Cognitive Science 301

Applied Cognitive Science and Education
Fall 2006

Spatial and Temporal-Sequential Ordering (Chapter 4): allows perception of specific relationships to facilitate processing of information in active working memory (and beyond).  This involves:
    ¶ processing of incoming information (perception)
    ¶ memory
    ¶ production
    ¶ organization
    ¶ higher-order cognition

Spatial Ordering: allows perception of specific relationships of part: whole and whole: part, spatial boundaries, relationships between components in an array of data

• involves knowing the gestalt of an object
  • Webster defines gestalt as: "a structure, configuration, or pattern of physical, biological, or psychological phenomena so integrated as to constitute a functional unit with properties not derivable from its parts in summation."
• involves perceiving the details and their specific relationship within or to the object
• involves generalizing the above information
• involves knowing how that object fits into the gestalt of the neighboring space (even without seeing it)
• perception of faces is a very specific type of spatial ordering (located in one area of the temporal cortex)
• involves vision, hearing, feeling
• visual perception
  • Thurstone characterized this as: ability to grasp visual detail quickly (speed) and ability to visualize space or recognize figures in various orientations (space)
  • Marianne Frostig characterized this as having 5 components: visual-motor coordination, figure-ground perception (defined as part-whole relationships), perception of constancy (knowing that an object has invariant properties, regardless of how it is perceived), perception of position in space, perception of spatial relationships
  • Each of Thurstone's and Frostig's components might be affected separately (strength or weakness)
• Processing of visual symbols involves: knowing the semantic relationships to other symbols, knowing the phonetic uniqueness, knowing these symbols and their relationships in context.
  • Academic areas involved may be: reading, spelling, math, drawing, copying from the board, getting relevant information out of pictures, maps, and graphs
  • Internal visualization occurs when any of these tasks are done effectively.
  • In school the demands are for increased quantity, increased speed at recognizing most important and relevant details, generalization to other visual analyses in ever increasing complexity.
  • Children whose processing speed is slow may have a better chance learning spatially rather than with sequential verbal instructions.
• Spatial Memory
  • storage of previously seen and categorized spatial patterns/representations (image representations - what does this mean to a cognitive scientist?)
  • timely recall of these (image generation)
• Spatial Production
  • "A keen awareness of spatial interacting detail, a sensitivity to subtle internal relationship, and a notion of where an array begins and ends all may contribute to production." (p 109)
  • Strength in this area can facilitate building and fixing things, sophisticated nonverbal or spatial cognition, and perhaps to artistic ability.
• Spatial Organization
  • ability to locate and organize components of tasks (notebook, pencils, possessions in one's room, etc.)
  • ability to remember where these components are at all times
  • How does attention affect this?  (weak production controls & spatial disorganization may be difficult to separate when learning about the person's neurodevelopmental constructs)
• Spatial Ordering and Higher-Order Cognition
  • When this is a strength it facilitates analysis of mathematical concepts.
  • this also enables one to understand how mechanical or electrical things work
  • this involves recognition of spatial patterns and rules
  • artistic talent? Of course this depends on how it is carried out.
• Assessment must involve analysis of (1) "the appreciation of sophisticated spatial configurations and (2) the integration of many visual details presented as a gestalt." (p 107)
  • Direct observations: copying of geometric forms (directly or from memory)
  • Copying of geometric forms can be influenced by:
    • inattention and impulsiveness
    • fine motor/graphomotor skills
    • inability to process (recognize and understand) visual detail
    • inexperience
    • emotional interference
  • What is the value of a motor-free assessment?
  • A good assessment should include:
    • history of interests, hobbies, etc., looking for weakness or strength in visual processing
    • ability to keep track of one's possessions
    • visual attention
    • motor-free visual discrimination
    • visual perceptual motor function
    • visual memory
    • nonverbal reasoning and problem solving
    • evaluation of academic work to note areas of strength and weakness

Main Points

1. Visual and kinesthetic knowledge of one's place in space and the location of one's possessions is essential for learning and efficient function of many different academic skills.
2. Visualization (making and keeping a visual mental image) is essential
3. Spatial ordering involves recognizing the relevant details that make up the whole (gestalt) and using that information to create a generalized rule or pattern (to be remembered).
4. Assessment involves many different attributes of behavior and cognition, so analysis is tricky.

Questions

1. What are the likely academic areas that are strengthened by good spatial ordering?
2. If the cognitive task is to obtain context from reading, will someone with spatial ordering dysfunction perform in an area of her/his strength or weakness?  Explain.