Preschoolers, elementary school children, and adults reconstructed configurations of objects depicted on maps of empty rooms. Found that with symmetric configurations, most subjects preserved the configuration of objects, but preschoolers placed objects far from correct locations; preschoolers performed worse with asymmetric than symmetric…

Relationships between pretraining skills, learning, and posttest performance were studied in spatial and verbal tasks for 84 preschool children. The measurement model that fit the data best maintained separate verbal and spatial domains. The best structural model included paths from pretest and learning assessments to posttest performance within…

Two characteristics that determine problem difficulty--the nature of the move search space and its interaction with other aspects of the task--were investigated in experiments in which 26, 69, 42, and 42 community college students attempted to solve the Chinese Ring Puzzle. The origins and implications of difficulty are discussed. (SLD)

Reports on a study designed to determine whether there is a common level of logic, related to age, underlying children's responses to musical and spatial analogical tasks. Finds that there is a relationship between age and children's responses to analogical tasks whether one uses musical or spatial relationships. Discusses implications for music…

Describes a unit in which students design a space station. Provided are a timetable for the unit, requirements for space-station manufacturing, and an outline of the unit. Lists nine references. (YP)

In 2 experiments, 162 high- and low-spatial ability students viewed a computer-generated animation and heard a concurrent or successive explanation. The concurrent group generated more creative solutions to transfer problems and demonstrated a contiguity effect consistent with dual-coding theory. (SLD)

Six experiments involving 262 children (as young as 16 months and as old as fifth grade) indicate that the basic framework for coding location is present early in life and that later development consists of an increasing ability to impose organization on a broad range of bounded spaces. (SLD)

Discusses the spatial aspects of Greeno's model of conceptual domains and applies the theory to geometry learning. Examines the relationship between mathematical and spatial thinking in light of Greeno's environmental/spatial view of learning. (Contains 16 references.) (MDH)

Tested children's transfer of training in performance of coincidence-anticipation task. At an experimental apparatus, children attempted to intercept a fixed or moving target by pressing a button or by sliding a disk (the criterion task). Found that improved accuracy in intercepting the moving target by sliding the disk occurred only when children…

This article reviews developmental and neuropsychological evidence of differences between modes of processing small-scale and large-scale spatial information, and discusses implications for teaching students with visual impairments. Understanding of developmental processes is felt to be the key to diagnosing and treating orientation and mobility…

Two experiments examined the relationship between developmental improvement in performance on tasks requiring acquisition of spatial knowledge and age-sensitive cognitive abilities. Found that age differences in landmark knowledge were mediated primarily by recognition-in-context memory and that age differences in route knowledge were mediated…

Music stimulates thought processes and enhances spatial reasoning, which are essential for academic achievement. Research indicates the spatial reasoning performance of preschoolers who receive music lessons far exceeds that of comparison students. Even listening to music proves beneficial to spatial reasoning. Music training seems also to benefit…

This paper proposes that those traits which handicap visually oriented dyslexics in a verbally oriented educational system may confer advantages in new fields which rely on visual methods of analysis, especially those in computer applications. It is suggested that such traits also characterized Albert Einstein, Michael Faraday, James Maxwell, and…

Twenty congenitally blind infants were placed in a panelled framework with various tactile and auditory objects for 20-minute periods. Results indicated that subjects improved their performance of spatially related activities when exposed to an environment helping them understand the concept and permanence of objects and the production of…

An overview that gives an introduction to the theories, terms, concepts, and prior research conducted on visualization is presented. This information is to be used as a basis for developing spatial research studies that lend support to the theory that the engineering and technical design graphics curriculum is important in the development of…