The fact that males outperform females on specific spatial tests is not generally disputed, but the explanations for these differences are controversial. This paper highlights unresolved issues, such as definitions of space and measurement of abilities, and illustrates problems of interpretation of research regarding sex differences. (Author/HS)

This paper presents the results of a study of the structural development of young students' drawings of arrays, and in particular, the significance of using lines instead of drawing individual squares. Students' array drawings were classified on basis of numerical properties, and perceived structural similarities that reflected the spatial…

This study followed a child born in a bilingual (English and Spanish) family who had daily exposure to both languages since birth. The study examined how bilingual acquisition proceeded in this child who was receiving different, often contradictory, cues from the structure of the two languages. The family lived in Barcelona, Spain, and the child…

Four groups (sighted, blindfolded sighted, legally blind, and blind) of adults were trained to traverse a five-block route in a residential neighborhood and were then asked to reconstruct the route from memory. Results showed the blind and sighted adults demonstrated similar abilities to learn routes but showed significant differences in memorial…

Superior performance by adventitiously blind Ss relative to congenitally blind Ss appeared on tasks where the stimuli were complex, familiar and/or apprehenced with arm's length of the body, but not on tasks where the stimuli were relatively simple, novel, and/or apprehenced only through locomotion. (Author/MC)

Explores the relationship between visuo-spatial skills and the ability to attend to perceptual detail in 20 autistic, 20 normal, and 20 mildly retarded children of comparable mental age. Test material from the Children's Embedded Figures Test was used. Autistic children, using qualitatively different strategies, were significantly more competent…

The underestimation (righting) of frame-of-reference tilt correlates with the perception of the vertical rod as tilted in the opposite direction (the rod-and-frame effect). The rod-and-frame effect can be thought of as the solution to the problem of the rod's tilt given the perceived tilt of the frame. (Author/PN)

The effectiveness of testing instruments for field dependence-independence in spatial-visual ability in children is questioned, since they may not measure the same dimensions as those for older children and adults. The effects of training on performance of spatial-visual tasks are discussed, with a warning to monitor training programs carefully.…

An easy-to-use objective method for evaluating a blind person's knowledge about the spatial layout of a locale was used with 10 adventitiously blind adults. Preliminary evidence indicated that the representations of spatial knowledge generated from the scaling procedures are related to the person's mobility performance in that space. (Author)

Witelson found that boys but not girls showed right-hemisphere specialization for tactile-spatial processing as early as six years. Witelson's task was administered to 46 normal four- and five-year olds. Both sexes showed right-hemisphere specialization. No sex differences appeared either in specialization or in overall performance. (Author/SJL)

Nine- and 16-month-old infants were presented a manual search problem in which a toy was hidden in one of two inaccessible containers, which were then moved into reach. Older infants performed better than younger infants, performance improved across trials, and more correct searches occurred when containers or trajectories were distinctive.…

Ninety-seven children between 5 and 8 years of age drew two arrays, four times each, in different orientations vis-a-vis the child. Younger children's drawings contained much array-specific information but often no indication at all of the child's viewing position. Older children's drawings were predominantly view-specific, often containing little…

Assesses the effects of the specific route traveled, intervening barriers, and different lengths of routes on the spatial knowledge of second graders, sixth graders and college students for a novel experimental environment. (MP)

Nonoperational first graders were taught Piaget's horizontality concept. In comparison to control subjects, training group subjects significantly increased correct responses, maintained their gains, and transferred their training from a straight-sided jar to a round-sided jar. (Author/DB)