Role of the Embodied Cognition Process in Perspective-Taking Ability During Childhood

This study examined developmental changes in Level-2 visual perspective taking (VPT2) in 90 children aged 4–12 years and tested the role of their ability to mentally simulate changes to their bodily locations (self-motion imagery; SMI). Performance of a mental toy rotation task and a self-motion (SM) task (changing location of children) was superior to that of VPT2 and SMI tasks. Task performance of SMI was better than that of VPT2 before 10;0 (years;months). Furthermore, egocentric responses in VPT2 and SMI tasks were significantly more frequent than those in the mental rotation and SM tasks before 10;3. These findings suggest the involvement of embodied cognitive processes in perspective taking and the advantage of utilizing bodily information by age 10.     

Effects of different types of learning on handwriting movements in young children

This experiment aimed at studying the benefits of different types of training (visual, motor, or visual-motor), in comparison to a control group, on 5-year-olds' performance in a task of writing cursive letters. The visual-motor training was shown to be the most effective training. The efficacy of visual training was clear at the letter quality level, and the impact of the motor training was shown at the movement fluency level. We assume that the visual training better contributes to learning the shape of the letter trajectory, while the motor training better contributes to improve handwriting movement execution.     

A study of the relationship between learning styles and cognitive abilities in engineering students

Learning preferences have been indirectly linked to student success in engineering programmes, without a significant body of research to connect learning preferences with cognitive abilities. A better understanding of the relationship between learning styles and cognitive abilities will allow educators to optimise the classroom experience for students. The goal of this study was to determine whether relationships exist between student learning styles, as determined by the Felder-Soloman Inventory of Learning Styles (FSILS), and their cognitive performance. Three tests were used to assess student's cognitive abilities: a matrix reasoning task, a Tower of London task, and a mental rotation task. Statistical t-tests and correlation coefficients were used to quantify the results. Results indicated that the global–sequential, active–referential, and visual–verbal FSILS learning styles scales are related to performance on cognitive tasks. Most of these relationships were found in response times, not accuracy. Differences in task performance between gender groups (male and female) were more notable than differences between learning styles groups.     

Dynamic characteristics of mental models and dynamic visual displays

Mental models are hypothetical constructs for explaining human cognitive processes of understanding external reality, translating the reality into internal representation and utilizing it in problem solving. Three experiments were conducted to investigate important characteristics of mental models, their influence on task performance, and instructional strategies facilitating their formation. The experiments were conducted in computer-based training environments designed to teach troubleshooting electronic logic circuits. The results suggested: (a) dynamic characteristics of mental models are important for solving problems if understanding functional behaviors of the system is required to perform the task; (b) dynamic characteristics of mental models are determined primarily by subjects' understanding of the system features and functions more than by the visually presented training contents of the system; and (c) motion simulating system functions in visual displays is more effective than static visual displays in facilitating the formation of dynamic characteristics of mental models. Consequently, dynamic visual displays are more effective than static visual displays for teaching electronic troubleshooting skills. These findings provide direct implications for the development of training programs.     

The improvement in mental rotation performance in primary school-aged children after a two-week motor-training

The present study investigated the influence of motor training on mental rotation performance in children aged between 8 and 10 years Two groups of 42 children each solved a psychometric mental rotation task with three-dimensional block figures. After the initial test, one group received two weeks of specific coordinative motor training every school day for 20?min, while the other group did not receive any additional training. At the end of the training period, all children solved the mental rotation task again. The results show that both groups improved their performance from the pre- to the post-test; however, the improvement for the training group was higher than for the non-training group. This study shows the influence of motor training on mental rotation performance.     

Individual differences in spatial text processing: High spatial ability can compensate for spatial working memory interference

The present study investigates the relation between spatial ability and visuo-spatial and verbal working memory in spatial text processing. In two experiments, participants listened to a spatial text (Experiments 1 and 2) and a non-spatial text (Experiment 1), at the same time performing a spatial or a verbal concurrent task, or no secondary task. To understand how individuals who differ in spatial ability process spatial text during dual task performance, spatial individual differences were analyzed. The tasks administered were the Vandenberg and Kuse [Vandenberg, S. G., & Kuse, A. R. (1978). Mental rotation, a group test of three-dimensional spatial visualization. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 47, 599-604.] mental rotation test (MRT) and a reading comprehension task (RCT). Individuals with high (HMR) and low (LMR) mental rotation differed in MRT scores but had similar RCT performance. Results showed that the HMR group, in contrast with LMR counterparts, preserved good spatial text recall even when a spatial concurrent task was performed; however, Experiment 2 revealed a modification of spatial concurrent task performance in LMR as well in HMR group. Overall, results suggest that HMR individuals have more spatial resources than LMR individuals, allowing them to compensate for spatial working memory interference, but only to a limited extent, given that the processing of spatial information is still mediated by VSWM.     

Identification of effective visual problem solving strategies in a complex visual domain

Students in complex visual domains must acquire visual problem solving strategies that allow them to make fast decisions and come up with good solutions to real-time problems. In this study, 31 air traffic controllers at different levels of expertise (novice, intermediate, expert) were confronted with 9 problem situations depicted on a radar screen. Participants were asked to provide the optimal order of arrival of all depicted aircrafts. Eye-movements, time-on-task, perceived mental effort, and task performance were recorded. Eye-tracking data revealed that novices use inefficient means-end visual problem solving strategies in which they primarily focus on the destination of aircraft. Higher levels of expertise yield visual problem solving strategies characterized by more efficient retrieval of relevant information and more efficient scan paths. Furthermore, experts' solutions were more similar than intermediates' solutions and intermediates' solutions were more similar than novices' solutions. Performance measures showed that experts and intermediates reached better solutions than novices, and that experts were faster and invested less mental effort than intermediates and novices. These findings may help creating eye-movement modeling examples for the teaching of visual problem solving strategies in complex visual domains.     

Sources of age differences in speed of processing

3 experiments were conducted to study developmental change in the speed of cognitive processes. In Experiment 1, subjects ranging in age from 8 to 21 years were tested on a mental rotation task in which they judged whether pairs of letters presented at different orientations were identical or mirror images, and on a name retrieval task in which they judged if pairs of pictures were identical physically or had the same name. Increases with age in the speed of mental rotation and speed of name retrieval were both well described by exponential functions, and the rate of developmental change was comparable for the 2 tasks. Experiment 2 confirmed that age changes in rate of mental rotation are well described by an exponential function. Experiment 3 demonstrated, on a mental rotation task, a perfect correlation across conditions between children's mean response times and adults' mean response times for corresponding conditions. These results are interpreted as indicating that age differences in speed of processing are due, at least in part, to a central limiting mechanism that increases with age.     

The role of working memory in spatial text processing: What benefit of imagery strategy and visuospatial abilities?

This study investigated the construction of a spatial model in relation to working memory (WM) and visuospatial abilities. Participants were trained to use either imagery or verbal strategies to process route spatial texts. Results obtained on a free recall task, a verification test and a graphic representation task showed the beneficial effect of using a strategy based on mental images. When imagery strategies were used, a concurrent articulatory task produced interference effects on recall performance, and a spatial tapping task also impaired performance as compared to the control condition. These interference effects suggest that both visuospatial and verbal WM were involved in construction of the spatial model. When repetition strategies were used, however, only the articulatory task produced interference effects, highlighting the role of the verbal WM. To elucidate how the involvement of the visuospatial component may differ in relation to visuospatial abilities, participants with good or poor ability in generation of visual images and spatial manipulation of objects were compared. The benefit of the imagery strategy was found in both groups, but whereas low-visuospatial imagery participants were sensitive to spatial interference, their high ability counterparts were not. These results question the role of imagery processes in the construction of spatial models and their relation to the visuospatial WM.     

Young Children's Awareness of Their Mental Activity: The Case of Mental Rotation

From Piaget's early work to current theory of mind research, young children have been characterized as having little or no awareness of their mental activity. This conclusion was reexamined by assessing children's conscious access to visual imagery. Four-year-olds, 6-year-olds, and adults were given a mental rotation task in the form of a computer game, but with no instructions to use mental rotation and no other references to mental activity. During the task, participants were asked to explain how they made their judgments. Reaction time patterns and verbal reports revealed that 6-year-olds were comparable to adults both in their spontaneous use and subjective awareness of mental rotation. Four-year-olds who referred to mental activity to explain their performance had reaction time and error patterns consistent with mental rotation; 4-year-olds who did not refer to mental activity responded randomly. A second study with 5-year-olds produced similar results. This research demonstrates that conscious access to at least 1 type of thinking is present earlier than previously recognized. It also helps to clarify the conditions under which young children will and will not notice and report their mental activity. These findings have implications for competing accounts of children's developing understanding of the mind and for the "imagery debate."     

Exploring Verbal,Visual and Schematic Learners' Static and Dynamic Mental Images of Scientific Species and Processes in Relation to Their Spatial Ability

The current study compared different learners’ static and dynamic mental images of unseen scientific species and processes in relation to their spatial ability. Learners were classified into verbal, visual and schematic. Dynamic images were classified into: appearing/disappearing, linear-movement, and rotation. Two types of scientific entities and their related processes were investigated: astronomical and microscopic. The sample included 79 female students from Grades 9 and 10. For the purpose of the study, three instruments were used. The Mental Images by Guided Imagery instrument was designed to investigate participants' visualization of static and dynamic mental images. The Water-Level Task was adopted to estimate participants' spatial ability. The Learning Styles Inventory was used to classify participants into verbal, visual and schematic learners. The research findings suggest that schematic learners outperformed verbal and visual learners in their spatial ability. They also outperformed them in their vividness of microscopic images; both micro-static and micro-dynamic images; especially in the case of appearing/disappearing images. The differences were not significant in the case of astronomical images. The results also indicate that appearing/disappearing images received the least vividness scores for all three types of learners.     

Cognitive Motor Coordination Training Improves Mental Rotation Performance in Primary School‐Aged Children

The long‐term physical activity in specific sport activities can change the quality of mental rotation performance. This study investigates the influence of Life Kinetik—a motion program with tasks of cognition and motor coordination—on mental rotation performance of 44 primary school–aged children. While the experimental group received Life Kinetik lessons twice a week for 5 weeks, the control group took part in regular physical education classes for the same period of time. Both groups performed a mental rotation task before and after the intervention. The experimental group showed a significant increase in mental rotation ability than the control group.     

Increased physical education at school improves the visual-spatial cognition during adolescence

The main goal of this study was to investigate the influence of an established school programme with a high amount of physical education on visual-spatial ability in a secondary school. One hundred and forty-four adolescents, 69 from sport classes and 75 from regular classes, solved a cognitive processing speed task and a mental rotation task. The results reflect a better cognitive processing speed of the boys in the sports classes compared to regular classes but no differences for girls. Concerning the mental rotation performance, we found a significantly better mental rotation performance for boys and girls in the sports classes compared to regular classes due to an increased number of items worked on. Supposedly, motor expertise facilitates mental rotation performance by promoting a faster editing of the task. The benefits of sport classes in normal high school settings have to be investigated in further studies considering the effect on academic performance.     

The Relationship Between Mental Preparation Strategies and Motor Performance: A Review and Critique

This paper reviews the mental practice literature as well as more current research on the effect of specific mental preparation strategies on skilled performance. A synopsis of the mental practice literature indicated that mental practice was generally effective in enhancing performance. For maximum effectiveness, mental practice should be used in conjunction with physical practice and should not be thought of as a replacement for physical practice. The degree of effectiveness of mental practice is dependent on a number of variables, such as conceptualizing ability, previous experience, task type, and length of practice session. Recently, researchers have begun to study the effect of specific mental preparation on motor performance. Some of the more popular techniques include imagery, selfefficacy statements, attentional focus, preparatory arousal, and relaxation. In addition, several recent techniques such as stress innoculation training and visuomotor behavior rehearsal use a combination of the techniques. Although preliminary empirical research is encouraging, more controlled outcome studies are necessary to determine the effectiveness of these techniques in enhancing skilled performance.     

Spatial abilities of expert clinical anatomists: comparison of abilities between novices, intermediates, and experts in anatomy

Spatial ability has been found to be a good predictor of success in learning anatomy. However, little research has explored whether spatial ability can be improved through anatomy education and experience. This study had two aims: (1) to determine if spatial ability is a learned or inherent facet in learning anatomy and (2) to ascertain if there is any difference in spatial ability between experts and novices in anatomy. Fifty participants were identified: 10 controls, 10 novices, 10 intermediates, and 20 experts. Participants completed four computerized spatial ability tasks, a visual mental rotation task, categorical spatial judgment task, metric spatial task, and an image-scanning task. The findings revealed that experts (P = 0.007) and intermediates (P = 0.016) were better in the metric spatial task than novices in terms of making more correct spatial judgments. Experts (P = 0.033), intermediates (P = 0.003), and novices (P = 0.004) were better in the categorical spatial task than controls in terms of speed of responses. These results suggest that certain spatial cognitive abilities are especially important and characteristic of work needed in clinical anatomy, and that education and experience contribute to further development of these abilities.     

RESOLV: Readers' Representation of Reading Contexts and Tasks

We introduce RESOLV, a theoretical model to account for readers' construction and management of goals during text comprehension and use. RESOLV focuses on readers' experience of their physical, social, and communicative context prior to actually engaging with texts. RESOLV assumes that readers construct two types of mental models prior to reading: The context model is a representation of the physical and social reading context, whereas the task model is a set of goals and plans that drives readers' decisions and actions in reading. We first present the RESOLV model, and we articulate two core hypotheses. We then present and discuss evidence supporting these hypotheses, from past and more recent research conducted in our labs, as well as in others'. The data support the view that reading decisions and processes are guided by readers' perceptions and attributions regarding the task statement but also more implicit cues from the reading context.     

Time limits in testing: An analysis of eye movements and visual attention in spatial problem solving

Individuals with an aptitude for interpreting spatial information (high mental rotation ability: HMRA) typically master anatomy with more ease, and more quickly, than those with low mental rotation ability (LMRA). This article explores how visual attention differs with time limits on spatial reasoning tests. Participants were assorted to two groups based on their mental rotation ability scores and their eye movements were collected during these tests. Analysis of salience during testing revealed similarities between MRA groups in untimed conditions but significant differences between the groups in the timed one. Question‐by‐question analyses demonstrate that HMRA individuals were more consistent across the two timing conditions (κ = 0.25), than the LMRA (κ = 0.013). It is clear that the groups respond to time limits differently and their apprehension of images during spatial problem solving differs significantly. Without time restrictions, salience analysis suggests LMRA individuals attended to similar aspects of the images as HMRA and their test scores rose concomitantly. Under timed conditions however, LMRA diverge from HMRA attention patterns, adopting inflexible approaches to visual search and attaining lower test scores. With this in mind, anatomical educators may wish to revisit some evaluations and teaching approaches in their own practice. Although examinations need to evaluate understanding of anatomical relationships, the addition of time limits may induce an unforeseen interaction of spatial reasoning and anatomical knowledge. Anat Sci Educ 10: 528–537. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.     

Exploring the validity of assessment in anatomy: Do images influence cognitive processes used in answering extended matching questions?

Assessment is an important aspect of medical education because it tests students' competence and motivates them to study. Various assessment methods, with and without images, are used in the study of anatomy. In this study, we investigated the use of extended matching questions (EMQs). To gain insight into the influence of images on the validity of test items, we focused on students' cognitive processes while they answered questions with and without images. Seventeen first‐year medical students answered EMQs about gross anatomy, combined with either labeled images or answer lists, while thinking aloud. The participants' verbal reports were transcribed verbatim and then coded. Initial codes were based on a task analysis and were adapted into final codes during the coding process. Results showed that students used more cues from EMQs with images and visualized more often in EMQs with answer lists. Ready knowledge and verbal reasoning were used equally often in both conditions. In conclusion, EMQs with and without images elicit different results in this think aloud experiment, indicating different cognitive processes. They seem to measure different skills, making them valid for different testing purposes. The take‐home message for anatomy teachers is that questions without images seem to test the quality of students' mental images while questions with images test their ability to interpret visual information. It makes sense to use both response formats in tests. Using images from clinical practice instead of anatomical drawings will help to improve test validity. Anat Sci Educ 7: 107–116. © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.     

Age Differences in Imagery Abilities

Age differences were examined in 4 aspects of visual mental imagery, namely, image generation, maintenance, scanning, and rotation. The results suggested that one or more distinct processes are used to carry out each aspect of imagery, and that this is true for 5-year-olds, 8-year-olds, 14-year-olds, and adults. There was no evidence that younger children have fewer processing components, which become differentiated into more specialized subsystems over age. In addition, the results suggested that younger children are relatively poor at scanning, rotating, and generating objects in images, but are relatively good at maintaining images.