Cultural and Environmental Factors in the Perception of Perspective Among Indigenous Tundra Inhabitants

Abstract

Results are presented of an expedition to the tundra to study cross-cultural features of perceiving perspective and spatial representations among Nenets reindeer herders. Both adult reindeer herders and children experienced difficulty in depicting the spatial properties of objects on a plane. Among reindeer herders, drawings of objects situated at varying distances from the observer predominantly exhibited attributes of reverse perspective, although in selecting perspective models, they gave preference to images in linear perspective. A high level of topological spatial representations and a low level of projection and coordinate representations were identified among reindeer herders, in comparison with the control results using city children. A comparison of results from literate and illiterate reindeer herders, as well as younger and older children showed that the environmental factor of the tundra's open spaces exerts a stronger influence on spatial perception factors as compared to educational level.