Studies on functional hemispheric asymmetries have suggested that the right vs. left hemisphere should be predominantly involved in low vs. high spatial frequency (SF) analysis, respectively. By manipulating exposure duration of filtered natural scene images, we examined whether the temporal characteristics of SF analysis (i.e., the temporal…

People encode goal-directed behaviors, such as assembling an object, by segmenting them into discrete actions, organized as goal-subgoal hierarchies. Does hierarchical encoding contribute to observational learning? Participants in 3 experiments segmented an object assembly task into coarse and fine units of action and later performed it…

This research explored infants' use of place learning and cue learning in a locomotor task across the transition from crawling to walking. Novice and expert crawling and walking infants were observed in a novel locomotor task -- finding a hidden goal location in a large space. In Experiment 1, infants were tested with distal landmarks. Infants…

Based on stimulating findings suggesting that prenatal levels of steroids may influence cognitive functions, a study with N=40 healthy volunteers of both sexes was conducted. Prenatal levels of testosterone (T) were estimated by use of the second-to-fourth digit ratio (2D:4D) which is supposed to be controlled by the same genes involved in…

Two experiments investigated whether the representations used for animal, produce, and object recognition code spatial relations in a similar manner. Experiment 1 tested the effects of planar rotation on the recognition of animals and nonanimal objects. Response times for recognizing animals followed an inverted U-shaped function, whereas those…

Two lexical-decision experiments investigated the effects of semantic priming and stimulus intensity when target location varied and was cued by an abrupt onset. In Experiment 1, the spatial cue was a good predictor of target location, and in Experiment 2 it was not. The results indicate that word recognition processes were postponed until spatial…

In this study the authors tested and rejected a recent proposal that response precuing effects depend on the spatial extent of the precues rather than on the number of response choices. Moreover, the authors tested and supported the hypothesis that the number of effectors in the response set is an important determinant of spatial precuing effects.…

The authors conducted 2 experiments to study the metrics of spatial distance in a mental imagery task. In both experiments, participants first memorized the layout of a building containing 10 rooms with 24 objects. Participants then received mental imagery instructions and imagined how they walked through the building from one room to another. The…

Grounded blends may be literal or metaphorical, the latter allowing for an even richer variety of blend characteristics. This contribution of metaphor is achieved largely through the utilization of body partitioning. Body partitioning may result in: (1) the appearance of a single, coherent source-domain scene iconically represented; (2) a single…

The study investigated at what age children draw boundaries around pairs of objects that share either similarity or proximity. In two studies (N=132 and N=252) using a Wertheimer array, a clear age trend between 4 and 8 years showed that while young children were more likely to code objects into individual regions, older children were more likely…

Mental mapping of spaces is essential for the development of efficient orientation and mobility skills. Most of the information required for mental mapping is gathered through the visual channel. Blind people lack this crucial information, facing in consequence difficulties in mapping as well as navigating spaces. The work reported here is based…

Structure was imposed on a tapping task by requiring participants to reproduce sequences of responses to icons organised in spatial clusters. A first experiment featured sequences either segregated or not segregated by clusters. Accuracy was higher for sequences segregated by clusters. Moreover, inter-response times were longer at cluster…

Three experiments investigated whether the similarity of relational structures influences the interpretation of spatial representations. Adults were shown diagrams of hand gestures paired with simple statements and asked to judge the meaning of new gestures. In Experiment 1 the gestures were paired with active declarative statements. In Experiment…

Deaf children tend to fall behind in mathematics at school. This problem may be a direct result of particular experiences in the classroom; for example, deaf children may find it hard to follow teachers' presentations of basic, but nevertheless quite abstract, mathematical ideas. Another possibility is that the problem starts before school: They…

Verbal and spatial working memory were examined in high-functioning children, adolescents, and adults with autism compared to age and cognitive-matched controls. No deficit was found in verbal working memory in the individuals with autism using an "N"-back letter task and standardized measures. The distinction between the "N"-back task and others…