This study investigated the speed of encoding and rotation of images during simple spatial rotational operations to discover any similarities or differences in groups of differing spatial ability. This project was subdivided into five basic subproblems. First, research was done to arrive at a simple, easily testable information processing model…

Investigates the role active, self-produced movement might play in the type of rotation task typically used to assess spatial orientation in children 12 months to 18 months of age. Results indicated that, at least at 12 months, spatial orientation was indeed facilitated by allowing the infants (n = 13) to move through space on their own. (RH)

The specificity of memories has been identified as a factor affecting reality monitoring performance. To examine the reality monitoring model of Johnson and Raye (1981) and to explore the relationship between memory specificity and reality monitoring, the amount of cognitive operations involved in processing information was manipulated for 72…

Factor analysis performed on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) for 252 subjects (ages 6-16), who were mentally handicapped, slow learners, or learning disabled, identified 3 factors: verbal-conceptual, perceptual-spatial, and distractibility-short-term memory. Findings suggest that the factor example can be used to…

Research on perceptual and cognitive capacities of the newborn has revealed that state variables typically interfere with or override the neonate's attentional and stimulus processing tendencies. This finding argues for the power of early state variables as behavioral determinants and, further, that neonatal state measures might provide good…

Describes two experiments that assessed young children's understanding of the characteristic uncertainty in the physical nature of random phenomena as well as the unpredictability of outcomes. (HOD)

The study provides descriptive data on use of the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability with 39 adults with closed head injury. Correlational analyses indicated significant relationships between coma duration and performance on the Perceptual Speed and Memory clusters of the test. Time since injury did not correlate with test results.…

Investigates multiple trends in perceptual development of kindergarten, second grade, and fifth grade children who performed a speeded card sorting task with spatially integrated versus spatially separated dimensions. Results strongly support the hypothesis that there are developmental differences in perceived structure as well as ability to…

This article presents a case study of a Japanese adolescent with autism who strongly perceived inanimate things (Kanji characters) as real persons. Physiognomic perception is investigated as a characteristic mode of autism, and its effects are discussed. It is concluded that the poor cognitive-language ability of some autistic people may shape…

First- and fifth-grade children were presented a hypothetical case in which a child, who circumstantial evidence suggests might have committed a "crime," is punished by a parent. Subjects were asked to indicate whether or not they believed the punishment to be fair and the child guilty. (Author/RH)

Results showed that infants can differentiate dynamic, multimodal expressions as early as five months of age; can distinguish dynamically distinct expressions before similarly animated expressions; and seem to rely more on the voice than the face in making these discriminations. (RH)

Second- and fourth-grade children viewed a cylindrical object in nine positions and identified the 90- , 180- , or 270-degree positions from a set of photographs. Perspectives in which the object differed from the child's view in both left-right and near-far dimensions were more difficult than perspectives that only transformed one dimension.…

An overview that gives an introduction to the theories, terms, concepts, and prior research conducted on visualization is presented. This information is to be used as a basis for developing spatial research studies that lend support to the theory that the engineering and technical design graphics curriculum is important in the development of…

Although academic achievement and self-concept of academic ability (SCAA) have a reciprocal relationship, studies on the directionality of the relationship are inconclusive. To investigate this relationship in an entire grade cohort in a small city high school, 429 students in grades 9 and 12 were administered a modified version of Brookover's…

Studies the ability of 5-month-old infants to recall temporal information and use temporal organization by training them to fixate a hierarchically structured or unstructured sequence of stimuli which appeared in four spatial positions. Results are interpreted within a temporal organizational framework; infants appear to use organization within…