This shows people are not limited to using one reference frame at a time, even in the very same action. Instead, people across cultures may habitually use compound cognitive maps composed of multiple reference frames to represent the multidimensional spatial relations of their environment.

A group of US undergrads were more egocentric overall (more blue), but often made the same kind of hybrid responses: Egocentric on the front-back axis and allocentric on the left-right axis at the same time. One action, two reference frames.

Here’s a canoncal response. She finds an object in her far right cup, turns around, and places it in her far LEFT cup. This preserves the object’s EGOcentric position in front-back space (i.e. far, far) but preserves its ALLOcentric position in left-right space (e.g. window-side, window-side).

Here’s what they did. Some of their responses were fully egocentric (blue), and some were fully allocentric (pink), but most were mixed (purple), corresponding to an egocentric frame on one axis and an allocentric frame on the other axis in the very same action (i.e. placing an object in a cup).

In each trial, participants picked up an object from one of 16 cups laid out on the "study" table (in four groups of four), turned around 180 degrees to face an identical "test" table, and were asked to put the object in the corresponding cup.

We know from a past study that Tsimane’ switch reference frames depending on which spatial axis is relevant, lateral (left-right) or sagittal (front-back):
tinyurl.com/347h9b2y.

We addressed this question with the Tsimane’, an indigenous group of farmer-foragers living in the Bolivian Amazon.

But neuroscience says otherwise. All sorts of animals – including humans – integrate egocentric and allocentric spatial information all the time, to be able to navigate a complex 3D spatial world. So which is it? One-at-a-time or habitually integrated?

*Egocentric* coordinates are centered on the body (e.g. my left) and so turn with the observer. *Allocentric* coordinates are based on the environment (e.g. East-West, uphill-downhill), and so stay put even if you don’t.

The Cognitive Construction Lab will study children and adults across cultures to understand how the diversity of human experience produces a diversity of human minds. Check out the brand new lab website! cognitiveconstructionlab.com