The benefits of using virtual environments (VEs) in psychology arise from the fact that movements in virtual space, and accompanying perceptual changes, are treated by the brain in much the same way as those in equivalent real space. The research benefits of using VEs, in areas of psychology such as spatial learning and cognition, include…

The paper studies whether visuospatial working memory (VSWM) and, specifically, recall of sequential-spatial information, can be improved by metacognitive training. Twenty-two fourth-grade children were involved in seven sessions of sequential-spatial memory training, while twenty-four children attended lessons given by their teacher. The…

A concern on the level of anatomy knowledge reached after a problem-based learning curriculum has been documented in the literature. Spatial anatomy, arguably the highest level in anatomy knowledge, has been related to spatial abilities. Our first objective was to test the hypothesis that residents are interested in a course of applied anatomy…

A study tested the possibility that children 16-24 months old and 6-7 years old can code distance without the use of landmarks. Younger children sat with their mothers at the side of a sandbox and watched the experimenter hide a toy in the sand. After being distracted, the children looked for the toy in the box. Nine trials were used, with toys…

The effect of perceptual speed on performance and paper-and-pencil measures of spatial ability is examined. Perceptual speed is defined as speed in comparing figures or symbols, scanning to find figures or symbols, or carrying out other very simple tasks involving visual perception. It was hypothesized that perceptual speed would have more…

Considers aspect of Muchow's work that are relevant for developmental psychology, including her emphasis on the contextual matrix of child behavior, her interest in the sphere of children's action in relation to their cognition of the environment, and methodological implications in her work. (Author/SO)

David, who from September 1971 to February 1984 actively lived his life in a sterile isolator, was severely deprived of experience of the physical world. His difficulty with the concepts of space, depth, and size related clearly to his limited experience rather than to cognitive or visual-motor-perceptual deficits. (Author/CL)

Research on the effects of visual perception and orientation difficulties on academic, communication, and social development of deaf children is reviewed. The need for incorporating methods for remediating learning disabilities into preservice training for teachers of the deaf is emphasized. (CL)

To examine similarly complex spatial tasks, a battery of spatial and logical tests were administered daily for 12 weeks to the total population of a middle school for gifted children. Two cognitive styles were identified: rapid recognition and spatial reconstruction. (Author/CL)

Investigates the ability of four-, five-, and six-year-olds to locate their starting point and retrieve an immobilized object after being blindfolded and moved. Results indicate that, while children as young as four years can coordinate an initial egocentrated target location with what they believe to be their starting point, computation of the…

The role of the spatial relationship between target responses and reinforcers in the discrimination learning of six mentally retarded adults was evaluated. Results showed that discrimination performance was more efficient in the experimental condition (reinforcement located near the correct cue) than the control condition (reinforcement in common…

Deficits in spatial abilities, particularly Mental Rotation (MR), may contribute to women's avoidance of areas of study (such as chemistry) that rely on MR. Those women who do succeed in chemistry may do so because they have MT skills that are on par with their male peers. We examined MR ability on 12 items from the Vandenberg and Kuse MR test…

Two experiments tested the effectiveness of familiar size as information for perceiving distance. In the first experiment, under monocular viewing conditions, adults judged the distances to large and small photographs of faces and to large and small checkerboard ovals equal to the faces in size. In the second, the same displays were presented to…

Children completed a perspectives task involving before-behind and left-right relationships, in which two-dimensional arrays were used to eliminate masking effects that might facilitate the task. The results suggested that children perform equally well on each type of spatial relationship. (Author/MJL)

Argues for a multilevel format of written communication that presents ideas in a typographical format allowing the reader to easily choose alternative paths through the material. (HOD)