Description
Languages differ in how they describe space, and such differences between languages can be used to explore the relation between language and thought. This 2003 book shows that even in a core cognitive domain like spatial thinking, language influences how people think, memorize and reason about spatial relations and directions. After outlining a typology of spatial coordinate systems in language and cognition, it is shown that not all languages use all types, and that non-linguistic cognition mirrors the systems available in the local language. The book reports on collaborative, interdisciplinary research, involving anthropologists, linguists and psychologists, conducted in many languages and cultures around the world, which establishes this robust correlation. The overall results suggest that thinking in the cognitive sciences underestimates the transformative power of language on thinking. The book will be of interest to linguists, psychologists, anthropologists and philosophers, and especially to students of spatial cognition.
Chapter
CHAPTER 2 Frames of reference
2 .1 THE CONCEPT OF A SPATIAL FRAME OF REFERENCE
2.2 ‘FRAMES OF REFERENCE’ ACROSS MODALITIES AND THE DISCIPLINES THAT STUDY THEM
2.3 LINGUISTIC FRAMES OF REFERENCE IN CROSS-LINGUISTIC PERSPECTIVE
2.3.1 The three linguistic frames of reference
2.3.1.1 Intrinsic frame of reference
2.3.1.2 Relative frame of reference
2.3.1.3 Absolute frame of reference
2.3.2 The ‘logical structure’ of the three frames of reference
2.3.3 Realigning frames of reference across is disciplines and modalities
CHAPTER 3 Linguistic diversity
3 .1 AN OVERVIEW OF SPATIAL LANGUAGE
3.2 CONCEPTUAL DOMAINS UNDERLYING THE LANGUAGE OF SPACE
3.3 SOLUTIONS TO PLACE SPECIFICATION NOT INVOLVING FRAMES OF REFERENCE OR COORDINATE SYSTEMS
3.4 SOLUTIONS TO LOCATION DESCRIPTION UTILIZING FRAMES OF REFERENCE OR COORDINATE SYSTEMS
3.4.1 The vertical dimension
3.4.2 The horizontal plane
3.4.2.1 Intrinsic systems – towards a typologY
3.4.2.2 The relative frame of reference and its subtypes
3.4.2.3 The absolute frame of reference
3.4.3 The distribution of frames of reference in languages
3.6 THE GRAMMAR OF SPACE: PATTERNS OF LINGUISTIC CODING
CHAPTER 4 Absolute minds: glimpses into two cultures
4.1 GUUGU YIMITHIRR SPEAKERS OF HOPEVALE
4.1.1 Guugu Yimithirr communication about space
4.1.1.1 Guugu Yimithirr spatial description: the linguistic resources
4.1.1.2 The communicative use of cardinal direction information
4.1.2 The hypothesis of non-linguistic consequences
4.1.2.1 The essential prerequisite: orientation and mental maps
4.1.2.2 The non-linguistic coding of spatial scenes in memory and inference
4.2 TZELTAL SPEAKERS OF TENEJAPA
4.2.2 Informal investigations of Tenejapan ‘cognitive style’
4.2.3 Non-verbal memory and inference
4.2.3.1 Recall memory: the ‘animals’ task
4.2.3.2 Recognition memory: the ‘chips’ task
4.2.3.3 Motion-to-path transformation and recognition memory ‘Eric’s maze’ task
4.2.3.4 Transitive inference
4.2.3.5 Discussion of the Tenejapan experiments
CHAPTER 5 Diversity in mind: methods and results from a cross-linguistic sample
5 .1 LINGUISTIC INFLUENCES ON THINKING: TESTING THE HYPOTHESIS
5.2.1 Methodological preliminaries
5.2.2 The gradient of spatial orientation
5.2.2.1 Properties of the gradient measure
5.3 OVERALL TEST OF THE CODING DIFFERENCE HYPOTHESIS
5.3.1 Situation-specific typing: performance across matched linguistic and non-linguistic tasks
5.3.2 The cross-situation prediction: from linguistic coding tendency to non-verbal coding
5.3.3 Pairwise comparisons between samples
5.4 LINGUISTIC VS. ECOLOGICAL/CULTURAL DETERMINISM: DIFFERENT SUBSAMPLES FROM THE SAME REGION
5.4.1 Two Tamil-speaking populations
5.4.2 Central Australia: Arrernte and English seakers
5 .5 OTHER POSSIBLE DETERMINANTS OF NON-VERBAL CODING STRATEGY: GENDER, LITERACY AND CULTURAL CONSERVATISM
5.5.3 Age, schooling and conservatism: indices of cultural change
5.5.4 Summary of the effects of intra-sample variables
5.6 ANOTHER POSSIBLE CONFOUND? THE ‘BIG OUTDOORS’ AND THE RELEVANCE OF LANDMARKS
5.6.1 The 180-degree ‘absolute duck’ conditions
5 .7 A POSITIVE TEST OF LINGUISTIC DETERMINISM: THE CASE OF THE TZELTAL DEFECTIVE AXES
5.8 CORRELATION AND CAUSATION: CHICKEN OR EGG?
CHAPTER 6 Beyond language: frames of reference in wayfinding and pointing
6 .1 THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE IN EVERYDAY HUMAN NAVIGATION
6.1.1 The nature of wayfinding abilities
6.1.2 The fall from grace: why are we such bad wayfinders?
6.1.3 Linguistic representations and human navigation
6.1.4 Dead reckoning abilities in relative vs. absolute communities
6.1.4.1 Three ‘absolute’ communities
6.1.4.2 Two ‘relative’ communities
6.1.4.3 Conclusions to dead reckoning experiments
6.2 GESTURE DURING SPEAKING: ‘DEAD RECKONING’ ON THE FLY
6.2.1 The general picture from experiment and observation
6.2.2 Distinctive properties of absolute gesture systems
6.2.2.2 Gesture morphology in absolute vs. relative gesture systems
6.2.3 Absolute gesture as an interactive system
6.2.4 Summary: absolute vs. relative gesture systems
6.2.5 Deixis and absolute gestures
6.3 DIFFERENT KINDS OF MENTAL MAPS
6.4 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
CHAPTER 7 Language and thought
7.1 TURTLE ALL THE WAY DOWN: MEMES AND MIND
7.2 THE RELATION BETWEEN LINGUISTIC AND CONCEPTUAL CATEGORIES
7.4 THE ACQUISITION OF LINGUISTIC FRAMES OF REFERENCE BY CHILDREN
7.5 UNIVERSALS VS. CULTURAL SPECIALIZATIONS
7.6 INNATE IDEAS VS. CO-EVOLUTION AND BIASES: OR HOW WE LOST OUR MENTAL COMPASS
1 THE INTELLECTUAL BACK ROUND: TWO MILLENNIA OF WESTERN IDEAS ABOUT SPATIAL THINKING
4 ABSOLUTE MINDS: GLIMPSES INTO TWO CULTURES
5 DIVERSITY IN MIND: METHODS AND RESULTS FROM A CROSS-LINGUISTIC SAMPLE
6 BEYOND LANGUAGE: FRAMES OF REFERENCE IN WAYFINDING AND POINTING
Space in Language and Cognition
：Explorations in Cognitive Diversity
( Language Culture and Cognition )
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