Although traditional methods to collect similarity data (for multidimensional scaling [MDS]) are robust, they share a key shortcoming. Specifically, the possible pairwise comparisons in any set of objects grow rapidly as a function of set size. This leads to lengthy experimental protocols, or procedures that involve scaling stimulus subsets. We…

Learning an algorithm--a systematic sequence of operations for solving a problem with given input--is often difficult for students due to the abstract nature of the algorithms and the data they process. To help students understand the behavior of algorithms, a subfield in computing education research has focused on algorithm…

Most of the spatial information needed by sighted people to construct cognitive maps of spaces is gathered through the visual channel. Unfortunately, people who are blind lack the ability to collect the required spatial information in advance. The use of virtual reality as a learning and rehabilitation tool for people with disabilities has been on…

In serial memory for spatial information, performance is impaired when distractors are interpolated between to-be-remembered (TBR) stimuli (Tremblay, Nicholls, Parmentier, & Jones, 2005). The so-called sandwich effect, combined with the use of eye tracking, served as a tool for examining the role of the oculomotor system in serial memory for…

One way to describe the location of an object is to relate it to another object. Often there are many nearby objects, each of which could serve as a candidate to be the reference object. A common theoretical assumption is that features that make a given object salient relative to the candidate set are instrumental in determining which is selected.…

Our representation of peripersonal space does not always accurately reflect the physical world. An example of this is "pseudoneglect", a phenomenon in which neurologically normal individuals bisect to the left of the veridical midpoint, reflecting an overrepresentation of the left portion of space compared with the right one. Consistent biases…

The development of patterning strategies during the year prior to formal schooling was studied in 53 children from 2 similar preschools. One preschool implemented a 6-month intervention focusing on repeating and spatial patterns. Children from the intervention group demonstrated greater understanding of unit of repeat and spatial structuring, and…

This paper aims at revealing the various meanings of schools as more than built physical environments from a geographical-phenomenological (or "geo-phenomenological") perspective. This paper consists of five sections: the first explicates the meaning of "geo-phenomenology"; the second reveals the meaning of "environment" and a dialectics of…

In the majority of people, functional differences are observed between the two cerebral hemispheres: language production is typically subserved by the left hemisphere and visuospatial skills by the right hemisphere. The development of this division of labour is not well understood and lateralisation of visuospatial function has received little…

Mental rotation involves transforming a mental image of an object so as to accurately predict how the object would look if it were rotated in space. This study examined mental rotation in male and female 3-month-olds, using the stimuli and paradigm developed by Moore and Johnson (2008). Infants were habituated to a video of a three-dimensional…

In addition to motor execution problems, children with hemiplegia have motor planning deficits, which may stem from poor motor imagery ability. This study aimed to provide a greater understanding of motor imagery ability in children with hemiplegia using the hand rotation task. Three groups of children, aged 8-12 years, participated: right…

This paper discusses how public library readers in Almeida Garrett, Porto, create a reading atmosphere, focusing on meanings associated with aural conditions. Through a qualitative, single case study, ethnographic and interview techniques were applied. Readers' actual practices and discourses, through a theoretical sample, and those of managers,…

We explore whether time shifts in text comprehension are represented spatially. Participants read sentences involving past or future events and made sensibility judgment responses in one of two ways: (1) moving toward or away from their body and (2) pressing the toward or away buttons without moving. Previous work suggests that spatial…

Spatial ability has been found to be a good predictor of success in learning anatomy. However, little research has explored whether spatial ability can be improved through anatomy education and experience. This study had two aims: (1) to determine if spatial ability is a learned or inherent facet in learning anatomy and (2) to ascertain if there…

The present study was an attempt to investigate the differences in the accessibility of phonological, semantic, and orthographic aspects of words in L2 vocabulary learning. For this purpose, a sample of 119 Iranian intermediate level EFL students in a private language institute in Karaj was selected. All of the participants received the same…