The purpose of this book is to introduce the geoboard as an effective tool that can help young children understand geometry as they develop spatial sense and mathematical thinking. Activities are clustered into three main sections: beginning geoboard explorations, exploring polygons, and coordinates. Blackline masters are included. (MKR)

A Study was conducted to test the hypothesis proposed by J. S. Symmes and J. L. Rapoport that a sex-linked recessive gene might account for the good spatial ability found among dyslexic readers, the familial pattern of the disorder, and the frequently reported sex ratio of three affected males to one female. Spatial/reasoning ability scores were…

Two studies were conducted to determine whether preschool children automatically use spatial context to aid recall of objects or whether the ability to use spatial context as a retrieval aid is a deliberate mnemonic strategy that develops later. In the first experiment, a total of 32 children (16 aged 3 and 16 aged 4) participated in a memory task…

Reported are research findings that (1) illustrate the importance of primary spatial orientation for children's and adults' use of symbolic spatial skills and (2) indicate the importance of the distinction between primary and secondary spatial orientation. At least two major ways exist in which humans gather and use spatial information. The…

Introduction: This paper investigates the ways in which spatial factors have been approached in information seeking studies. The main attention was focused on studies discussing information seeking on the level of source selection and use. Method: Conceptual analysis of about 100 articles and books thematizing spatial issues of information…

Several times a week I walk by a metal chair that is fastened to a flat concrete slab at an outdoor bus stop here in Boulder. One day I noticed on the concrete a nice shadow image of the woven metal seat of the chair (Fig. 1). The seat and back of the chair are formed from 3.8-cm wide strips of metal spaced 3.8 cm apart. The seat is about 39 cm…

Two processing abilities used to solve spatial problems are examined: (1) the analog ability of structural visualization; and (2) the non-analog ability of verbal analytic reasoning. The distinction is based on an evaluation of information processing theory and a review of process-oriented studies of individual differences. Criteria are presented…

A model is presented for item responses when different examinees use different strategies to arrive at their answers and when only those answers, not choice or strategy or subtask results, can be observed. Using substantive theory to differentiate the likelihoods of response vectors under a fixed set of solution strategies, responses are modeled…

Positivist methodology, with an emphasis on quantification and measurement, is the most effective approach to behavioral research in geography and is the only means to obtain valid knowledge. Although initial behavioral research in geography was centered on positivist tradition, many of the classic tenets have been replaced. Tendencies toward…

A 2-part investigation was conducted to examine the ways children resolve the inherent ambiguity of spatial descriptions in terms of cues indicated by the three constituents of spatial propositions: predicate, referent, and relatum. In the first study, it was hypothesized that certain objects, structural markers, and definite articles accompanying…

The two-dimensional Traveling Salesperson Problem (TSP) requires finding the shortest tour through n locations. Untrained adults are adept at the task and reliably outperform simple construction algorithms for n= 60. Performance may stem from a specific inherent ability. Alternatively, it may reflect general spatial intelligence, whether inherent…

Figures that undergo an implied rotation are remembered as being slightly beyond their final position, a phenomenon called representational momentum. Eight experiments explored the questions of what gets transformed and what types of transformations induce such representational distortions. (GDC)

The study attemped to link cognitive and social problems seen in girls with Turner syndrome by assessing the girls' ability to process affective cues. Seventeen 9- to 17-year-old girls diagnosed with Turner syndrome were compared to a matched control group on a task which required interpretation of affective intention from facial expression.…

Tested the hypothesis that some attempts to reduce the performance demands of concrete Piagetian operational tasks may have allowed children to solve those tasks with preoperational functions. Administered two previously used versions of the transitivity task for length and weight to 120 children six- to nine-years-old. The second version was…

In this study symbolic motor skill acquisition was best when mental imagery was used. In early stages of performance males were more skillful but this sex difference disappeared in later stages of performance. The findings support the hypothesis that sex-related differences may vanish after training and practice. (VM)