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:
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?