This study examined the influence of sex, social dominance, and context on motion-tracked head movements during dyadic conversations. Windowed cross-correlation analyses found high peak correlation between conversants' head movements over short ([approximately equal to]2-s) intervals and a high degree of nonstationarity. Nonstationarity in head…

For successful basketball shooting, players must use information about the location of the basket relative to themselves. In this study, the authors examined to what extent shooting performance depends on the absolute distance to the basket ("m") and the angle of elevation (alpha). In Experiment 1, expert players took jump shots under different…

The GluA1 AMPA receptor subunit is a key mediator of hippocampal synaptic plasticity and is especially important for a rapidly-induced, short-lasting form of potentiation. GluA1 gene deletion impairs hippocampus-dependent, spatial working memory, but spares hippocampus-dependent spatial reference memory. These findings may reflect the necessity of…

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and n-back tasks we investigated whether, in 11-13-year-old children, spatial (location) and nonspatial (color) information is differentially processed during visual attention (0-back) and working memory (WM) (2-back) tasks and whether such cognitive task performance, compared to a resting state,…

The parieto-frontal integration theory (P-FIT) nominates several areas distributed throughout the brain as relevant for intelligence. This theory was derived from previously published studies using a variety of both imaging methods and tests of cognitive ability. Here we test this theory in a new sample of young healthy adults (N = 100) using a…

Two experiments investigated whether the spatial reference directions that are used to specify objects' locations in memory can be solely determined by layout geometry. Participants studied a layout of objects from a single viewpoint while their eye movements were recorded. Subsequently, participants used memory to make judgments of relative…

The simplest attentional task, detecting a cued stimulus in an otherwise empty visual field, produces complex patterns of performance. Attentional cues interact with backward masks and with spatial uncertainty, and there is a dissociation in the effects of these variables on accuracy and on response time. A computational theory of performance in…

Art teachers know that budget limitations are one of the obstacles that affect creativity in art class. However, teachers can now pour creative juices into their curriculum by using aluminum cans to give their high-school students a project that conceptualizes their sense of environment. This project allows students the freedom to experiment with…

In two studies with a total of 324 participants, dentistry students were assessed on psychometric measures of spatial ability, reasoning ability, and on new measures of the ability to infer the appearance of a cross-section of a three-dimensional (3-D) object. We examined how these abilities and skills predict success in dental education programs,…

New tactile curriculum materials for teaching Earth and planetary science lessons on rotation=revolution, silhouettes of objects from different views, contour maps, impact craters, asteroids, and topographic features of Mars to 11 elementary and middle school students with sight impairments at a week-long residential summer camp are presented…

Recent National Research Council reports make compelling arguments for the need to incorporate spatial abilities and use spatial technologies throughout our educational system. We conducted a pilot study to determine the pedagogical effectiveness of teaching with geographic information systems (GIS) by using a web-based GIS tool of Indiana soils.…

Aim: To describe neuropsychological disturbances and the developmental course associated with cerebellar cortical dysplasia (CCD). Method: The neuroimaging findings from 10 children (five males, five females; aged 3-10y) with CCD were reviewed and classified. These children all underwent clinical neurological examination and neuropsychological…

Many 21st century careers rely on geospatial skills; yet, curricula and professional development lag behind in incorporating these skills. As a result, many teachers have limited experience or preparation for teaching geospatial skills. One strategy for overcoming such problems is the creation of a student/teacher/scientist (STS) partnership…

In order to better understand how to design hands-on child-computer interaction, we explore how different styles of interaction facilitate children's thinking while they use their hands to manipulate objects. We present an exploratory study of children solving a spatial puzzle task. We investigate how the affordances of physical, graphical…

This paper explores secondary school students' representations of a geological map. Ninety-two high school students (ninth graders--15- to 16-years-old) participated in the survey in Turkey. The findings indicate that students have only a vague idea of how a geological map is constructed, and how the map is affected by the topography. The…