In a series of three experiments, we investigated the development of children's understanding of the similarities between photographs and their referents. Based on prior work on the development of analogical understanding (e.g. Gentner & Rattermann, 1991), we suggest that the appreciation of this relation involves multiple levels. Photographs…

Faced with highly complex and ambiguous visual input, human observers must rely on prior knowledge and assumptions to efficiently determine the structure of their surroundings. One of these assumptions is the "light-from-above" prior. In the absence of explicit light-source information, the visual system assumes that the light-source is roughly…

The authors attempted to identify perceptual mechanisms that pick up information for initiating a run to catch fly balls and for judging their landing locations. Fly balls have been shown to be tracked with the eyes and head (R. R. D. Oudejans, C. F. Michaels, F. C. Bakker, & K. Davids, 1999). This raised the question of whether constraining eye…

Background: Inner speech has been linked to higher-order cognitive processes including "theory of mind", self-awareness and executive functioning, all of which are impaired in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Individuals with ASD, themselves, report a propensity for visual rather than verbal modes of thinking. This study explored the extent to…

This study investigated the relationship between 3 ability-based cognitive styles (verbal deductive, spatial imagery, and object imagery) and performance on geometry problems that provided different types of clues. The purpose was to determine whether students with a specific cognitive style outperformed other students, when the geometry problems…

Many models have hypothesized that multimedia comprehension requires the concurrent processing of verbal and visuospatial information by limited information processing systems. However, in spite of the emphasis devoted to the concurrent processing of verbal and visuospatial information, little research has so far investigated the specific role…

How do we construct abstract ideas like justice, mathematics, or time-travel? In this paper we investigate whether mental representations that result from physical experience underlie people's more abstract mental representations, using the domains of space and time as a testbed. People often talk about time using spatial language (e.g., a "long"…

Developmental research suggests that whereas very young infants individuate objects purely on spatiotemporal grounds, from (at latest) around 1 year of age children are capable of individuating objects according to the kind they belong to and the properties they instantiate. As the latter ability has been found to correlate with language, some…

The seventh- and eight-grade students in the author's art program sharpened up their eyesight and their use of color charts in preparation for an op art project. Op art is short for "optical patterns and designs." The goal of the project is to create and organize line and color into shapes, patterns, and design in symmetrical and asymmetrical…

Intelligence and creativity are concepts used to describe the efforts of human beings to achieve the highest aspirations of the human brain-mind-spirit system. Howard Gardner, intelligence and creativity researcher, applied his Multiple Intelligence theory to case studies of creative masters from seven intelligence domains developing a template…

In this research, we examined overall performance and gender differences in measurement skills in elementary-school students from low-income families. In Study 1, accuracy and error patterns were analyzed in a large sample of fourth-graders; in Study 2 error patterns and strategy usage were examined with a smaller sample of fourth-graders. Study 1…

Temporal and spatial attentional deficits in dyslexia were investigated using a lateralized visual temporal order judgment (TOJ) paradigm that allowed both sensitivity to temporal order and spatial attentional bias to be measured. Findings indicate that adult participants with a positive screen for dyslexia were significantly less sensitive to the…

Children and adults normally interpret the spatial expressions "in front of" and "behind" in a nondeictic way when fronted objects are used. Two experiments involving a treasure hunt game investigated subjects' (6 to 10 years and adults) awareness of an alternative, deictic interpretation. (Author/BE)

Research on spatial thinking impairments, with special reference to right-left orientation, visuomotor and visuoconstructive performances, and finger recognition are examined. It is concluded that, although some dyslexic children do show spatial disabilities, there is little evidence to support the existence of a visuospatial type of developmental…

Forty sighted persons (16 to 40 years old) were blindfolded and administered tactual form perception (FP) and spatial aptitude (SA) tests. No statistically significant correlation between scores on the tactual tests and FP and SA subtests of the General Aptitude Test Battery for sighted persons was found. (CL)