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Updated: Jul 12, 2025
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The Spatial Memory Game: Testing the Relationship Between Spatial Language, Object Knowledge, and Spatial Cognition
Published on: February 19, 2018
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Spatial communication systems across languages reflect universal action constraints
Kenny R Coventry1, Harmen B Gudde2,3,4, Holger Diessel5
1School of Psychology, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. k.coventry@uea.ac.uk.
Nature Human Behaviour
|October 31, 2023
Summary
Language and cognition are linked, especially in spatial communication. All 874 speakers across 29 languages use spatial demonstratives based on action-related constraints, revealing universal patterns in how we talk about space.
Area of Science:
- Linguistics
- Cognitive Science
- Psychology
Background:
- The relationship between language and cognition is debated, with spatial communication as a key area for investigating potential semantic universals.
- Understanding how non-linguistic constraints shape language is crucial for cognitive linguistics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the universality of spatial demonstrative usage across diverse languages.
- To determine if action-based constraints influence the selection of spatial demonstratives.
Main Methods:
- An experimental paradigm was employed to differentiate linguistic variation within and between languages.
- Data were collected from 874 speakers across 29 languages.
Main Results:
- Speakers universally use spatial demonstratives based on their ability to reach or act on an object.
- The addressee's position influences demonstrative choice in some languages.
- Cross-linguistic similarities and differences in spatial language are linked to universal action constraints.
Conclusions:
- Spatial language and cognition are shaped by universal constraints related to physical action.
- Action-based principles provide a framework for understanding cross-linguistic variation in spatial demonstratives.
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