This study compared number sense instruction in three first-grade traditional mathematics textbooks and one reform-based textbook ("Everyday Mathematics" [EM]). Textbooks were evaluated with regard to their adherence to principles of effective instruction (e.g., big ideas, conspicuous instruction). The results indicated that traditional textbooks…

The aim of the present study was to assess the findings, reported in earlier studies, that individuals with autism spectrum disorders process visuo-spatial tasks faster than typically developing control persons. The participants in the present study were children and adolescents with Asperger syndrome (AS) or high-functioning autism (HFA) (N =…

Letter names play an important role in early literacy. Previous studies of letter name learning have examined the Latin alphabet. The current study tested learners of Hebrew, comparing their patterns of performance and types of errors with those of English learners. We analyzed letter-naming data from 645 Israeli children who had not begun formal…

Within large scale educational assessment agencies in the UK, there has been a shift towards assessors marking digitally scanned copies rather than the original paper scripts that were traditionally used. This project uses extended essay examination scripts to consider whether the mode in which an essay is read potentially influences the…

Background: The study investigated a small range of cognitive abilities, related to visual-spatial intelligence, in adolescents. This specific range of cognitive abilities was termed "graphic abilities" and defined as a range of abilities to visualise and think in three dimensions, originating in the domain of visual-spatial…

This book has as its major focus the comprehensive assessment of children's early numerical knowledge and strategies and their advancement. Practical and theoretical aspects of assessment are explained in detail. A major feature of the book is a learning framework in early number that is applied in analyzing the results of assessment and planning…

Empirical studies that focus on the impact of three-dimensional (3D) visualizations on learning are to date rare and inconsistent. According to the ability-as-enhancer hypothesis, high spatial ability learners should benefit particularly as they have enough cognitive capacity left for mental model construction. In contrast, the…

We assessed 110 left-handed and 322 right-handed children aged from 3 to 10 years, using Bishop's card-reaching task. Manual body midline crossings were observed. A regular developmental trend was observed from 3 to 10 years: older children crossed the body midline more frequently when reaching for cards than did younger children. The factor age…

This study explored whether hand location affected spatial attention. The authors used a visual covert-orienting paradigm to examine whether spatial attention mechanisms--location prioritization and shifting attention--were supported by bimodal, hand-centered representations of space. Placing 1 hand next to a target location, participants detected…

Nonreinforced retrieval can cause extinction and/or reconsolidation, two processes that affect subsequent retrieval in opposite ways. Using the Morris water maze task we show that, in the rat, repeated nonreinforced expression of spatial memory causes extinction, which is unaffected by inhibition of protein synthesis within the CA1 region of the…

A review of the history of working memory (WM) studies finds that the concept of WM evolved from short-term memory to a multi-component system. Comparison between contemporary WM models reveals: (1) consensus that the content of WM includes not only task-relevant information, but also task-irrelevant information; (2) consensus that WM consists of…

Meaningful visual experience requires computations that identify objects as the same persisting individuals over time, motion, occlusion, and featural change. This article explores these computations in the tunnel effect: When an object moves behind an occluder, and then an object later emerges following a consistent trajectory, observers…

The author examines how chronotopes--a term M. M. Bakhtin used to describe space-time relationships in literature--also characterize rhetorical arguments. She uses a case study of a series of debates about genetically modified foods (GMFs) in Canada to illustrate how chronotopes shape arguments along ideological lines. In particular, she suggests…

Whether or not fluctuations in spatial ability as measured by S. G. Vandenberg's Mental Rotations Test occur during the menstrual cycle was studied with 133 female students from 9 undergraduate educational psychology and nursing classes. For comparison, 28 male students also took the test. Scores from 55 females fell into the relevant menstrual…

A short term longitudinal study investigated the relationship between spatial activity and spatial competencies over the course of the preschool years. A group of 22 children, 3 years of age, were observed exploring two different novel environments with their mothers: an indoor children's museum and a small outdoor zoo. When the children were 3.5…