Three experiments examined whether 8.5-month-olds considered an object's width and compressibility when determining whether it could be inserted into a container. Results suggested that infants realized that large balls could fit into large but not small containers, whereas small balls could fit into both containers. Infants understood that large…

Investigated early determinants of infants' self--other discrimination when presented with a live image of themselves or another person that was either contingent or contingent with delay. Found that infants 4 months and older perceived and acted differently when facing the image of themselves compared to that of another; 9-month-olds showed more…

Infants' abilities to identify objects based on their perceptual features develop gradually during the first year and possibly beyond. Earlier we reported [Kaldy, Z., & Leslie, A. M. (2003). Identification of objects in 9-month-old infants: Integrating "what" and "where" information. Developmental Science, 6, 360-373] that infants at 9 months of…

This study compared the central capacity and the modularity models for explaining language processing in kindergarten children. Using a microcomputer, 19 kindergarten children completed a visual letter-matching task that required a manual response. An auditory tone was emitted by the computer in a separate trial also requiring a press. For the…

This paper presents three experiments examining competence in the domain of proportional reasoning in several age groups (adult, and children in kindergarten, first, third, and fifth grade). In the three experiments, subjects indicated which of two flower boxes had the greater density of flowers. In experiments 1 and 2, the flowers were presented…

The ability of 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children to infer the position of an object in a room from information contained on a map was assessed under five conditions: (1) map aligned inside the room (the pretest); (2) map aligned outside the room; (3) map rotated 180 degrees inside the room; (4) map rotated 180 degrees outside the room; (5) map held…

The role of visual-spatial operations in nonroutine mathematical problem solving in schoolchildren is investigated through a search of related literature. It is suggested that certain visual-spatial operations are concomitant with the mental processes necessary in problem solving. The following topics are discussed: (1) the importance of problem…

Two experiments involving 42 students from the Model Secondary School for the Deaf investigated both the visual and tactile components in the processing of spatial information. Test measures used were the Figures Rotations Test, Group Embedded Figures Test, and Tactile Rotations Test. The study suggested that spatial reasoning is a determining…

The differential visual responses of 20 Down's Syndrome and 20 normal infants (CA 8 months) to 13 pairs of visual targets were compared. Although DS subjects generally looked longer at the stimuli than normal subjects, they showed a response differential in only 3 stimulus pairs compared to 11 for the normals. Six of the stimulus pairs elicited…

Training in perspective-taking skills (the ability to imagine how objects look relative to one another from another person's point of view) resulted in considerable transfer of learning to other tasks and continued subject superiority over controls seven months later, indicating an inter-stage change in cognition. (MJB)

The relationship between vision and mental functioning was investigated in a study of 295 elderly residents from three levels of care. Visual acuity and mental status were assessed. Findings indicate that there was indeed a relationship between vision and mental status. (Author)

Contrary to Piaget's predictions, adolescent retardates and 9-year-old normals were more susceptible to the Oppel-Kundt Illusion than high school sophomores and adults. No group differences were found on the Poggendorf Illusion. (MH)