spatial cognition Flashcards
(5 cards)
what is evidence for para 1 scope and limits
Baillargeon et al., 1985
violation of expectation paradigm
in one such study, infants watched a drawbdrige like screen rotate over a box. when the screen continued to rotate through the space where the box should be (an ‘impossible’ event), infants looked longer, suggesting they expected the box to obstruct the screen, indicating knowledge of object solidity and continuity.
what is evidence for para 2 spatial representations in young children
Hermer and Spelke (1994)
Found that toddlers can use geometric information(e.g. wall lengths and angles) to reorient themselves after disorientation. howeber, their ability to combine geometric and non geometric cues, such as the colour of a wall, improves only later
what is evidence for para 3 the role of language in extending spatial cognition
Hermer-Vazquez et al. (1999)
Showed that english speaking adults could successfully integrate geometric and landmark information to reorient themselves in a rectangular room, but young children could not. interestingly, adults who were asked to perform a verbal shadowing task (which blocks verbal processing) failed to integrate these cues - behaving like the children. this suggests that language plays a crucial role in combining different spatial representations
what is the second piece of evidence for para 3
further support comes from studies of children learning spatial terms. as children acquire words for spatial relationships, their performance on spatial reasoning tasks improves (Loewenstein & Genter, 2005). the acquisition of spatial vocabulary is not merely a reflection of growing spatial skill - it also supports cognitive processing by providing labels that make spatial concepts more salient and easier to manipulate mentally.
what is the evidence for para 4 core cognition and its role in development
Spelke and Kinzler (2007)
Identify core systems for objects, numbers, and space
core object cognition includes principles like solidity, continuity, and cohesion.
core spatial cognition supports representations of distance, direction, and location
