Development of Spatial Cognition

Question 1

What is spatial cognition used for?

Answer 1

Locating objects, navigating and assembling

Question 2

What milestones in spatial cognition did Piaget identify?

Answer 2

• Frames of reference (allocentric/egocentric)
• Types of information (metric vs categorical)
• Usage of symbolic spatial tools

Question 3

How is metric information different to categorical information?

Answer 3

metric - relative distance and direction

categorical - objects as part of a larger region

Question 4

What spatial cognition milestones occur during infancy?

Answer 4

Dead reckoning
9 months - account for changes of translation and rotation
12 months - can combine these two factors
- Allocentric coding can locate auditory stimulus with landmark

Question 5

What milestones of metric coding occur in early infancy?

Answer 5

6-7 months show preference for novel stimulus

6.5 months show surprise for ‘impossible’ event

Question 6

How do toddlers use geometry and landmarks for spatial orientation?

Answer 6

Cheng & Gallister (1984) two stage model believed that geometry was used first
Newcombe & Huttenlocher’s adaptive combination model suggests that both are used in w weighted way depending on salience and reliability

Question 7

When are children believed to have developed an allocentric view of the world?

Answer 7

6 years of age, however still struggle to use allocentric and egocentric simoultaneously

Question 8

How does categorical coding develop during late childhood?

Answer 8

6 - mental subdivisions in spatial layouts
7 - integrate information about the location of objects alongside distances and angles
11 - group objects more closely when they belong in the same region of a model

Question 9

What 3 factors underlie these developmental changes?

Answer 9

biology - hippocampal development
experience - locomotion, interactions with objects and allocentric coding
interactions of self-locomotion and hippocampal development