Locomotion and Topographical Working Memory in Children With Myelomeningocele and Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita

Background: In children with myelomeningocele (MMC) and arthrogryposis multiplex congenital (AMC), adequate rehabilitation measures are accessible with the goal of attaining the utmost motor development. However, there is a lack of knowledge as to how children develop navigation utilizing their locomotion abilities. The aim of the present study was to explore topographic working memory in children with MMC and AMC.Methods: For this purpose, we assessed 41 children with MMC and AMC, assigned an ambulation group, and 120 typical developing (TD) children, with mean ages of 11.9, 10.6, and 9.9 years, respectively. All groups performed a topographic working memory test while moving in a walking space and a visuospatial working memory test in a reaching space. Children with MMC and AMC also performed a test to measure their ability to reason on visuospatial material, Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices.Results: The topographic working memory span was shorter in the MMC group than in the TD group. In general, all ambulation groups had a shorter topographic working memory span than the TD group. The visuospatial working memory span was shorter in the non-ambulation group than in the TD group. Scores from the visuospatial reasoning test were lower in the non-ambulation group than in the community ambulation group.Conclusions: Even though a higher cognitive score was found in the community ambulation group than in the non-ambulation group, topographic working memory was affected similarly in both groups. Including children who develop community ambulation in therapy programs containing aspects of navigation may gain even children with low levels of MMC and AMC. These results evidenced the importance of motor development and navigational experience gained through direct exploration of the environment on topographic memory.

A-169 Remote Cognitive Screening: A Preliminary Study of Location Administration of the Boston Cognitive Assessment (BoCA)

Objective Digital, remote, cognitive assessment has become crucial for efficient screening of patients cognitive concerns. The Boston Cognitive Assessment (BoCA) is a brief, digital, global screening instrument that can be administered both in-office on a laptop, or remotely from patients’ homes. Potential differences in performance from completing the BoCA in-office versus completing it at home remain uninvestigated. As such, this study aimed to compared performances across these settings among demographically and cognitively matched patient samples. Method Data from 35 cognitively healthy participants who completed the BoCA (18 administered in-office; 17 remotely administered) were retroactively collected; groups were matched by age, education, gender, ethnicity, and global cognitive functioning based on their scores on a separate screening instrument. Overall BoCA scores (total = 30) as well as performance on the eight BoCA subscales (Immediate Recall, Delayed Recall, Verbal Reasoning, Visuospatial Reasoning, Executive Functions, Attention, Mental Math, and Orientation) were compared using nonparametric testing. Results A Contingency analysis and an independent samples Mann–Whitney U test confirmed the demographic and cognitive similarities between the two groups. Comparisons of BoCA scores revealed no differences in total scores or any of the BoCA subscales between those who completed the BoCA in-office and those who completed it remotely. Conclusion Results from the present study suggest that performance on the BoCA is not influenced by one’s environment at the time of administration. This further adds to the utility of the BoCA as a remote, self-administered, global screening instrument, and may support its adoption in settings where serial screening is indicated.

More than storage of information: What working memory contributes to visual abductive reasoning

Abductive reasoning is the process of finding the best explanation for a set of observations. As the number of possible observations and corresponding explanations may be very high, it is commonly accepted that the capacity of working memory is closely related to successful abductive reasoning. However, the precise relationship between reasoning and working memory capacity remains largely opaque. In a reanalysis of two experiments (N = 59), we first investigated whether reasoning performance differs due to differences in working memory capacity. Second, using eye tracking, we explored the relationship between the facets of working memory and the process of visuospatial reasoning. We used working memory tests of both components (verbal-numerical/spatial) as well as an intelligence measure. Results show a clear relationship between reasoning accuracy and spatial storage components as well as intelligence. Process measures suggest that high working memory ability might lead to the use of strategies to optimize the content and complexity of the mental representation on which abductive reasoning is based. Results are discussed in relation to current theories and the existing literature on the effects of memory on eye movements.

Visuospatial reasoning of eighth-grade students in solving geometry problems: A gender perspective

[English]: Visuospatial reasoning is indispensable in solving mathematical problems, especially geometry. However, many students face difficulty in visuospatial reasoning. This qualitative study aims to describe eighth-grade students' visuospatial reasoning in solving geometry problems in terms of gender differences. One male and one female student with high mathematics ability were involved. A test and interview were utilized to collect data. The test was used to investigate students' visuospatial reasoning and the interview was administered to confirm students' reasoning. Students’ test and interview results were analyzed in three stages: data condensation, data presentation, and conclusion drawing and verification. This study found that both male and female students' visuospatial reasoning in solving the problems is at the synthesis level. However, at the synthesis level, when identifying the spatial relationships between objects, the male student expresses information from the overall view scheme, while the female student expresses part by part of the view scheme. Keywords: Visuospatial reasoning, Geometry problems, Gender [Bahasa]: Penalaran visuospasial sangat diperlukan dalam menyelesaikan masalah matematika terutama pada masalah geometri. Namun, banyak siswa yang mengalami kesulitan dalam melakukan penalaran visuospasial. Penelitian kualitatif ini bertujuan mendeskripsikan penalaran visuospasial siswa kelas VIII yang ditinjau dari perbedaan gender dalam menyelesaikan masalah geometri. Satu siswa laki-laki dan satu siswa perempuan dengan kemampuan matematika tinggi dipilih sebagai subjek. Tes dan wawancara digunakan untuk mengumpulkan data. Tes digunakan untuk menyelidiki penalaran visuospatial siswa dan wawancara bertujuan mengonfirmasi dan menggali lebih dalam penalaran siswa. Data hasil tes dan wawancara dianalisis dalam tiga tahap, yaitu reduksi data, penyajian data, dan penarikan dan verifikasi simpulan. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa penalaran visuospasial siswa laki-laki dan perempuan dalam menyelesaikan masalah geometri berada pada jenjang sintesis. Namun, terdapat perbedaan pada jenjang sintesis dalam mengidentifikasi keterkaitan spasial antar objek-objek. Siswa laki-laki mengutarakan informasi dari skema pandangan secara menyeluruh, sedangkan siswa perempuan mengutarakan bagian per bagian dari skema pandangan tersebut. Kata kunci: Penalaran visuospasial, Masalah geometri, Gender

Digital, mathematical and cognitive training: Evidence from a randomized trial

In this paper, we experimentally evaluate a cognitive training tool that aims to improve children’s mathematical ability through technology in rural primary schools in Argentina. We conducted a large cluster-randomized trial: schools in the treatment group used an app to train mathematical skills, while schools in the control group received a literacy book. We tested the math skills of 1,304 children in the 2nd through 6th grades from 80 rural schools and applied three cognitive tests: digit-span (working memory), face-perception (attention to objects), and block design (visuospatial reasoning), directly before and after the 10-week intervention period. In schools that received the treatment, we found no improvement in the digit-span or face-perception tests, but significant and positive effects in visuospatial reasoning and mathematical abilities. The improvement among students from treatment schools was 54 percentage points higher in math skills and 42 percentage points higher in visuospatial abilities than the gains by students in control schools. This study suggests this intervention is a feasible and effective way of enhancing the mathematical and cognitive abilities of children in rural areas.

Current Cognition Tests, Potential Virtual Reality Applications, and Serious Games in Cognitive Assessment and Non-Pharmacological Therapy for Neurocognitive Disorders

As the global population ages, the incidence of major neurocognitive disorders (major NCDs), such as the most common geriatric major NCD, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), has grown. Thus, the need for more definitive cognitive assessment or even effective non-pharmacological intervention for age-related NCDs is becoming more and more pressing given that no definitive diagnostics or efficacious therapeutics are currently unavailable for them. We evaluate the current state of the art of cognitive assessment for major NCDs, and then briefly glance ahead at potential application of virtual reality (VR) technologies in major NCD assessment and in cognition training of visuospatial reasoning in a 3D environment, as well as in the alleviation of depression and other symptoms of cognitive disorders. We believe that VR-based technologies have tremendous potentials in cognitive assessment and non-pharmacological therapy for major NCDs.

Mathematical achievement: the role of spatial and motor skills in 6–8 year-old children

Several studies have tried to establish the factors that underlie mathematical ability across development. Among them, spatial and motor abilities might play a relevant role, but no studies jointly contemplate both types of abilities to account for mathematical performance. The present study was designed to observe the roles of spatial and motor skills in mathematical performance. A total of 305 children aged between 6 and 8 years took part in this study. A generalized linear regression model with mathematical performance as a dependent variable was performed. Results revealed that Block design (as a visuospatial reasoning measure) accounted for mathematical performance, especially among 6- and 7-year-olds but not in 8-year-olds. After controlling for the effect of the block design, mental rotation and manual dexterity predicted mathematical performance. These findings highlight the role of underlying cognitive (spatial) and motor abilities in supporting mathematical achievement in primary school children.

Visuospatial Reasoning

Visual thinking has aided many scientific discoveries and is also useful in everyday reasoning. The Animation Tutor provides animation feedback to help students improve their ability to estimate and calculate answers to problems. Examples include calculating the average speed of a round trip and using spatial relationships as a substitute for deriving algebraic solutions. Computer simulations of human thinking have emphasized rule-based reasoning, but these simulations now include a visual buffer to model visuospatial reasoning. It is often difficult to discover new information in visual images such as reinterpreting an ambiguous figure although people are more successful in mentally combining figures to create useful objects. Applications of research on cognitive geography include improving spatial information, geographic education, map design, urban planning, and landscape design.

Cognitive Skills You Need for the 21st Century

Cognitive Skills You Need for the 21st Century begins with the Future of Jobs Report 2018 of the World Economic Forum that describes trending skills through the year 2022. To assist with the development of these skills, the book describes techniques that should benefit everyone. The 20 chapters occupy 6 sections on acquiring knowledge (comprehension, action, categorization, abstraction), organizing knowledge (matrices, networks, hierarchies), reasoning (visuospatial reasoning, imperfect knowledge, strategies), problem-solving (problems, design, dynamics), artificial intelligence (data sciences, explainable AI, information sciences, general AI), and education (complex systems, computational thinking, continuing education). Classical research, recent research, personal anecdotes, and a few exercises provide a broad introduction to this critical topic.