Language, Culture and Spatial Cognition: Bringing anthropology to the table

Authors

Norbert Ross, Vanderbilt University
Jeffrey T. Shenton, Vanderbilt University
Werner Hertzog, Vanderbilt University
Mike Kohut, Vanderbilt University

Keywords

Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis, Culture, Language and Cognition, Language and Spatial Cognition

Abstract

Languages vary in their semantic partitioning of the world. This has led to speculation that language might shape basic cognitive processes. Spatial cognition has been an area of research in which linguistic relativity – the effect of language on thought – has both been proposed and rejected. Prior studies have been inconclusive, lacking experimental rigor or appropriate research design. Lacking detailed ethnographic knowledge as well as failing to pay attention to intralanguage variations, these studies often fall short of defining an appropriate concept of language, culture, and cognition. Our study constitutes the first research exploring (1) individuals speaking different languages yet living (for generations) in the same immediate environment and (2) systematic intralanguage variation. Results show that language does not shape spatial cognition and plays at best the secondary role of foregrounding alternative possibilities for encoding spatial arrangements.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Ross, Norbert; Shenton, Jeffrey T.; Hertzog, Werner; and Kohut, Mike (2015) "Language, Culture and Spatial Cognition: Bringing anthropology to the table," Baltic International Yearbook of Cognition, Logic and Communication: Vol. 10. https://doi.org/10.4148/1944-3676.1100

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Erratum

14.05.2016 An earlier file version of this article was attributed to Volume 9 of the Baltic International Yearbook of Cognition, Logic and Communication. This error has now been corrected and the file reflects the correct publication date, December 2015, Volume 10. The contents of the article remain unchanged.