The study compared the performance of schizophrenic patients and normal controls in their ability to direct visual attention. The first experiment compared 12 adult schizophrenic patients with 30 control volunteers in their ability to orient attention in response to peripheral visual cues. The patients were distinguished from controls by a slower…

A study is described in which the acquisition of "in,""on," and "under" was studied controlling for the non-linguistic strategies suggested by Clark's (1974) ordered rules, as well as controlling for stimuli bias. Clark's rules were: (1) If Y is a container, put X "in" it; and if Y is not a container, but…

The extent to which sex differences on a mental rotation test were related to ocular dominance, handedness, and familial handedness was explored. The Vandenberg revision of the Shepard-Metzlar mental rotation test was administered to 206 college students. The test consisted of 20 criterion figures, each followed by two correct and two incorrect…

Research on the development of perceptuomotor coordination in sighted children, specifically, the ability to (1) reach to objects, (2) explore objects once they have been attained, and (3) use actions to transform spatial relationships, is reviewed for implications for development of perceptuomotor skills in visually impaired children. (Author/DB)

Meta-analysis of the literature (47 studies) comparing spatial task performance of blind and sighted subjects found that early onset (of blindness) groups generally showed poorer performance than either the late onset or the sighted groups. (Author/DB)

The predictability of individual differences in the ability to reason about dynamic displays from tests using static displays was studied in 170 adults given paper-and-pencil and computer controlled tests. Several multivariate analyses indicated that the ability to reason about dynamic motion was distinct from the ability to reason about static…

Because previous studies had suggestd that Down Syndrome subjects did not respond to changes in directional probability within a complex motor task as did other retarded subjects, 14 Down Syndrome 18-year-olds were given training relative to the directional probability component of the task. Performance was improved but primarily in terms of…

Examined ways in which irrelevant variations within a stimulus set interfered with performances of second and fifth graders and adults in a selective attention task. Stimuli were constructed from spatially integrated dimensions in experiment 1 and spatially separated dimensions in experiment 2. Developmental differences in perceived structure were…

Describes a computer simulation game that helps teach spatial autocorrelation, a fundamental geographic concept referring to the degree and kind of spatial patterning to be found in geographic data. Experiences with this simulation exercise at the State University of New York Buffalo are briefly summarized. (Author/BSR)

The centrality of intellectual abilities is discussed in terms of two evaluative criteria, given the combined acronym GENECES: (1) the "generality" of the ability in performances on tasks requiring adaptation to, selection of, and shaping of real-world environments; and (2) the "necessity" of these abilities in performing tasks. (Author/LMO)

Sex-related differences on Piagetian horizontality (water level) and verticality (plumb line) tasks were examined by testing 64 college students. Results showed that college-aged males and females generally did not differ in spatial competence although they may be differentially influenced by task content. Implications for theory and practice are…

Describes a four-factor, 20-item Everyday Spatial Activities Test (ESAT) developed for use with college students for studying the contribution of differential spatial experiences to educational and vocational behaviors. Correlations with objective tests, including a test of space visualization, establishes preliminary validity for the ESAT.…

Finds that seven-month-old infants are sensitive to pictorial interposition whereas five-month-old infants are not. Suggests that sensitivity to pictorial depth information first appears between five and seven months of age. (Author)

Speech-action coordination in 100 three and four year olds was measured according to a modified version of Wozniak's hammering-board task. Four instructional conditions (instructional, demonstration, vocalization, no vocalization) were presented in a numerical task ("Hit four times") and in two spatial tasks: three-color ("Hit red,…

Reviews two spelling packages ("Spelldiver" and "Attack of the Spelling Bees") and a reading program ("The Word Bird"), which teaches spatial relationships while encouraging the young reader to read carefully. Includes suggested age(s), hardware needed, current price, manufacturer, distributor, and in-depth evaluation…