Humans excel at detecting patterns in information, abstracting rules, and making inferences. Underlying these skills is relational reasoning: the cognitive ability to identify and map abstract, generalizable relations between pieces of information. Though this powerful ability supports higher-order cognition, it can also be a processing bottleneck…

The present paper examines possible benefits of spatial audio guides on learning outcomes in the spatial learning setting of an experimental exhibition and attempts to differentiate between different mechanisms underlying such an effect. In Experiment 1, we examined whether the spatial contiguity principle may be such a mechanism. A spatial audio…

Visual search is faster when a fixed target location is paired with a spatially invariant (vs. randomly changing) distractor configuration, thus indicating that repeated contexts are learned, thereby guiding attention to the target (contextual cueing [CC]). Evidence for memory-guided attention has also been revealed with electrophysiological…

This study aims to help concrete thinkers learn science through the use of Piagets' cognitive processes (CPs) during scientific inquiry. A total of 203 fourth-grade students participated as volunteers in a pre-post control group study. The students were from urban, remote rural, and suburban regions of Indonesia. Data analysis demonstrated that…

Plasticity is a neural phenomenon in which experience induces long-lasting changes to neuronal circuits and is at the center of most neurobiological theories of learning and memory. However, too much plasticity is maladaptive and must be balanced with substrate stability. Area CA3 of the hippocampus provides such a balance via hemispheric…

The neural bases of cognition may be greatly informed by relating temporally defined developmental changes in behavior with concurrent alterations in neural function. A robust improvement in performance in spatial learning and memory tasks occurs at 3 wk of age in rodents. We reported that the developmental increase of spontaneous alternation in a…

Spatial thinking has roles to facilitate learners to remember, understand, reason, and communicate objects and the connections among objects that are represented in space. This research aims to analyze the spatial thinking process of students in constructing new knowledge seen from the field-independent cognitive style learners based on…

Recent research suggests that drawing activities can help students learn concepts in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. In particular, drawing activities, which mimic the practices of STEM professionals, can help students engage with visual-spatial content. However, prior work has also shown that students…

This study tested the proposition that the Augmented Reality Sandbox's (ARS) user-interaction from tactile sensory feedback and a realistic 3D perspective improved topographic map comprehension among novice users with reduced cognitive load compared to the same instruction and practice from a 2D topographic map. Undergraduate students were…

Post-learning sleep is beneficial for human memory. However, it may be that not all memories benefit equally from sleep. Here, we manipulated a spatial learning task using monetary reward and performance feedback, asking whether enhancing the salience of the task would augment overnight memory consolidation and alter its incorporation into…

This unique volume surveys recent research on spatial visualization in mathematics in the fields of cognitive psychology and mathematics education. The general topic of spatial skill and mathematics has a long research tradition, but has been gaining attention in recent years, although much of this research happens in disconnected subfields. This…

Behavioral flexibility allows individuals to adapt to situations in which rewards and goals change. Potentially addictive drugs may impair flexible decision-making by altering brain mechanisms that compute reward expectancies, thereby facilitating maladaptive drug use. To investigate this hypothesis, we tested the effects of oxycodone exposure on…

This study investigates secondary-task interference on eye movements through learning with multimedia. We focus on the relationship between the influence of the secondary task on the eye movements of learners, and the learning outcomes as measured by retention, matching, and transfer. Half of the participants performed a spatial tapping task while…

The general purpose of the study was to promote the research on effects of physical activity on mathematical performance and brain functions, which is of particular interest regarding children's education as well as for all adults. Several studies have identified an influence of cycling on cognitive processes and brain activity. In the present…

The body has become a vital research object in several disciplines in recent years. Indeed, in the social sciences and humanities, a corporeal turn in which embodiment has become a key concept related to learning and socialisation is discussed. This cross-disciplinary paper addresses the epistemological question of how we know what we know and…