The purpose of this study was to attempt to train the horizontality concept in a group of first graders who were non-operational on the horizontality concept but transitional on what Piaget has termed the precursor concepts of distance and length conservation. There were two groups of subjects (training and control), all of whom had failed a…

The paper describes the successful use of the LOGO System (an interactive graphics, computer based learning environment) with 12 severely physically handicapped adolescents with cerebral palsy. Five goals were set forth concerning the opportunity to work with microcomputers in interesting ways, the assessment of the students' spatial competence,…

Three possible reasons for sex-related differences in science performance of 17 year olds were examined by analyzing total scores in three National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) science booklets. Variables examined included spatial ability, attitudes toward science, and the use of the "I don't know" response. Because of an…

This document briefly reviews four areas of educational inquiry. The first section is concerned with definitions of the terms "spatial ability" and "visual imagery"; the second is concerned with training studies in which attempts have been made to improve spatial ability or to encourage greater use of visual imagery in problem…

Social cognitive abilities were evaluated in 23 deaf students (3 to 6 years old) through tasks requiring spatial perspective taking, cooperation, and receptive language. As hypothesized, language ability proved to be a prediction of both other variables, with the high correlation between language and perspective taking indicating a definite…

A circuit approach and station techniques are used to depict perceptual motor games for handicapped and nonhandicapped children. Twenty activities are described in terms of objectives, materials, and procedures, and their focus on visual tracking, visual discrimination and copying of forms, spatial body perception, fine motor coordination, tactile…

An overview of cognitve styles and research in the field of field dependence/field independence within the context of the special needs of Hispanic students is presented. Various studies by Witkin et al. on the dimension of field dependence/field independence required the subject to perceive an item independently of the field or context that…

The construct of spatial ability is discussed and it is suggested that some widely used and cited tests that are called spatial ability tests may not be valid measures of that ability. Instead, their items may be solved using mental processes that are clearly analytical and not spatial in nature. Four studies involving the analysis of subjects'…

Presents study findings which supported the use of answer-until-correct tests. Discusses results based on responses of secondary students from England (N=387) that revealed that the answer-until-correct test of mechanical reasoning had similar findings to the spatial reasoning test. (ML)

Some research indicates that students often think that their drawings of three dimensional objects can be done without ambiguity, and that properties of drawings are properties of the objects. This "knowing vs. seeing" conflict was studied in three French sixth grade classes. (PK)

When an older person confronts vision loss, the perceptual categories of space and time are disrupted. This forces newly blind older persons to question their ability to manipulate their environment and participate in social relationships. It makes them vulnerable to self-imposed tentativeness and externally generated labels of incompetence.…

Examines recent data on sex-related differences in science and mathematics achievement, discussing meta-analyses findings on attitudes, career choice, life/physical science preferences, and motivation. Indicates that spatial visualization appears to be very important and that girls more often attribute success to luck rather than skill. (DH)

A conceptual theory for predicting the relations between intellectual abilities and performance during task practice is proposed and is evaluated through an experiment with high school and college students. This macro-theory integrates hierarchical theories of intellectual abilities with information-processing theories of automatic and controlled…

Results of two studies indicate a tendency among young children to impose organization on information encoded in memory and in relation to increases in metric accuracy, decentration, and efficient scanning, which enable them to more accurately evaluate when such organization is and is not appropriate. (Author)

Relates how 16 "computer writers" felt about how they use the computer for writing tasks and reports on three experimental studies that compared the performance of college students reading texts displayed on a computer terminal screen and on a printed hard copy. Findings showed that visual/spatial factors influenced locational recall,…