In: Cognitive Development, 2013, vol. 28, no. 4, p. 386-399
We assessed 3- to 5-year-olds’ mental rotation abilities using a new puzzle paradigm. It allows for assessment of mental rotation abilities in children younger than 5 years, using a task comparable to ones used with older children and adults. Children saw pairs of asymmetrical ghost figures, either as three-dimensional cut-outs or two- dimensional paper versions, in seven orientations. One...
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In: Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2014, vol. 18, no. 10, p. 536-542
Mental representation and transformation of spatial information is often examined with mental rotation tasks, which require deciding whether a rotated image is the same or the mirror version of an upright image. Recent research with infants shows early discrimination of objects from mirror image versions. However, even at age 4, many children perform near chance level on more standard...
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In: Infancy, 2020, p. 1-16
In this study, infants’ visual processing of depth-inducing stimuli was tested using a new method suitable for experimental settings. Stereograms of the Lang-Stereopad® were presented in a timed preferential-looking paradigm to determine infants’ preference for a stereogram as compared to a stimulus not inducing an impression of depth. A total of 80 infants were tested at 7 months of...
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In: Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 2013, vol. 115, no. 4, p. 708-720
Recent evidence indicates that 6-month-old infants’ mental rotation of objects profits from prior manual experience, whereas observational experience does not have the same beneficial effect (Möhring, W. & Frick, A., 2013, Child Development). The present study investigated whether older infants, at 8 and 10 months of age, succeed in this task after observational experience only, and...
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In: Child Development, 2014, vol. 85, no. 1, p. 278-293
Infants' ability to mentally track the orientation of an object during a hidden rotation was investigated (N = 28 in each experiment). A toy on a turntable was fully covered and then rotated 90°. When revealed, the toy had turned with the turntable (probable event), remained at its starting orientation (improbable event in Experiment 1), or turned to the opposite side (improbable event in...
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In: Psychological Research, 2017, vol. 81, no. 4, p. 730-739
Developmental research on spatial perspective taking has shown that young children are able to solve perspective-taking problems under favorable circumstances, but they have difficulties succeeding in classic tasks involving a conflict between one’s own perspective and that of another observer. To date, little is known about the reasons for young children’s difficulties in dealing with...
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In: Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 2015, vol. 132, p. 213–220
Previous research has indicated a close link between spatial and mathematical thinking. However, what shared processes account for this link? In this study, we focused on the spatial skill of map reading and the mathematical skill of proportional reasoning and investigated whether scaling, or the ability to relate information in different-sized representations, is a shared process. Scaling was...
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In: Psychological Research, 2019, vol. 83, p. 855-893
The current study investigated whether children’s mental representations of numbers are organized spatially at the onset of formal schooling using a manual-pointing task. First- graders (N = 77) saw four numbers (1, 3, 7, 9) presented randomly in four spatial positions (extreme left, left, right, extreme right) on a touch screen. In a Go/No-Go task, children were asked to press the appearing...
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In: Journal of Cognition and Development, 2016, vol. 17, no. 1, p. 67-84
Proportional reasoning involves thinking about parts and wholes, i.e., about fractional quantities. Yet, research on proportional reasoning and fraction learning has proceeded separately. This study assessed proportional reasoning and formal fraction knowledge in 8- to 10-year-olds. Participants (N = 52) saw combinations of cherry juice and water, in displays that highlighted either...
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In: Cognitive Development, 2018, vol. 45, p. 57-67
The present study investigated the role of spatial scaling and proportional-reasoning skills in children’s number-line estimations. Proportional strategies in number-line estimations might suggest that correlations between number-line knowledge and scaling are driven by proportional thinking. However, analyses of data on spatial scaling, proportional reasoning, counting skills, and...
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