scholarly journals Switching between the Forest and the Trees: The Contribution of Global to Local Switching to Spatial Constructional Abilities in Typically Developing Children

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 955
Author(s):  
Isa Zappullo ◽  
Luigi Trojano ◽  
Roberta Cecere ◽  
Gennaro Raimo ◽  
Monica Positano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Local Level ◽  
Block Design ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Local Processing ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Complex Figure ◽  
Construction Tasks ◽  
Switching Task ◽  
Spatial Construction

Background: Spatial analysis encompasses the ability to perceive the visual world by arranging the local elements (“the trees”) into a coherent global configuration (“the forest”). During childhood, this ability gradually switches from a local to a global precedence, which contributes to changes in children’s spatial construction abilities, such as drawing or building blocks. At present, it is not clear whether enhanced global or local processing or, alternatively, whether switching between these two levels best accounts for children’s spatial constructional abilities. Methods: We assessed typically developing children 7 to 8 years old on a global/local switching task and on two widely used spatial construction tasks (the Rey–Osterrieth Complex Figure and the Block Design test). Results: The ability to switch from global to local level, rather than a global or a local advantage, best accounted for children’s performance on both spatial construction tasks. Conclusions: The present findings contribute to elucidate the relationship between visual perception and spatial construction in children showing that the ease with which children switch perception from global to local processing is an important factor in their performance on tasks requiring complex drawing and block assembling.

scholarly journals Precocious realists: perceptual and cognitive characteristics associated with drawing talent in non-autistic children

2009 ◽  
Vol 364 (1522) ◽  
pp. 1449-1458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer E. Drake ◽  
Ellen Winner
Keyword(s):  
Block Design ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Local Processing ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Still Life ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Design Task ◽  
Processing Bias ◽  
Local Processing Bias ◽  
Drawing Strategy

A local processing bias in the block design task and in drawing strategy has been used to account for realistic drawing skill in individuals with autism. We investigated whether the same kind of local processing bias is seen in typically developing children with unusual skill in realistic graphic representation. Forty-three 5–11-year-olds who drew a still life completed a version of the block design task in both standard and segmented form, were tested for their memory for the block design items, and were given the Kaufmann Brief Intelligence Test-II. Children were classified as gifted, moderately gifted or typical on the basis of the level of realism in their drawings. Similar to autistic individuals, the gifted group showed a local processing bias in the block design task. But unlike autistic individuals, the gifted group showed a global advantage in the visual memory task and did not use a local drawing strategy; in addition, their graphic realism skill was related to verbal IQ. Differences in the extent of local processing bias in autistic and typically developing children with drawing talent are discussed.

Local and Global Processing by Persons with Williams Syndrome: The Case of Visuo-Constructive Tasks

2002 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 266-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michèle Fayasse ◽  
Jean-Pierre Thibaut
Keyword(s):  
Williams Syndrome ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Block Design ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disorder ◽  
Global Processing ◽  
Local Processing ◽  
Global Level ◽  
Mental Age ◽  
Local And Global Processing ◽  
Puzzle Task

Williams syndrome (WS) is a rare genetically based neurodevelopmental disorder resulting in mild to moderate mental retardation. People with WS are known for their particular weakness in visuo-spatial construction. In a block-design task and a jigsaw-puzzle task, we compared WS persons with normally developing children matched for mental age. Three hypotheses were contrasted: (a) the standard local hypothesis, maintaining that WS persons are biased toward local processing and have a deficit in processing the global level of stimuli (Bellugi & al., 1994); (b) the disengaging from the global level hypothesis, which states that they have difficulties disengaging from global configurations when local processing is required (Pani & al., 1999); and a new hypothesis (c) the disengaging from the local level hypothesis, which states that they have difficulties in disengaging from salient local features when global processing is required. The third hypothesis is compatible with most of the observations regarding visuo-constructive problems in WS. We propose an interpretation of WS persons’ problems in terms of executive functions.

Motor and Visual-spatial Cognitive Abilities in Children Treated for Infantile Esotropia

2021 ◽  
pp. 003151252110117
Author(s):  
Julia Dillmann ◽  
Claudia Freitag ◽  
Birgit Lorenz ◽  
Kerstin Holve ◽  
Silke Schweinfurth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Block Design ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Infantile Esotropia ◽  
Motor Abilities ◽  
Visual Spatial ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Block Design Subtest

While many studies have investigated links between motor and visual spatial cognitive abilities in typically developing children, only a few studies have tested this link among children with innate handicaps. Therefore, we assessed motor abilities (using the M-ABC-2) and visual spatial cognitive skills (using the Block Design subtest of the WPPSI-III and a picture mental rotation task, PRT) of 5-7 year old typically developing children (n= 17) and same-aged children with severe deficits in stereopsis due to infantile esotropia (n= 17). Compared to the typically developing children, children with esotropia showed significantly poorer motor performances, especially in manual dexterity and ball skills, and significantly poorer and slower performance on the visual spatial cognitive tasks. Especially the girls treated for infantile esotropia needed more time to mentally rotate the pictures of the PRT correctly. Overall, this study showed that perceptual, motor and cognitive processes are interconnected and that children treated for infantile esotropia had an increased risk of motor and visual spatial cognitive deficits.

Age Norms for Auditory-Perceptual Neurophonetic Parameters: A Prerequisite for the Assessment of Childhood Dysarthria

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 1071-1082
Author(s):  
Theresa Schölderle ◽  
Elisabet Haas ◽  
Wolfram Ziegler
Keyword(s):  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Developmental Trajectories ◽  
Voice Quality ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Age Norms ◽  
Elementary School Age ◽  
Speech Characteristics ◽  
Substantial Progress ◽  
Computer Based

Purpose The aim of this study was to collect auditory-perceptual data on established symptom categories of dysarthria from typically developing children between 3 and 9 years of age, for the purpose of creating age norms for dysarthria assessment. Method One hundred forty-four typically developing children (3;0–9;11 [years;months], 72 girls and 72 boys) participated. We used a computer-based game specifically designed for this study to elicit sentence repetitions and spontaneous speech samples. Speech recordings were analyzed using the auditory-perceptual criteria of the Bogenhausen Dysarthria Scales, a standardized German assessment tool for dysarthria in adults. The Bogenhausen Dysarthria Scales (scales and features) cover clinically relevant dimensions of speech and allow for an evaluation of well-established symptom categories of dysarthria. Results The typically developing children exhibited a number of speech characteristics overlapping with established symptom categories of dysarthria (e.g., breathy voice, frequent inspirations, reduced articulatory precision, decreased articulation rate). Substantial progress was observed between 3 and 9 years of age, but with different developmental trajectories across different dimensions. In several areas (e.g., respiration, voice quality), 9-year-olds still presented with salient developmental speech characteristics, while in other dimensions (e.g., prosodic modulation), features typically associated with dysarthria occurred only exceptionally, even in the 3-year-olds. Conclusions The acquisition of speech motor functions is a prolonged process not yet completed with 9 years. Various developmental influences (e.g., anatomic–physiological changes) shape children's speech specifically. Our findings are a first step toward establishing auditory-perceptual norms for dysarthria in children of kindergarten and elementary school age. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12133380

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