cognition: An Eco-cultural Perspective

by Pierre R. Dasen, Ramesh C. Mishra

Overview

Egocentric spatial language uses coordinates in relation to our body to talk about small-scale space (‘put the knife on the right of the plate and the fork on the left'), while geocentric spatial language uses geographic coordinates (‘put the knife to the east, and the fork to the west'). How do children learn to use geocentric language? And why do geocentric spatial references sound strange in English when they are standard practice in other languages? This book studies child development in Bali, India, Nepal, and Switzerland and explores how children learn to use a geocentric frame both when speaking and performing non-verbal cognitive tasks (such as remembering locations and directions). The authors examine how these skills develop with age, look at the socio-cultural contexts in which the learning takes place, and explore the ecological, cultural, social, and linguistic conditions that favour the use of a geocentric frame of reference.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521191050
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	08/12/2010
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Cognitive and Perceptual Development , #12
Pages:	408
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Pierre R. Dasen is Professor Emeritus of anthropology of education and cross-cultural psychology at the University of Geneva. He is the co-author (with J. Berry, Y. Poortinga and M. Segall) of two widely circulated textbooks of cross-cultural psychology. His field of expertise is cross-cultural developmental psychology, and particularly culture and cognition. He has been a research assistant to J. Piaget at the University of Geneva, where he has been teaching for twenty years; he has also been associated with the Australian National University, the Université de Montréal, the University of Nairobi, and the Universities of Nice, Fribourg, Lyon II and EHESS in Paris. He has carried out research in Australia, Canada, the Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya and Papua New Guinea, in addition to the research in Indonesia, India and Nepal reported in this volume. P. Dasen has been influential in founding the Association pour la Recherche Interculturelle (ARIC), a Francophone association for cross-cultural research. He is also an honorary member of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP) and a past or current member of many other professional associations.

Ramesh C. Mishra is Professor in the Department of Psychology at the Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. His principal interest is in cultural influences on human development, and he has contributed numerous articles to professional journals, both in India and abroad, in the fields of cognition, acculturation, schooling, and cross-cultural studies.

Table of Contents

Part I. Introduction and Methods: 1. Theory and research questions; 2. Methods; 3. Settings; Part II. Results: 4. Pilot study in Bali and first study (India and Nepal, 1999–2000); 5. Returning to Bali: main study 2002–7; 6. Varanasi; 7. Kathmandu; 8. Panditpur; 9. Geneva; Part III. Additional Studies: 10. Spatial language addressed to children; 11. Geocentric gestures before language?; 12. Spatial organization schemes; 13. Neurophysiological correlates of geocentric space; 14. Geocentric dead reckoning; Part IV. Conclusions: 15. Discussion and conclusions; Appendix 1. Summary of instructions, questionnaires, and coding schemes; Appendix 2. Examples of language in each location; Appendix 3. Extracts from school manuals.

Editorial Reviews

"A remarkable illustration of how research can integrate concepts, methods and findings from cognitive and developmental psychology, as well as from cultural anthropology and linguistics, to explain the development and use of spatial frames of reference in a number of cultures."
—John W. Berry, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, Queen's University, Canada


"A wonderful contribution to the literature on child development in relation to language and culture."
—Penelope Brown, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics


"Dasen and Mishra invite us to revisit the concept of spatial knowledge from a radically decentered perspective. From Bali through India to Nepal, they treat us to a fascinating journey into a variety of cultures. This book offers a richly documented, refreshing alternative to the Western view of human spatial cognition and language."
—Michel Denis, LIMSI-CNRS, National Center for Scientific Research, Orsay, France

From the Publisher