Abstract

ALONQUEO BOUDON, Paula  and  SILVA CID, Elena. Cultural differences in the use of frame spatial reference: The Case of the Mapuche Indigenous Children. Univ. Psychol. [online]. 2012, vol.11, n.3, pp.839-852. ISSN 1657-9267.

Cross-cultural research has showed diversity in the development of spatial cognition questioning the predominance of relative frame of spatial reference and the egocentric point of view in children's representations (Dasen & Mishra, 2010). We examined the use of frames of spatial reference in Mapuche and Chileans children from Region VIII and IX of Chile. Two hundred ten children from low socioeconomic school participated in this study, 102 children were of rural origin and 58 students were of urban origin. They responded to spatial memory task to evaluate the predominance of relative or absolute frame of reference. Although the Mapuche and Chileans children used both frames of reference, in the Mapuche children the absolute frame of reference was predominant. The impacts of culture on the development of spatial cognition are discussed.

Keywords : Cultural differences; frames of spatial references; cognitive development; Transcultural research; development psychology; cognitive psychology; Mapuche; Chile.

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