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Culture & Psychology
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Geocentric Dead Reckoning in Sanskrit- and Hindi-Medium School Children

Ramesh C. Mishra

Banaras Hindu University, India, rcmishra_2000{at}yahoo.com

Sunita Singh

Banaras Hindu University, India, singhdimple1{at}yahoomail.com

Pierre R. Dasen

University of Geneva, pierre.dasen{at}unige.ch

A linguistic and cognitive process that has received scant attention in mainstream developmental psychology is the use of a geocentric frame of spatial reference, which amounts to using a large-scale orientation system (such as cardinal directions) in describing and encoding the location of objects on table space, inside a room. As part of a larger cross-cultural study of the development of this process, in India, Indonesia and Nepal, we present here a study on the possible implications of using a geocentric frame of reference in developing an accurate dead-reckoning skill. Children aged 11 to 15 years in two types of schools in Varanasi, India, who were known from a pretest to use a geocentric frame in language and cognition, were blindfolded, spun around and led blindfolded to a second room. A majority of them were able to keep track of cardinal directions despite these disorienting procedures. They were interviewed about the processes and sources of their skill.

Key Words: cross-cultural human development • geocentric dead reckoning • Hindu religious practices • orientation systems • Sanskrit schools • spatial language and cognition

Culture & Psychology, Vol. 15, No. 3, 386-408 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/1354067X09343330
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