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…

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…

Considerable discussion and debate have been devoted to the extent and nature of structural or functional correspondence between internal representations and their external visual counterparts. An analogue representation or process is one in which the relational structure of external events is preserved in the corresponding internal…

The paper reviews research dealing with spatial cognitive ability differences in gifted children and cites implications for reading instruction of gifted readers. A study is detailed which found (1) different spatial profiles for 62 gifted middle students, and (2) that Ss had either three-dimensional transformational excellence or outstanding…

This study contrasts the performance of a 17-year-old female subject with Turner's syndrome before and after developing left temporal lobe seizures, as a means of identifying the mechanism responsible for the Turner's syndrome spatial impairment. The results revealed a deficit in spatial processing before onset of the seizure disorder. Results…

The paper describes a Logo environment designed by an occupational therapist to help 10 disabled students (6-9 years old) explore relative distance, directionality, and spatial relations. The program's goals include enhancing students' language development, planning skills, decision making, risk taking, and problem solving. Logo is briefly…

According to Piaget, young children have a profoundly different conception of distance than do adults. In fact, Piaget argues that young children do not have a conception of distance since they do not conceive of distance as being composed of fixed units of space. In contrast, results of a series of studies indicate that in tasks requiring…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether relationships occur among spatial skills, logical reasoning, and various genetic concepts. Twenty-one students enrolled in an undergraduate genetics course in a northern New Jersey institution completed a series of tests and tasks designed to measure flexibility of closure, visualization,…

The LOGO programing language developed for children includes a set of primitive graphics commands that control the displacement and rotation of a display screen cursor called a turtle. The purpose of this study was to examine 4- to 7-year-olds' understanding of single turtle commands as transformations that connect turtle states and to…

This study investigated the role that spatial ability has in achievement in organic chemistry. Spatial ability was defined as containing two subfactors--spatial visualization and spatial orientation. Spatial visualization is the ability to mentally manipulate pictorially presented stimuli; involved in the processes of manipulation are the…