<p>This is a classic example of the analytic vs holistic perceptual systems, one of the cornerstone theories on cross-cultural cognition. For a good overview of this see <em><a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-9280.02432" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Perceiving an Object and Its Context in Different Cultures</a></em> by Kitayama et al. (2003) or you can start with the seminal piece <em><a href="http://www.iacmr.org/v2/Conferences/WS2011/Submission_XM/Participant/Readings/Lecture8A_JiaLin/Markus%20et%20al%20(1991)%20Culture%20and%20Self%20-%20Implications%20for%20Cognition%20Emotion%20and%20Motivation-8a.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Culture and the self</a></em> by Markus &amp; Kitayama (1991).</p>

<p>Essentially, due to differing cultural norms certain groups of people tend to favour a more holistic or analytic attentional style. The former puts equal or greater emphasis on contextual features/factors, while the latter emphasises specific or unique characteristics.</p>

<p>I.t.o. the current question, a holistic perceptual style is better able to take into account the contextual factor (rotation) when making decisions, while a analytic style does not and so can cause errors in judgement.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-14T15:07:11.547Z
Nice answer Gerard. It's nice to get some clarification on this question :)
Robin Kramer-ten Have
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-14T10:12:42.863Z
2017-02-14T10:49:01.697Z
2017-02-14T10:49:01.697Z
Gerard
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/1qA2p.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/1qA2p.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>We show western orientated people the picture above: A line which represents a trip from A to B.</p>

<p>Then we ask them to turn 90 degrees to the right and look at the image below:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/tlhQA.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/tlhQA.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>Most people who think in the western way (whatever that may be, but I think you know what I mean) answer to the question which of the two trips from A to B corresponds to the trip above that it's the upper line from A to B. In other words, they see as if the map has turned 90 degrees as well. </p>

<p>The same question was asked to people from non-western cultures (Hopi-people, Aboriginal people, Native Americans, you name it). They (almost) all said that the lower picture was correct. Instead of the entire map that turned, they perceived as if only they (or the letters) turned by 90 degrees. </p>

<p>Like Dennis Cousineau commented below, western people use maps and the north is always on top of our maps. Non-western cultures who don't use maps (like the Native Americans or the Hopi) arrive at the right answer maybe because they don't associate, while looking at maps, the north with the upper part of the picture. They directly put the second line piece in the second picture on the line piece of the first picture.</p>

<p>What could explain this difference in orientation? </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-04T17:48:48.267Z
Where do these pictures come from? Is there any source you can cite that shows that westerns make this mistake?
Robin Kramer-ten Have
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-04T20:11:25.000Z
"but I think you know what I mean", well no. Thinking is thinking and I bet that all the brains accomplish cognitive processes by the same means. Also, you say the participants must turn the first image 90 degrees, but the result has two arrows whereas the first image (the one turned) has only one arrow. Where does the second arrow comes from? Please clarify the procedure.
Denis Cousineau
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-05T14:59:55.100Z
@Denis Cousineau- After looking at the picture above, people had to choose between the arrows in the second picture (after letting them make clockwise turn of 90 degrees) which one corresponded to the arrow in the first picture, which is the arrow beneath. Try it with your friends, I think they all choose the upper one. The second picture is a new picture, not the first one rotated 90 degrees, though it is rotated 90 degrees (just like the people) with respect to the first picture,
Deschele Schilder
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-05T15:10:26.777Z
@Rob Kramer-I can remember reading about this experiment (I don't see why this isn't a reliable source), and I tried it with a lot of people. When I asked them to look (after they made a turn to the right of 90 degrees) at the picture below, they almost all said that the upper line piece was the same as the line piece in the picture above, which is obviously the wrong answer. Somehow, we take the representation of the world with us while making the right turn, which results in the mistaken answer. The experiment showed that most people like the Native Americans got the answer right.
Deschele Schilder
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-05T15:54:59.923Z
@descheleschilder The reason we (I) would like to hear the article you read this from is because I haven't heard of it, and it interests me, and I would like to know whether this is true. Regarding your remark "which is obviously false", your remark is not entirely true. It completely depends on your reference point. Two thing may have changed:  either the entire world (or the map) turned, making the upper picture correct (the relative position of "landmark A" to B is the same), or the letters (or person) turned 90°, making the lower one correct (relative position of "person A" to B).
Robin Kramer-ten Have
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-05T15:56:53.297Z
But I do understand what you are getting at, and I'm willing to believe there are cultural differences in spatial orientation/how we navigate. Would love to see the answer. I'll give you a plus one, but hope you are able to find the article. The more context you provide, the better the answer will be (and the more willing someone is to answer it).
Robin Kramer-ten Have
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-05T17:55:25.323Z
The above diagram is seen as a map where a marker is needed to indicate its absolute orientation. In your second stimuli, there is no marker, so people are trying to infer how that map must be positioned relative to the real world. In the absence of marker, the letters (who possess an orientation) are used to locate the "top" of the map; by convention, all maps possess the same "north". Hence, people literate with maps and latin letters will conclude that the top part of the second image is the adequate map reproducing the first one. No magic and no error here. Just too much education.
Denis Cousineau
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-05T18:33:58.080Z
@Robin Kramer-I'll try to retrieve the article, but I can't remember where I read it. On your comment that it can also be the world that has rotated (instead of us), in that case, you should rotate *both* pictures 90 degrees and the answer will still be that the second arrow (beneath) is the right answer. I think if you ask people which arrow in the second picture is the same one as the on the first picture if you turn both pictures (maps) 90 degrees around them, they give the right answer. Maybe it has to do with the representation of the map in your mind. I'll try to search the article!
Deschele Schilder
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-05T18:39:48.703Z
@Denis Cousineau-Who said I was talking about magic? I only think that the people who give the right answer are more intelligent in that respect, even with less education. It only shows that too much education doesn't make you more intelligent.
Deschele Schilder
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-07T02:04:06.880Z
@descheleschilder Just curious and would like to understand how one would arrive at a certain answer. When an observer is asked to turn right by 90 degrees, the result should be equivalent to what they'd see if they stood still and the page/pic was turned left by 90 degrees. In that case, the inclination of the angle in the first pic (approx. 60 degrees) would become 150 degrees. Doesn't it therefore mean that none of the two lines in the second pic *actually* correspond strictly to the *directions* in which A and B were? How do we define correspondence here please - direction or orientation?
Dhruv Saxena
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-07T08:34:14.290Z
@DhruvSaxena-Where does the angle of 60 degrees comes from? The angles of the arrows all have an angle of 45 degrees with respect to the paper. I think If you let stand people still you have to tell them that you are going to rotate *both* pictures around them, while if you let them turn around themselves, they the are not so much conscious (at least, western people) that the first picture is rotated too. They associate the top of the picture with the north (like Denis Cousineau pointed out) and think the left arrow is the same as in the picture above.
Deschele Schilder
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-07T11:03:01.130Z
@descheleschilder You're question has received quite some discussion. I do believe Denis disected it rather nicely about absolute and relative orientation. If you could rephrase your question so that that is more clear, I believe this may be a very interesting question. There are cultural differences in how we count (or subitize) and I believe there may be differences in how we navigate/orientate. No need to close the question thus, only a little extra clarification would be nice.
Robin Kramer-ten Have
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-15T01:43:11.203Z
I am concerned a little about the implied assumption in the question that there is a single "western way". Did you take into account diversity in western cultures? For example, French Canadians often think differently about a lot of things as compared to English-speaking inhabitants of North America but are clearly no less of a "Western" culture. Did you poll any Scandinavians? How about Bavarians? Rural fishermen in Maine? Valley Girls?
Robert Columbia
<perception><cross-cultural-psychology><spatial-cognition>
Why do western people's orientation/navigation differ from non-western cultures?
Deschele Schilder
# Why do western people's orientation/navigation differ from non-western cultures?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-02-04)

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/1qA2p.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/1qA2p.jpg)

We show western orientated people the picture above: A line which represents a trip from A to B.

Then we ask them to turn 90 degrees to the right and look at the image below:

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/tlhQA.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/tlhQA.jpg)

Most people who think in the western way (whatever that may be, but I think you know what I mean) answer to the question which of the two trips from A to B corresponds to the trip above that it's the upper line from A to B. In other words, they see as if the map has turned 90 degrees as well.

The same question was asked to people from non-western cultures (Hopi-people, Aboriginal people, Native Americans, you name it). They (almost) all said that the lower picture was correct. Instead of the entire map that turned, they perceived as if only they (or the letters) turned by 90 degrees.

Like Dennis Cousineau commented below, western people use maps and the north is always on top of our maps. Non-western cultures who don't use maps (like the Native Americans or the Hopi) arrive at the right answer maybe because they don't associate, while looking at maps, the north with the upper part of the picture. They directly put the second line piece in the second picture on the line piece of the first picture.

What could explain this difference in orientation?

**Tags:** perception, cross-cultural-psychology, spatial-cognition

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Where do these pictures come from? Is there any source you can cite that shows that westerns make this mistake?  
> **username_2**: "but I think you know what I mean", well no. Thinking is thinking and I bet that all the brains accomplish cognitive processes by the same means. Also, you say the participants must turn the first image 90 degrees, but the result has two arrows whereas the first image (the one turned) has only one arrow. Where does the second arrow comes from? Please clarify the procedure.  
> **username_0**: @username_2- After looking at the picture above, people had to choose between the arrows in the second picture (after letting them make clockwise turn of 90 degrees) which one corresponded to the arrow in the first picture, which is the arrow beneath. Try it with your friends, I think they all choose the upper one. The second picture is a new picture, not the first one rotated 90 degrees, though it is rotated 90 degrees (just like the people) with respect to the first picture,  
> **username_0**: @Rob Kramer-I can remember reading about this experiment (I don't see why this isn't a reliable source), and I tried it with a lot of people. When I asked them to look (after they made a turn to the right of 90 degrees) at the picture below, they almost all said that the upper line piece was the same as the line piece in the picture above, which is obviously the wrong answer. Somehow, we take the representation of the world with us while making the right turn, which results in the mistaken answer. The experiment showed that most people like the Native Americans got the answer right.  
> **username_1**: @descheleschilder The reason we (I) would like to hear the article you read this from is because I haven't heard of it, and it interests me, and I would like to know whether this is true. Regarding your remark "which is obviously false", your remark is not entirely true. It completely depends on your reference point. Two thing may have changed:  either the entire world (or the map) turned, making the upper picture correct (the relative position of "landmark A" to B is the same), or the letters (or person) turned 90°, making the lower one correct (relative position of "person A" to B).  
> **username_1**: But I do understand what you are getting at, and I'm willing to believe there are cultural differences in spatial orientation/how we navigate. Would love to see the answer. I'll give you a plus one, but hope you are able to find the article. The more context you provide, the better the answer will be (and the more willing someone is to answer it).  
> **username_2**: The above diagram is seen as a map where a marker is needed to indicate its absolute orientation. In your second stimuli, there is no marker, so people are trying to infer how that map must be positioned relative to the real world. In the absence of marker, the letters (who possess an orientation) are used to locate the "top" of the map; by convention, all maps possess the same "north". Hence, people literate with maps and latin letters will conclude that the top part of the second image is the adequate map reproducing the first one. No magic and no error here. Just too much education.  
> **username_0**: @Robin Kramer-I'll try to retrieve the article, but I can't remember where I read it. On your comment that it can also be the world that has rotated (instead of us), in that case, you should rotate *both* pictures 90 degrees and the answer will still be that the second arrow (beneath) is the right answer. I think if you ask people which arrow in the second picture is the same one as the on the first picture if you turn both pictures (maps) 90 degrees around them, they give the right answer. Maybe it has to do with the representation of the map in your mind. I'll try to search the article!  
> **username_0**: @username_2-Who said I was talking about magic? I only think that the people who give the right answer are more intelligent in that respect, even with less education. It only shows that too much education doesn't make you more intelligent.  
> **username_3**: @descheleschilder Just curious and would like to understand how one would arrive at a certain answer. When an observer is asked to turn right by 90 degrees, the result should be equivalent to what they'd see if they stood still and the page/pic was turned left by 90 degrees. In that case, the inclination of the angle in the first pic (approx. 60 degrees) would become 150 degrees. Doesn't it therefore mean that none of the two lines in the second pic *actually* correspond strictly to the *directions* in which A and B were? How do we define correspondence here please - direction or orientation?  
> **username_0**: @DhruvSaxena-Where does the angle of 60 degrees comes from? The angles of the arrows all have an angle of 45 degrees with respect to the paper. I think If you let stand people still you have to tell them that you are going to rotate *both* pictures around them, while if you let them turn around themselves, they the are not so much conscious (at least, western people) that the first picture is rotated too. They associate the top of the picture with the north (like username_2 pointed out) and think the left arrow is the same as in the picture above.  
> **username_1**: @descheleschilder You're question has received quite some discussion. I do believe Denis disected it rather nicely about absolute and relative orientation. If you could rephrase your question so that that is more clear, I believe this may be a very interesting question. There are cultural differences in how we count (or subitize) and I believe there may be differences in how we navigate/orientate. No need to close the question thus, only a little extra clarification would be nice.  
> **username_4**: I am concerned a little about the implied assumption in the question that there is a single "western way". Did you take into account diversity in western cultures? For example, French Canadians often think differently about a lot of things as compared to English-speaking inhabitants of North America but are clearly no less of a "Western" culture. Did you poll any Scandinavians? How about Bavarians? Rural fishermen in Maine? Valley Girls?  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2017-02-14. Score: 3

This is a classic example of the analytic vs holistic perceptual systems, one of the cornerstone theories on cross-cultural cognition. For a good overview of this see *[Perceiving an Object and Its Context in Different Cultures](http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-9280.02432)* by Kitayama et al. (2003) or you can start with the seminal piece *[Culture and the self](http://www.iacmr.org/v2/Conferences/WS2011/Submission_XM/Participant/Readings/Lecture8A_JiaLin/Markus%20et%20al%20(1991)%20Culture%20and%20Self%20-%20Implications%20for%20Cognition%20Emotion%20and%20Motivation-8a.pdf)* by Markus & Kitayama (1991).

Essentially, due to differing cultural norms certain groups of people tend to favour a more holistic or analytic attentional style. The former puts equal or greater emphasis on contextual features/factors, while the latter emphasises specific or unique characteristics.

I.t.o. the current question, a holistic perceptual style is better able to take into account the contextual factor (rotation) when making decisions, while a analytic style does not and so can cause errors in judgement.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Nice answer username_5. It's nice to get some clarification on this question :)  

---

