Children’s spatial thinking: does talk about the spatial world matter?

In this paper we examine the relations between parent spatial language input, children's own production of spatial language, and children's later spatial abilities. Using a longitudinal study design, we coded the use of spatial language (i.e. words describing the spatial features and properties of objects; e.g. big, tall, circle, curvy, edge) from child age 14 to 46 months in a diverse sample of 52 parent-child dyads interacting in their home settings. These same children were given three non-verbal spatial tasks, items from a Spatial Transformation task (Levine et al., 1999), the Block Design subtest from the WPPSI-III (Wechsler, 2002), and items on the Spatial Analogies subtest from Primary Test of Cognitive Skills (Huttenlocher & Levine, 1990) at 54 months of age. We find that parents vary widely in the amount of spatial language they use with their children during everyday interactions. This variability in spatial language input, in turn, predicts the amount of spatial language children produce, controlling for overall parent language input. Furthermore, children who produce more spatial language are more likely to perform better on spatial problem solving tasks at a later age.     

Relationships between experiences, processing style, and sex-related differences in performance on spatial tests

53 female and 45 male undergraduates were administered the Spatial Antecedents Questionnaire (Activities, Academic Courses, Self-assessments, and Environmental Mapping subscales), the Spatial Dimensionality Test (Embedded Figures, Card Rotations, Paper Folding, Surface Development, Horizontal/Vertical Rotations, and Cube Perspectives subtests), and Revised-Individual Differences Questionnaire of Paivio. Scores from the Academic Courses and Self-assessment scales accounted for the most variability in spatial performance. Visual processing style correlated with performance on spatial tests for men, but not for women. Different patterns of activities and experiences correlated with spatial test performance for men and women.     

Everyday spatial activities test for studying differential spatial experience and vocational behavior

Described is a four-factor, 20-item Everyday Spatial Activities Test (ESAT) developed for use with college students for studying the contribution of differential spatial experiences to educational and vocational behaviors. Item data are presented based on samples of 158 female and 113 male first-year students. Correlations with objective tests, including a test of space visualization, establishes preliminary validity for the ESAT.     

Gender differences in patterns of spatial ability, environmental cognition, and math and English achievement in late adolescence

Relationships were explored among three measures of spatial ability--the Embedded Figures Test (EFT), the Mental Rotations Test (MRT), and the Differential Aptitude Spatial Relations subtest (DAT)--an environmental cognition task (MAP), American College Testing (ACT) math and English achievement, and gender in a sample of 282 undergraduates. Variance attributable to gender among the spatial tasks ranged from 0.5% in the EFT to 12% in the MRT. Gender accounted for only 1% of the variance in the MAP task. Gender differences were noted in regression analyses; women's math and English achievement scores were both predictive of spatial ability, while for men, only math achievement was predictive of spatial ability. The results were interpreted as substantiating sex role socialization theory of cognitive abilities.     

Validity and reliability of the Test of Early Reading Ability-Second Edition with preschool age children

Criterion validity and test-retest reliability across the two forms of the Test of Early Reading Ability-Second Edition were examined. 18 preschool age children, 4 boys and 14 girls, between the ages of 37 and 59 mo. (M = 48.5, SD = 7.6) were randomly administered Forms A and B as well as the sound-blending, letter-word identification, spelling, and sound-awareness reading subtests from the 2001 Woodcock Johnson-III. Correlations were moderate between the children's performance on the Test of Early Reading Ability-2 Forms A and B and their reading subtest scores from the Woodcock Johnson-III and also between Forms A and B of the Test of Early Reading Ability-2. However, Forms A and B of the Test of Early Reading Ability-2 were not clinically equivalent.     

Factor analysis of the Wechsler adult intelligence scale-revised (WAIS-R): An examination of the standardization sample

Orthogonal and oblique factor analyses were performed using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) standardization sample (Wechsler, 1981). Using objective criteria, it was decided to retain two factors. Evidence for a strong general intelligence (g) factor was found from both the orthogonal and oblique rotations. Whereas the verbal IQ provided an acceptable estimate of the Verbal Comprehension factor, a purer measure was found in the form of a Verbal Comprehension Deviation Quotient containing only the Information, Vocabulary, Comprehension, and Similarities subtests. The performance IQ was found to be an inadequate measure of the Perceptual Organization factor. A Perceptual Organization Deviation Quotient, containing only the Block Design and Object Assembly subtests, was recommended as an effective alternative. Analysis of the variance components for each subtest at every age level revealed that a substantial proportion of subtests at a wide range of age levels evidence either high or intermediate levels of specific variance. These results are discussed in terms of interpreting individual subtest scores and patterns. Each of the study's major findings are compared with prior work done with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) (Wechsler, 1955).     

Sex differences in spatial task performance of patients with and without unilateral cerebral lesions

Two visuospatial tasks, the WAIS Block Design and the Street Gestalt Completion Test, were administered to men and women with and without unilateral cerebral lesions. These two tasks represent different categories of visuospatial functions. The Street test is a visual-perceptual gestalt task, requiring the closure of fragmented pictures, whereas Block Design is an analytical, manipulospatial task requiring rotation of spatial coordinates. For the non-brain-damaged group, the men showed a nonsignificant trend toward better Block Design performance relative to the women, whereas there was no sex-related difference in Street performance. For the brain-damaged groups, patients with right hemisphere lesions performed significantly worse than patients with left hemisphere lesions on both the Street test and Block Design, indicating that both tasks were more sensitive to right hemisphere functioning. There was, however, a significant sex X side of lesion interaction on Block Design only, with the men showing a more asymmetrical pattern of scores. These results suggest that sex differences in functional lateralization may underlie sex differences in visuospatial ability, and that sex differences in functional lateralization may be present for only certain visuospatial processes.     

The effect of a commercial game on children's block design scores on the WISC-R IQ test

Two experiments investigated the extent to which 10-year old children's scores on the WISC-R Block Design subtest were affected by prior experience with a specific commercial game that involved blocks and matching patterns. Experiment 1 found that 12 10-year old children who happened to have experience with the particular commercial game scored approximately three scaled score points higher on the WISC-R Block Design subtest than 24 matched children without game experience. In Experiment 2, 24 children who did not have prior experience with this particular commercial game were randomly assigned either to a Game condition (involving two 15-minute sessions with the game) or to a No-Game condition (which involved no further game experience). Children in the Game condition subsequently increased their WISC-R Block Design scores more than children in the No-Game condition. Taken together, the experiments indicate that relatively brief interactions with a commercial game can cause a significant improvement in children's performance on an IQ subtest.     

Is body mass index in old age related to cognitive abilities? The Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 Study

We tested the hypothesis that the previously reported association between a higher body mass index (BMI) and poorer cognition in later adulthood is an artifact of confounding by previous cognitive ability and socioeconomic status. Participants were 1,079 adults aged about 70 years in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 Study, on whom there are IQ data from age 11. Cognitive outcome measures included: IQ at age 70 using the same test that was administered at age 11; composite measures of general cognitive ability (g factor), speed of information processing, and memory; and two tests of verbal ability. People classified as overweight or obese in later adulthood had significantly lower scores on tests of childhood IQ, age 70 IQ, g factor, and verbal ability. There was no significant association with processing speed or memory performance. After adjusting for childhood IQ and social class in general linear models, associations with age 70 IQ and g factor were nonsignificant or attenuated. However, throughout the models, there was a persistent (inverse) relationship between BMI and performance on the National Adult Reading Test (NART) and Wechsler Test of Adult Reading (WTAR), which remained significant after full adjustment for all sociodemographic and health covariates (for the NART, p = .025; for the WTAR, p = .011). The findings suggest that the previously reported BMI-cognition associations in later adulthood could be largely accounted for by prior ability and socioeconomic status, and by the possible influence of these factors on the adoption of health behaviors in adulthood.     

An exploratory study of undergraduates' attributions of success or failure on spatial tests

Seven spatial tests from the CTY Spatial Test Battery and four subscales of an attribution scale were administered to 23 female and 28 male undergraduates. Three hypotheses were tested. The seven spatial tests and three of the attribution subscales were found reliable; sex differences were found for the spatial tests but not the attribution scales; and subjects' attributions did not predict spatial performance.     

Dimensional transformation in tests of spatial and environmental cognition

In previous research, it has been argued that spatial performance on psychometric tests might be accounted for, in part, by the need for test-takers to transform mentally two-dimensional (2-D) test items into a three-dimensional (3-D) representation. With this in mind, the Landscape Perception Test (LPT) was designed to isolate the 2-D to 3-D (and vice versa) transformational aspect of spatial cognition. Gender differences were used as an indirect means to examine the contribution of the 2-D to 3-D transformation to spatial performance. Since the LPT was designed by means of an image relevant to geospatial cognition, measures of environmental cognition, as well as experience in various activities, were also examined. One hundred thirty undergraduate students (66 females and 64 males) completed the Childhood Activities Questionnaire, the Santa Barbara Sense of Direction Test, the Visualization of Views (VV) Test, the Perspective Taking/Spatial Orientation Test, and the LPT. Results showed higher scores for men than for women on LPT items requiring 2-D to 3-D conversion (LPT23), but not on those requiring the reverse operation. In addition, only the LPT23 produced significant indirect effects of gender on VV Test performance. Performance on the tests was also correlated with environmental cognition and previous experience with spatial activities. The results suggest that dimensional transformation might be a factor significantly contributing to spatial performance. Psychometric aspects of the LPT are also discussed.     

Change and stability in adult intellectual functioning assessed by Wechsler item responses

Change in adult intellectual performance was assessed with longitudinal data from the Intergenerational Studies at the Institute of Human Development. Wechsler Intelligence data from two age cohorts spanning ages 18 to 61 were analyzed at the subtest and item level. Hotelling T2 analyses on sets of equivalent items from Wechsler subtests were studied to determine if change in response occurred between pairwise combinations of occasions of test administrations. We used Bowker's test to analyze data at the item level to determine the direction of change in performance. Consistent improvement in performance occurred between the ages of 18-40 and 18-54. Between the ages of 40 and 61, results showed mostly improved performance on the Information, Comprehension, and Vocabulary subtests, mixed change on the Picture Completion subtest, and decline on the Digit Symbol and Block Design subtests. The pattern of mixed change on the Picture Completion subtest indicated improvement on the easy items and decline on the difficult items. Decline in performance on the Block Design test occurred only for the most difficult items.     

Working memory training and transfer in older adults

There has been a great deal of interest, both privately and commercially, in using working memory training exercises to improve general cognitive function. However, many of the laboratory findings for older adults, a group in which this training is of utmost interest, are discouraging due to the lack of transfer to other tasks and skills. Importantly, improvements in everyday functioning remain largely unexamined in relation to WM training. We trained working memory in older adults using a task that encourages transfer in young adults (Chein & Morrison, 2010). We tested transfer to measures of working memory (e.g., Reading Span), everyday cognitive functioning [the Test of Everyday Attention (TEA) and the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT)], and other tasks of interest. Relative to controls, trained participants showed transfer improvements in Reading Span and the number of repetitions on the CVLT. Training group participants were also significantly more likely to self-report improvements in everyday attention. Our findings support the use of ecological tasks as a measure of transfer in an older adult population.     

The Swedish National Adult Reading Test (NART-SWE): a test of premorbid IQ

The purpose of this study was to construct a Swedish version of the National Adult Reading Test (NART-SWE), a test for assessment of premorbid IQ, and to investigate its validity and reliability on healthy controls and patients with mild Alzheimer's disease. As Swedish pronunciation rules are fixed, NART-SWE was constructed using loan words. NART-SWE has satisfactory psychometric properties: Inter-rater and retest reliability as well as internal consistency are very high. The NART-SWE demonstrates face validity. In addition, high correlation with IQ was obtained. A significant model emerged when using NART-SWE to predict IQ. Furthermore, no significant differences were observed when comparing performance for healthy controls' with that of patients with Alzheimer's disease on NART-SWE. It does appear that reading of irregular words is intact in mild Alzheimer's disease.     

Social cognition is not associated with cognitive reserve in older adults

Social and general cognitive abilities decline in late life. Those with high cognitive reserve display better general cognitive performance in old age; however, it is unknown whether this is also the case for social cognition. A total of 115 healthy older adults, aged 60–85 years (m = 44, f = 71) were assessed using The Awareness of Social Inference Test (TASIT-R; social cognition), the Lifetime of Experiences Questionnaire (LEQ; cognitive reserve), and the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI-II; general cognitive ability). The LEQ did not predict performance on any TASIT-R subtest: Emotion Evaluation Test (β = -.097, p = .325), Social Inference – Minimal (β = -.004, p = .972), or Social Inference – Enriched (β = -.016, p = .878). Sensitivity analyses using two alternative cognitive reserve measures, years of education and the National Adult Reading Test, supported these effects. Cognitive reserve was strongly related to WASI-II performance. Unlike general cognitive ability, social cognition appears unaffected by cognitive reserve. Findings contribute to the emerging understanding that cognitive reserve differentially affects individual cognitive domains, which has implications for the theoretical understanding of cognitive reserve and its brain correlates. Cognitive measures unbiased by cognitive reserve may serve as best indicators of brain health, free of compensatory mechanisms.     

Prediction of Boston Naming Test performance from vocabulary scores: preliminary guidelines for interpretation.

Patients with limited education or underdeveloped vocabulary skills may perform below the normal range on the Boston Naming Test when compared to the original published norms, even in the absence of brain damage. To reduce the frequency of false positive dysnomic classifications of patients with limited vocabulary skills, we developed a score adjustment to account for the significant shared variance between scores on this test and the WAIS-R Vocabulary subtest. Vocabulary significantly predicted performance on the Boston Naming Test (r = .65, p < .0001) in a sample of 62 outpatients who had no objective evidence of brain damage. Linear regression was used to derive expected performance on the Boston Naming Test from Vocabulary scaled scores. Relative to the original published norms, scores based on the Vocabulary subtest cut-offs produced fewer false positives and more accurately classified group membership for patients with and without objectively verified brain damage. These performance predictions are offered as tentative guidelines to assist clinicians in evaluating the presence of naming deficits by controlling for the variance associated with knowledge of vocabulary.     

Comparison of reading and listening-reading techniques for administration of PIAT Reading Comprehension subtest: justification for the bypass approach

The Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT) Reading Comprehension subtest was administered to a group of 23 learning disabled children in Grades 5 through 7 who had been classified by the clinical Lexical Paradigm as good readers or poor readers. Using standardized test administration, 14 poor readers scored substantially below the 9 good readers; however, when the child was allowed to listen and read silently while the test item was read aloud, poor readers showed marked improvement in performance compared to only moderate improvement shown by the good readers. This difference in improvement between the groups was significant and resulted in poor readers achieving performance similar to that of the good readers administered the test in the standard manner.     

Spatial ability in classic dancers and their perceptual style

The relation between spatial ability (body orientation and body awareness) and field dependence/independence was assessed by measuring performance on the Embedded Figures Test and WISC or WAIS Block Design at four different training levels in classical ballet, beginners to advanced, and a control group with no training in ballet, gymnastics, or sports (n = 70). No significant correlation was found between perceptual style or Block Design performance and body orientation or body awareness at any of the four levels of training. No significant differences were observed between the advanced group and the control group. Training in a particular type of spatial skill such as orientation within surrounding space was not related to the skill required to manipulate an abstractly represented space.     

The Relationship between Everyday Problem Solving and Inconsistency in Reaction Time in Older Adults

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether inconsistency in reaction time (RT) is predictive of older adults' ability to solve everyday problems. A sample of 304 community dwelling non-demented older adults, ranging in age from 62 to 92, completed a measure of everyday problem solving, the Everyday Problems Test (EPT). Inconsistency in latencies across trials was assessed on four RT tasks. Performance on the EPT was found to vary according to age and cognitive status. Both mean latencies and inconsistency were significantly associated with EPT performance, such that slower and more inconsistent RTs were associated with poorer everyday problem solving abilities. Even after accounting for age, education, and mean level of performance, inconsistency in reaction time continued to account for a significant proportion of the variance in EPT scores. These findings suggest that indicators of inconsistency in RT may be of functional relevance.     

Concurrent validity of the WISC-R factor scores

This study investigated the efficacy of predicting academic achievement as measured by the Wide Range Achievement Test using the factor scores of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised as potential predictors. Both instruments were administered to 200 school children referred for psychological evaluations. Factor scores for the WISC-R were computed according to equations provided by Gutkin (1978). These factor scores then were regressed in a stepwise manner on the Reading, Spelling, and Arithmetic standard scores from the Wide Range Achievement Test. Stepwise regressions also were performed using the traditional Verbal and Performance IQs as the potential predictors. A comparison was made between the results obtained by use of the factors or the more common scores. The results indicated that the Freedom From Distractibility factor score significantly aided in the prediction of Reading and Spelling achievement and was of primary importance in predicting Arithmetic achievement. When the stepwise results using the different scores were contrasted, the factor scores accounted for appreaciably more variance in Arithmetic than did the traditional Verbal and Performance IQs. Derived regression equations are reported along with a discussion of the interpretability of the Freedom From Distractibility factor.