Ling 640G: Cognitive Linguistics

In these cases, the thing being located is the trajector and the background it's located relative to is the landmark.

Languages have means to encode these different spatial frames of reference, but they differ in terms of which ones they use, and when they use them.

· English has all three frames of reference available, but uses absolute only for large distances

· Guugu Yimithirr uses only absolutive, even for short distances (table-top space)

But do differences in how languages structure space entail differences in how speakers of these languages reason, recall, and perceive the world?

This has been tested in a series of studies that take advantage of the fact that when you rotate in the world, absolute spatial relations remain the same, while relative ones differ.

· If spatial language affects spatial cognition, then speakers of predominantly relative languages (e.g. English, Dutch) should think of spatial arrangements as being "the same" when they retain the same relative arrangement

· Speakers of absolute languages should think of them as "the same" when absolute arrangement is held constant.

In a first experiment

· Subjects saw a picture, and then after a delay were rotated 180 degrees. They then saw 4 pictures, which showed the same image in four orientations.

· One of these had the same relative spatial arrangement, while another had the same absolute spatial arrangement.

· The dependent measure was how frequently speakers of Dutch (relative) versus Tzeltal (absolutive) picked the relative-consistent or the absolute-consistent image.

· This tested whether spatial recall was affected by language type.

The same study was then replicated with memory for path-motion and with spatial reasoning, with the same results.

Some critics have suggested that there might be other cultural factors that contribute to these results.

· Urban versus rural dwelling

· What "same" means

· Other?

But there's a pretty solid consensus that these other explanations are not viable.

What other different measures would you predict to find differences in, across speakers of these languages?

If even spatial recall and reasoning, one of our most basic cognitive capacities, can be influenced by language, then it's likely others are too.

(1) How do you feel about the pace of this course? Is it

Too slow?	Too fast?	About right?
1	0	14

(2) Do you generally feel encouraged to ask questions? If so, what has encouraged you most? If not, what could I do to make it easier for you to participate in class?

Yes	Yes, but I'm shy
13	2

(3) Do you generally find the readings interesting, useful and easy to follow? What aspects of the readings, if any, are confusing or difficult?

Long	Difficult	Technical (especially statistics)	Good	Book would be good	Better than a book	Getting better
5	2	3	9	1	1	1

(4) When I return the homework, do you understand the comments and corrections that have been made? What kind of feedback has been the most useful? The least helpful?

Useful	Homework difficult	More detail	Your handwriting sucks
11	1	2	1

(5) Do you find my office hours convenient when you need to see me? If not, what hours would be more convenient?

Yes	N/A	No, more hours	No, but email's fine
10	1	1	1

(6) How is the grading working out for you? Do you find it too lenient? Too easy? Fair? Unfair?

Fair	Fair but hard	If I pass it's fair	Too lenient
10	1	1	1

(7) What is the single thing that could be done to most improve this class during the rest of the semester?

Fine as is	New teacher	Extra credit	Don't know	More examples from other languages	Broader participation	A book	Easier or more assignments
4	1	1	1	1