Alternative spin on phylogenetically inherited spatial reference frames

Li, Peggy; Abarbanell, Linda

doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2019.05.020

Cited by 9 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…This pattern suggests an important boundary condition on FoR use in gesture and perhaps on memory more generally. Indeed, several earlier studies-in different populations, using different noncommunicative tasks-have reported congruent patterns (Brown & Levinson, 1993;Li & Abarbanell, 2019;Shapero, 2017). Why would this be the case?…”

Section: Spatial Frames Of Reference In Gesture Language and Thoughtmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…In the present case, such scaffolding may include the acquisition and mastery of lexical items for "right" and "left," as well as literacy and related practices. Recent developmental work fits this "cultural override" picture, showing, for instance, that young English-speaking children interpret new spatial words as having allocentric meanings, despite belonging to a community of speakers that overwhelmingly favors the egocentric FoR (Shusterman & Li, 2016; but see also Li & Abarbanell, 2019). Thus, egocentric and allocentric FoR vocabulary may function differently: Mastering egocentric words may crystallize and promote a strategy that is initially dispreferred, whereas mastering allocentric words may serve merely to put a label on a prepotent preference.…”

Section: Spatial Frames Of Reference In Gesture Language and Thoughtmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Evidence from language acquisition supports this idea: Children learn words for "front" and "back" long before they learn terms for "left" and "right," even in communities where "left" and "right" are privileged by adults (reviewed in Shusterman & Li, 2016). A related possibility is that motion away or toward the body invites a so-called deictic or body-anchored interpretation, both when making sense of an ambiguous scenario (Li & Abarbanell, 2019) or, as in the current study, when describing a past experience. More generally, our results build on prior work showing that aspects of an event can shape how it is subsequently depicted in gesture (e.g., from the viewpoint of an outside observer or that of an embedded character; Parrill, 2010).…”

Section: Spatial Frames Of Reference In Gesture Language and Thoughtmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, some bilinguals remain dominant in one of their languages, while others—balanced bilinguals—flexibly use different languages in different settings (e.g., Grosjean, 2010). Of course, nonlinguistic factors might also matter for the choice of FoR in gesture (Li & Abarbanell, 2019; Shapero, 2017). Indeed, Haviland (1993) noted that not all Guugu Yimithirr gestures were oriented allocentrically, raising the question of which specific nonlinguistic factors might drive the use of one FoR over another.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Space in Hand and Mind: Gesture and Spatial Frames of Reference in Bilingual Mexico

Marghetis

McComsey

Cooperrider³

2020

Cognitive Science

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Speakers of many languages prefer allocentric frames of reference (FoRs) when talking about small‐scale space, using words like “east” or “downhill.” Ethnographic work has suggested that this preference is also reflected in how such speakers gesture. Here, we investigate this possibility with a field experiment in Juchitán, Mexico. In Juchitán, a preferentially allocentric language (Isthmus Zapotec) coexists with a preferentially egocentric one (Spanish). Using a novel task, we elicited spontaneous co‐speech gestures about small‐scale motion events (e.g., toppling blocks) in Zapotec‐dominant speakers and in balanced Zapotec‐Spanish bilinguals. Consistent with prior claims, speakers’ spontaneous gestures reliably reflected either an egocentric or allocentric FoR. The use of the egocentric FoR was predicted—not by speakers’ dominant language or the language they used in the task—but by mastery of words for “right” and “left,” as well as by properties of the event they were describing. Additionally, use of the egocentric FoR in gesture predicted its use in a separate nonlinguistic memory task, suggesting a cohesive cognitive style. Our results show that the use of spatial FoRs in gesture is pervasive, systematic, and shaped by several factors. Spatial gestures, like other forms of spatial conceptualization, are thus best understood within broader ecologies of communication and cognition.

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Section: Spatial Frames Of Reference In Gesture Language and Thoughtmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Spatial Frames Of Reference In Gesture Language and Thoughtmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Spatial Frames Of Reference In Gesture Language and Thoughtmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Space in Hand and Mind: Gesture and Spatial Frames of Reference in Bilingual Mexico

Marghetis

McComsey

Cooperrider³

2020

Cognitive Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For example, some bilinguals remain dominant in one of their languages, while others-balanced bilinguals-flexibly use different languages in different settings (e.g., Grosjean, 2010). Of course, non-linguistic factors might also matter for the choice of FoR in gesture (Li & Abarbanell, 2019;Shapero, 2017). Indeed, Haviland (1993) noted that not all Guugu Yimithirr gestures were oriented allocentrically, raising the question of which specific non-linguistic factors might drive the use of one FoR over another.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Space in hand and mind: Gesture and spatial frames of reference in bilingual Mexico

Marghetis¹,

McComsey²,

Cooperrider³

2020

Preprint

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Speakers of many languages prefer allocentric frames of reference (FoR) when talking about small-scale space, using words like ‘east’ or ‘downhill.’ Past ethnographic work suggested that this preference is also reflected in how such speakers gesture. Here, we investigate this possibility with a field experiment in Juchitán, Mexico. In Juchitán, a preferentially allocentric language (Isthmus Zapotec) co-exists with a preferentially egocentric one (Spanish). Using a novel task, we elicited spontaneous co-speech gestures about small-scale motion events (e.g., toppling blocks) in Zapotec-dominant speakers and in balanced Zapotec-Spanish bilinguals. Consistent with prior claims, speakers’ spontaneous gestures reliably reflected either an egocentric or allocentric FoR. The use of the egocentric FoR was predicted—not by speakers’ dominant language or the language they used in the task—but by mastery of the words for ‘right’ and ‘left,’ as well as by properties of the event they were describing. Additionally, use of the egocentric FoR in gesture predicted its use in a separate non-linguistic memory task, suggesting a cohesive cognitive style. Our results show that the use of spatial FoR in gesture is pervasive, systematic, and shaped by several factors. How people conceptualize space, we argue, is best understood within broader ecologies of spatial communication and cognition.

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Cardinal direction judgment based on the integration of spatial reference frames in different languages

Xu,

Ya,

Zhang

et al. 2023

FOL

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This study investigates how integrated egocentric and environmental reference frames influence direction determination and cardinal direction judgments in L1 speakers of Mongolian and Mandarin. The results show that in direction determination, Mandarin participants’ integrated frame of reference is “front-north, back-south, left-west, and right-east.” By contrast, Mongolian participants use two modes of integrated spatial representation: “front-south, back-north, left-east, and right-west” and “front-north, back-south, left-west, and right-east”. This behavior points to influences from the participants’ dominant and non-dominant languages. Mongolian and Mandarin participants showed a north advantage in cardinal direction judgment tasks with a “front-north” response configuration. Whereas Mandarin participants consistently showed a north advantage effect, Mongolian participants showed a south advantage effect in the “front-south” configuration. This suggests that in addition to the long-recognized difference in north-south/east-west axis preference, a north-south axis specification where south was the normative direction instead of north can result from cultural and linguistic influence. The results corroborate the idea that language affects the integration of spatial reference frames, lending support to linguistic relativism.

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Alternative spin on phylogenetically inherited spatial reference frames

Cited by 9 publications

References 51 publications

Space in Hand and Mind: Gesture and Spatial Frames of Reference in Bilingual Mexico

Space in Hand and Mind: Gesture and Spatial Frames of Reference in Bilingual Mexico

Space in hand and mind: Gesture and spatial frames of reference in bilingual Mexico

Cardinal direction judgment based on the integration of spatial reference frames in different languages

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