Working memory is a hot topic in the field of cognitive neuroscience and has attracted the attention of many researchers in the field of education. In recent years, it has been found that the cognitive ability related to spatial information in working memory can positively affect STEM academic performance, which is highly important for educational…

The human eye scans visual information through scan paths, series of fixations. Analogous to these scan paths during the process of actual "seeing," we investigated whether similar scan paths are also observed while subjects are "rehearsing" stimuli in visuospatial working memory. Participants performed a continuous recall task…

Relatively few studies have directly examined children's memory of object-based spatial structure of room-sized environments. The current study investigated how children remember the spatial structure of a room, and the role of pictorial working memory (WM) and different testing perspectives in this process. In Experiment 1, 80 children aged 5 to…

Plasticity is a neural phenomenon in which experience induces long-lasting changes to neuronal circuits and is at the center of most neurobiological theories of learning and memory. However, too much plasticity is maladaptive and must be balanced with substrate stability. Area CA3 of the hippocampus provides such a balance via hemispheric…

We investigated the extents of automaticity in location and orientation encoding in visual working memory (VWM) by manipulating their task relevance and assessing the amount of resource recruited by their encoding. Across five experiments, participants were surprised with a location report trial (Experiment 1A, 2A, and 3) or an orientation report…

The relationship between mathematics anxiety and performance has not been explored with young children who learn math using visuospatially rich adaptive games. In this study, 40 second graders used Reflex™, a game-based, visuospatially intensive adaptive learning platform for practicing mathematics fact fluency. A within-subjects, pretest-posttest…

This experiment employed viewing time methods to investigate the effects of individual differences in visuospatial working memory (VWM) on the processing of older adults' bridging inferences in the understanding of visual narratives. The results showed that older adults could make bridging inferences in visual narrative processing, and that VWM…

This study compared physical and digital models of a scientific topic in order to determine representational competence, short- and long-term cognition, and the extent to which physical or digital interfaces enhance spatial ability. The DNA molecule was used as a representative spatial topic to investigate conceptual and spatial understanding.…

Researchers agree that both domain-general skills and domain-specific skills contribute to mathematics knowledge, but questions arise as to which skills can and should be trained to improve children's learning outcomes. In this article, we synthesize research on training three domain-general constructs in early childhood (patterning skills,…

Spatial skills are critical for learning in STEM areas and are affected by spatial anxiety and working memory. Prior work also showed that there are interaction effects between spatial anxiety and verbal working memory (WM) on spatial skills, such that the negative relation between spatial anxiety and spatial skills is stronger among higher- than…

Identifying factors that contribute to spatial thinking is of great interest given links between spatial thinking and success in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Working memory has been found to be predictive of spatial thinking but little research has explored other components of executive function (i.e.,…

Three-dimensional (3D) scanning and printing technology has allowed for the production of anatomical replicas at virtually any size. But what size optimizes the educational potential of 3D printing models? This study systematically investigates the effect of model size on nominal anatomy learning. The study population of 380 undergraduate…

Development dyslexia (DD) is a common language disorder, that significantly affects children. Despite having ordinary intelligence, dyslexic people struggle with reading, writing, and comprehension in their native tongue. It is still unclear whether dyslexic kids have difficulties with visuo-spatial working memory. Using meta-analysis, this gap…

In this paper, we investigated the contribution of both cognitive and affective factors to mathematical skills. In particular, we looked at the protective role of self-concept for mathematical learning and performance. In a field study, we tested the relation of math self-concept and short-term visuo-spatial working memory to the mathematical…

In recent years, there has been a growing enrolment of students with specific learning disabilities (SLDs) in Italian higher-education programmes, underscoring the need for universities to support these students by identifying their strengths and weaknesses and developing targeted interventions. However, literature focusing on university students…