This study investigates the cognitive strategies employed during a mental rotation task through the integration of interview data and eye-tracking heat map analysis. A total of 20 interviews between 4 participants were analyzed independently by two coders to identify holistic and piecemeal rotation strategies and eye-tracking heat maps were…

In the core of computational thinking (CT) practices is problem-solving. However, there is little research on connecting CT with problem solving processes. We developed a computer-based assessment on CT that can log students' problem-solving processes and administered it to a group of fifth graders as a pre- and post- measure of a robotics…

Although the psychological literature has demonstrated that spatial reasoning and mathematics performance are correlated, there is scant research on these relationships in the middle years. The current study examined the commonalities and differences in students' performance on instruments that measured three spatial reasoning constructs and two…

This case study contrasts the strategies used by two students in solving bilateral symmetry and reflection tasks, based on the differential properties they attended to. The ninth grader focussed on congruence of sides as the main property of reflection whereas the eighth grader focussed on perpendicularity and equi-distance, as is the normative…

This study investigated potential gender differences in a sample of 807 Year 6 Singaporean students in relation to two variables: spatial visualisation ability and cognitive style. In contrast to the general trend, overall there were no significant gender differences on spatial visualisation ability. However, gender differences were prevalent…

By combining emerging technologies with cognitive and education theories, we are capitalizing on recent findings from adaptive exploration and embodied learning research to address significant gaps in the education of brain sciences for school children and college level students. Through the development of virtual learning tools in combination…

This quantitative study of imagery in 96 undergraduates addresses the problem of individual differences in the characteristics of mental imagery workspaces. A 20-item questionnaire embodying nine characteristics of mental imagery workspaces was administered to 78 females and 18 males. Analysis of variance by gender disclosed significant higher…

One theoretical model for understanding the visual event suggests that a visual event has both a surface (descriptive) and a deeper (experience) level of understanding. Both levels are needed to comprehend and appreciate images, with each level affecting the other. A person's perspective is an important part of the visual event, which depends upon…

Although the average, or arithmetic mean, has a rich conceptual meaning, it is often defined simply as the outcome of a procedure. The purpose of this study was to compare the nature and extent of the procedural and conceptual understandings developed by two groups of students who received different forms of instruction, one based on the…

Recent research has demonstrated that spatial memory in young and elderly adults depends upon the context in which items to be remembered are placed. Contexts in which cues to location are distinctive and heterogeneous have been found to be associated with better object location memory for both age groups. In this study, the relative contributions…

A few empirical studies of mnemonic techniques were conducted in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Then, until the 1960s, very little research was done on mnemonics. A revival of research interest in mnemonics, in the late 1960s, accompanied the general acceptability of cognitive processes as a legitimate area of research. Now we're back where we…

G. Wolford's perturbation model of letter identification is designed to account for identification errors of briefly presented characters. Its chief assumptions are that features are extracted in parallel, that some of these features become perturbed or mislocalized, and that mislocalizations are more likely to occur in the direction of the fovea…

People daydream, plan, and anticipate. They think frequently about their own actual or potential behaviors, and create behavioral scenarios (or scripts) in which they are the main character. To investigate the relationship between thinking about a behavior and one's expectancies or intentions to perform that behavior, subjects (N=93) in Experiment…

One hundred and seven 5th-8th graders were tested on spatial rotation multiple-choice items to determine age and gender differences in spatial ability. Thirty-one of them were subsequently interviewed. They were asked to explain their reasoning when solving 4 of the tested items and a problem-solving task. Features of visual and non-visual…

Educators are beginning to call attention to the failure to integrate right-brain, intuitive, holistic, visual processes into the curriculum. Approaches to right-brain education have characteristically called for the use of slow music, visual imagery, and relaxation techniques. Suggested principles for teaching basic skills include the facts that…