Spatial Development

2013 ◽  
pp. 563-590 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nora S. Newcombe ◽  
David H. Uttal ◽  
Megan Sauter
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Mental Rotation ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Spatial Development ◽  
Formal Description ◽  
Spatial Skills ◽  
Modular Architecture ◽  
Normative Development ◽  
Selective Review

This chapter is a selective review of spatial development, stressing several points. First, we suggest that spatial development can be usefully considered to have two strands: (a) the development of intraobject (or intrinsic) representations along with the ability to transform them (e.g., in mental rotation) and (b) the development of interobject (or extrinsic) representations and the ability to use them to navigate. Second, we argue that both lines of development begin from strong starting points, but also undergo considerable development. They are far from innately specified, nor do they have a modular architecture. Third, we discuss the amplification of spatial skills by human symbolic capabilities, including language, use of maps and models, and gesture. Fourth, we identify areas where research is lacking, most notably the formal description of intraobject skills and the charting of their normative development, the exploration of the sources of individual differences in navigation-relevant skills, and the applications of research to education.

Individual Differences in Mental Rotation

2013 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 164-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Khooshabeh ◽  
Mary Hegarty ◽  
Thomas F. Shipley
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Mental Rotation ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Mental Rotation Task ◽  
Imagery Ability ◽  
Alternative Strategies

Two experiments tested the hypothesis that imagery ability and figural complexity interact to affect the choice of mental rotation strategies. Participants performed the Shepard and Metzler (1971) mental rotation task. On half of the trials, the 3-D figures were manipulated to create “fragmented” figures, with some cubes missing. Good imagers were less accurate and had longer response times on fragmented figures than on complete figures. Poor imagers performed similarly on fragmented and complete figures. These results suggest that good imagers use holistic mental rotation strategies by default, but switch to alternative strategies depending on task demands, whereas poor imagers are less flexible and use piecemeal strategies regardless of the task demands.

Raise your hand if you’re spatial

Gesture ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Autumn B. Hostetter ◽  
Martha W. Alibali
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Spatial Visualization ◽  
Semantic Fluency ◽  
Spatial Skills ◽  
Verbal Skill ◽  
Spatial Skill ◽  
Phonemic Fluency ◽  
Representational Gestures ◽  
Gesture Production

Individuals differ greatly in how often they gesture when they speak. This study investigated relations between speakers’ verbal and spatial skills and their gesture rates. Two types of verbal skill were measured: semantic fluency, which is thought to index efficiency with lexical access, and phonemic fluency, which is thought to index efficiency with organizing the lexicon in novel ways. Spatial skill was measured with a visualization task. We hypothesized that individuals with low verbal skill but high spatial visualization skill would gesture most often, due to having mental images not closely linked to verbal forms. This hypothesis was supported for phonemic fluency, but not for semantic fluency. We also found that individuals with low phonemic fluency and individuals with high phonemic fluency produced representational gestures at higher rates than individuals with average phonemic fluency. The findings indicate that individual differences in gesture production are associated with individual differences in cognitive skills.

Pokémon Go as a Tool to Study the Social and Cognitive Factors that Impact Spatial Navigation

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 1221-1225
Author(s):  
Dawn G. Blasko ◽  
Heather C. Lum ◽  
Mason McGuire ◽  
Tiffany Eichler ◽  
Kameron Landers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Rotation ◽  
Spatial Navigation ◽  
Internal Validity ◽  
Cognitive Factors ◽  
Cooperative Groups ◽  
Spatial Skills ◽  
The Social ◽  
Pokémon Go ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Play Style

Researchers in spatial navigation have the difficult task of finding ecologically valid measures while maintaining a reasonable degree of internal validity. This often means simulating wayfinding and navigation task in the laboratory which increases control but eliminates the experience of walking around a natural environment. Augmented reality games like Pokémon Go allow researchers a novel way to study individual differences in cognitive and social factors in wayfinding with a game already designed to motivate players to move around in the real world. In the current study, Pokémon Go was played either individually or socially (2 players) while a map of the player’ speed and location was created in real time. We measured play style preference, game experience and basic spatial skills (mental rotation). Mental rotation performance was correlated with enjoying the game and being more motivated to play. Although games scores and distances traveled did not differ between the individual and cooperative groups, participates reported a strong preference for playing with a group over playing alone.

scholarly journals Sex differences in virtual navigation influenced by visual factors and individual differences

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lace Padilla
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Mental Rotation ◽  
Morris Water Maze ◽  
Water Maze ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Standard Design ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Virtual Morris Water Maze

The Morris water maze is a task adapted from the animal spatial cognition literature and has been studied in the context of sex differences in humans, particularly because of the standard design, which manipulates proximal (close) and distal (far) cues. However, there are mixed findings with respect to the interaction of cues and sex differences in virtual Morris water maze tasks, which may be attributed to variations in the scale of the space and previously unmeasured individual differences. We explore the question of scale and context by presenting participants with an outdoor virtual Morris water maze that is four times the size of the mazes previously tested. We also measured lifetime mobility and mental rotation skills. Results of this study suggest that for the small-scale environment, males and females performed similarly when asked to navigate with only proximal cues. However, males outperformed females when only distal cues were visible. In the large-scale environment, males outperformed females in both cue conditions. Additionally, greater mental rotation skills predicted better navigation performance with proximal cues only. Finally, we found that highly mobile females and males perform equally well when navigating with proximal cues.

What's So Special About Spatial?

2021 ◽  
pp. 56-73
Author(s):  
Cigdem Uz Bilgin ◽  
Melat R. Anteneh ◽  
Meredith Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Mental Rotation ◽  
Spatial Ability ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Spatial Abilities ◽  
Spatial Skills ◽  
Comprehensive Review ◽  
Spatial Assessment ◽  
Spatial Understanding ◽  
Excellent Tool

Virtual reality (VR) technology has been steadily used for research purposes over the past few decades and is now gaining attraction in educational settings. Spatial understanding of learners is one of these research topics. Although there are plenty of studies focusing on VR and spatial abilities separately, there has not been a comprehensive review of papers that focus specifically on both VR and spatial ability. To address this question, an electronic search of articles from 2015 to 2019 was conducted that found 923 articles, 26 of which met the criteria of specifically discussing 'spatial abilities' and 'VR environments'. Eleven out of 26 articles reported the reason for using VR as a spatial assessment tool. The most frequently-mentioned spatial ability that was studied was mental rotation ability. This review revealed a special link between spatial ability and VR. VR can be both diagnostic and therapeutic for spatial skills; VR is an excellent tool for examining spatial ability in individuals and also individuals can enhance their spatial abilities through using virtual reality.

scholarly journals Not All Bilinguals Are the Same: A Call for More Detailed Assessments and Descriptions of Bilingual Experiences

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela de Bruin
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Executive Functioning ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Age Of Acquisition ◽  
Objective Measurements

No two bilinguals are the same. Differences in bilingual experiences can affect language-related processes but have also been proposed to modulate executive functioning. Recently, there has been an increased interest in studying individual differences between bilinguals, for example in terms of their age of acquisition, language proficiency, use, and switching. However, and despite the importance of this individual variation, studies often do not provide detailed assessments of their bilingual participants. This review first discusses several aspects of bilingualism that have been studied in relation to executive functioning. Next, I review different questionnaires and objective measurements that have been proposed to better define bilingual experiences. In order to better understand (effects of) bilingualism within and across studies, it is crucial to carefully examine and describe not only a bilingual’s proficiency and age of acquisition, but also their language use and switching as well as the different interactional contexts in which they use their languages.

Development of Spatial Abilities in Engineering Education: An Empirical Study of the Influence of Visualisation Media

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Zorn ◽  
Kilian Gericke
Keyword(s):  
Mental Rotation ◽  
Performance Improvement ◽  
Spatial Abilities ◽  
Design Engineering ◽  
Spatial Skills ◽  
Mental Rotation Test ◽  
Technical Drawing ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Drawing Tasks ◽  
Critical Components

Abstract Spatial ability is one of the critical components of human intelligence. It has been proven that it is particularly crucial for success, especially in engineering, where interpreting views of an object presented by drawings, visualizing parts, or manipulating geometry in CAD are fundamental skills. Research has confirmed that spatial skills can be improved through instruction and teaching, for example, sketching and technical drawing, which are also included in the basic engineering classes. This study tested the hypothesis that the development of spatial skills during the fundamental design engineering class can be positively influenced due to the use of different visualization media for sketching and technical drawing tasks, whereas the used visualization media offer varying possibilities of interaction. Seventy students were pre- and post-tested with the Mental Rotation Test. All participants received the same training during the class but were given individual tasks with varying media. The analysis revealed a significant increase in mental rotation performance for all participants throughout the semester with a big effect size. Moreover, the mean performance improvement differed considerably depending on the visualization media and its offered interaction possibilities.

scholarly journals Characterizing the social diversity of bilingualism using language entropy

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason W. Gullifer ◽  
Debra Titone
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Social Diversity ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Language History ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Control

AbstractBilingual and multilingual individuals exhibit variation in everyday language experience. Studies on bilingualism account for individual differences with measures such as L2 age of acquisition, exposure, or language proficiency, but recent theoretical perspectives posit that the relative balance between the two or more languages throughout daily life (i.e., interactional context) is a crucial determinant for language representation, access, and control. We propose an innovative measure to characterize this construct by using entropy to estimate the social diversity of language use. Language entropy is computed from commonly-collected language history data and generalizes to multilingual communicative contexts. We show how language entropy relates to other indices of bilingual experience and that it predicts self-report L2 outcome measures over and above classic measures of language experience. Thus, we proffer language entropy as a means to characterize individual differences in bilingual (and multilingual) language experience related to the social diversity of language use.

scholarly journals Unifying the Notions of Modularity and Core–Periphery Structure in Functional Brain Networks during Youth

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 1087-1102
Author(s):  
Shi Gu ◽  
Cedric Huchuan Xia ◽  
Rastko Ciric ◽  
Tyler M Moore ◽  
Ruben C Gur ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Brain Function ◽  
Brain Networks ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Imaging Data ◽  
Modular Architecture ◽  
Functional Brain ◽  
Rich Club ◽  
Functional Brain Networks ◽  
Integrative Processing

AbstractAt rest, human brain functional networks display striking modular architecture in which coherent clusters of brain regions are activated. The modular account of brain function is pervasive, reliable, and reproducible. Yet, a complementary perspective posits a core–periphery or rich-club account of brain function, where hubs are densely interconnected with one another, allowing for integrative processing. Unifying these two perspectives has remained difficult due to the fact that the methodological tools to identify modules are entirely distinct from the methodological tools to identify core–periphery structure. Here, we leverage a recently-developed model-based approach—the weighted stochastic block model—that simultaneously uncovers modular and core–periphery structure, and we apply it to functional magnetic resonance imaging data acquired at rest in 872 youth of the Philadelphia Neurodevelopmental Cohort. We demonstrate that functional brain networks display rich mesoscale organization beyond that sought by modularity maximization techniques. Moreover, we show that this mesoscale organization changes appreciably over the course of neurodevelopment, and that individual differences in this organization predict individual differences in cognition more accurately than module organization alone. Broadly, our study provides a unified assessment of modular and core–periphery structure in functional brain networks, offering novel insights into their development and implications for behavior.

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