The purpose of this study was to determine the differences in the development of left-right identification in mapuche and non-mapuche schoolchildren from urban and rural areas. Participants were 210 schoolchildren from high-rated socially vulnerable schools in chileans regions Bío Bío and La Araucanía, out of which 152 came from rural areas and 54 from urban areas, with ages between 6 and 12. All participants performed a task that evaluated homolateral left-right, contralateral left-right and relative left-right relations between three objects. Results showed no significant differences between mapuche and non-mapuche children, since in both groups -particularly among individuals from the rural area- the performance of left-right identification was below the expected achievement by age in western populations. Identification of relative relations between three objects was observed in a small number of children. Theoretical and educational implications from the results are discussed, taking into account the relevance of spatial knowledge in the school curriculum to foster learning of fundamental concepts.
Keywords:
Right-left identification, cultural differences, spatial development
Alonqueo, P., Silva, E., & Orellana, L. (2013). Left or Right? The development of projective spatial relations in mapuche and non mapuche schoolchildren. Revista De Psicología, 22(1), Pág. 85–96. https://doi.org/10.5354/0719-0581.2013.27722
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