Age-sensitive cognitive abilities related to children's acquisition of spatial knowledge

Author(s): Ondracek, P. J.

Journal/Book: Develop Psychol. 1995; 31: 750 First St NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242. Amer Psychological Assoc. 934-945.

Abstract: Two experiments were conducted to determine the extent to which developmental improvement in children's performance on tasks requiring the acquisition of spatial knowledge was related to age-sensitive cognitive abilities. The results of path analyses in Experiment I indicated that the relationship between age and the acquisition of landmark knowledge was, in fact, mediated by recognition-in-context memory, whereas relationships between age and route knowledge and between age and landmark judgment were unmediated. Similar analyses in Experiment 2 indicated that perceptual-motor speed mediated the relationships between age and route knowledge and between age and landmark knowledge. Again, the relationship between age and landmark-judgment was unmediated. Overall, the results suggest that the approach used in these experiments can provide new insight into the relationship between spatial cognitive development as a specialized research area and cognitive development in general.

Note: Article GL Allen, Univ S Carolina, Dept Psychol, Columbia, SC 29208 USA

Keyword(s): ENVIRONMENTAL LANDMARKS; DEVELOPMENTAL-CHANGES; RECOGNITION; SPEED

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