Hierarchically organized knowledge about actions has been postulated to explain planning in problem solving. Perdix, a simulation of problem solving in geometry with schematic planning knowledge, is described. Perdix' planning knowledge enables it to augment the problem space it is given by constructing auxiliary lines. The planning system also…

This paper provides results of a study which characterized women in science, aimed at identifying those factors thought to discriminate among males and females in the humanities, biological sciences, and physical sciences. The areas of spatial ability, attitude toward science, and rate of maturation were chosen as possible discriminating…

The Preschool Preposition Test (PPT) is a receptive language test which examines the comprehension of verbal directions using spatial prepositions or prepositional phrases, together with manipulative objects. The 23 items ask the child to place a ball in back of or into another object, and so on. The test is designed for 3 to 5-year old children…

Results from the first year of a three-year longitudinal study (grades 6-8) of sex-related differences are reported. The purposes of the study are: (1) to understand more adequately the impact of one important cognitive influence (Spatial Visualization) on the learning of mathematics, and (2) to identify educational influences on the development…

This study tested the hypothesis that children with weaker speech ability have greater difficulties in perception, powers of reasoning and spatial orientation than children with better speech ability, and assessed the value of Apgar scores as a predictive measure of later linguistic disorders. Subjects were 100 children born in 1970 who attended…

Includes patterns for and a brief discussion of the polyhedra: octahedron, tetrahedron, dodecahedron, cuboid, prism, and star. (PK)

Changes in intelligence among Swedish 13-year-olds during a 20-year period was studied. Results show: (1) the average of spatial and reasoning intelligence has risen; (2) verbal intelligence increased during the 1960s, but declined thereafter; and (3) by the 1980s girls surpassed in verbal ability and equalled in spatial ability. (Author/LMO)

This study of undergraduate and graduate students examined the potential relationship between spatial aptitude and videogame use to: (1) determine relationship between scoring ability on videogames and spatial aptitude as defined by standardized tests; (2) explore potential gender differences; and (3) examine effects of videogames practice on…

Reports possible validity of particular American Indian cognitive style based on the Bannatyne categories of the Wechsler Scales. Found statistically significant pattern of spatial ability, sequential ability, and verbal conceptual ability in 75 junior and senior high school Yakima Indian students. (LFL)

Describes characteristics of learning disabled teenagers. Describes results of a study of 331 secondary students who completed a self-report inventory showing that childhood learning disability characteristics persist into adolescence, most seriously in the areas of visual perception, fine motor skills, and the ability to write and make spatial…

Most experts believe that young children possess a substantial amount of informal knowledge about mathematics. The teacher's role is to create a link between children's ability to use informal math and the ability to understand the more formal math taught in elementary school. Teachers must help children construct and elaborate upon what they…

This study tested a causal model of the development of spatial visualization based on a synthesis of past and present research. During the summer and fall of 1999, 117 third- and fourth-year undergraduates majoring in architecture, mathematics, mathematics education, and mechanical engineering completed a spatial visualization test and a…

Noting that assumptions about the teaching and learning of early childhood mathematics have changed substantially since the 1970s, this chapter examines recent research that may inform curriculum development in early childhood mathematics. The chapter begins with a consideration of the theoretical perspectives for defining an appropriate…

Investigates the linguistic and cognitive aspects of the mastery of the time conjunctions "before" and "after" by young children. (EKN)

This study demonstrated an aptitude-strategy interaction in linear syllogistic reasoning; specifically, that the efficiency of each of four alternative strategies for solving linear syllogisms would depend on subjects' verbal and spatial abilities. The four strategies, as well as research methods in aptitude-treatment interaction, are discussed.…