Presents activities using interpretation of visual clues and making decisions on the basis of those clues. Students in grades 2-4 use pictures of Native American tribal clothing. Students in grades 5 and 6 can practice determining scale and proportion as they make scale drawings. Includes reproducible student worksheets. (MKR)

Describes activities to be used with fifth and sixth graders to improve students' spatial sense with respect to three-dimensional shapes. Includes the use of cubes, triangular prisms, tetrahedrons, and square pyramids. (MKR)

A model of category effects found in reports of episodic memory is proposed. The model holds that stimuli are presented at a fine-grain level of detail and a category. Four experiments involving a total of 131 University of Chicago (Illinois) students and faculty are reported in support of the model. (SLD)

Examines how high school students use diagrams and summaries during reading and the roles of verbal and spatial ability. Finds a significant direct effect of verbal ability on the recall but no effect of spatial ability on recall. Finds more inspections of diagrams in the first few sentences followed by a random inspection pattern. Discusses…

The SPATIAL model (satisfaction, perception, achievement, transcendent/immanent attributes, authority, layout) posits that (1) individual perception of space affects satisfaction, participation, and achievement; (2) certain aspects of a space are subjective or beyond physical attributes; and (3) authority and layout are external and can be…

The reaction times, movement times, and final accuracy of hand movements of 6, 8, and 10 year olds that were directed toward visual goals were measured by means of tasks in which direction and amplitude components of movement were required. (RH)

Investigates the difference between children's drawings from two- and three-dimensional models, specifically, the influence of color and line, the difference between multicolor and monochrome material, and gender differences. Finds that children's drawings present detailed information about the subject first, then simple proportions, and finally…

Presents interesting activities to develop mental imagery and the ability to transform these images. Concludes that using images facilitates mathematical thought in numerical and geometric settings. (ASK)

Shows changes in the distribution of scores on a set of tests used by the Danish draft board since the late 1950s to the present. The marked gains in cognitive abilities seen in the earlier years have been replaced by very modest gains in the last 10 years. These recent gains appear primarily in a test of visuo-spatial abilities. (Author/SLD)

Reports research using eye-tracking methods to investigate how native Japanese speakers read kanji script. Focus is on the relationship between phonology in reading kanji and the spatial ability of the reader. Findings suggest, that regardless of the reader's spatial orientation, phonological coding is an important factor in understanding kanji.…

A study of 1,283 academically talented junior high students found that males had higher scores on three of the four subtests of the Spatial Test Battery of the Institute for the Academic Advancement of Youth. Females scored higher on the visual memory test and spent more time on the tests. (Author/CR)

Aspects of cognitive processing were evaluated for 462 adolescents followed for 14 years. Adolescents had been exposed prenatally to a broad range of maternal drinking, mostly at "social" levels. Alcohol-related deficits on cognitive tasks were summarized by a speed-accuracy trade-off on the spatial-visual reasoning task. (SLD)

This study examined 40 preschool children's knowledge of learning centers in their classrooms. Results revealed that children were more able to name an activity for each center than to name the centers, and were least able to describe the developmental purposes of the centers. Children's drawings of their classrooms suggest that they recognize the…

The effects of training on first, third, and fifth graders' spatial perspective taking with multiobject two-dimensional arrays were assessed in two studies. Found that, on an immediate test of retention, performance was significantly better for those subjects trained with feedback present than for nontrained students. (MDM)

Examined task factors, cognitive processes, and individual differences as determinants of performance in 188 adults locating a position on a topographical map. Both spatial visualization ability and a visual learning style were found to be effective predictors of performance. A form of verbal strategy training produced significantly improved…