Harnessing technology to measure individual differences in spatial thinking in early childhood from a relational developmental systems perspective.

This research is motivated by the current education system, which tends to emphasize that critical thinking is only developed and taught at higher levels of education but less so in early childhood. Therefore, it is important to instill and motivate critical thinking skills from an early age. This research aims to: (1) describe the development of critical thinking in early childhood in Samarinda; (2) describe the strategies used by kindergarten teachers to motivate critical thinking in early childhood in Samarinda; and (3) describe the supporting and inhibiting factors in motivating critical thinking in early childhood. This research investigates the strategies used by kindergarten teachers in Samarinda to motivate critical thinking in early childhood, specifically at three schools: Islamic Center Kindergarten, Ittihad Kindergarten, and Fastabiqul Khairat Kindergarten. This research is a qualitative descriptive study that uses data collection techniques such as observation, interviews, and documentation. Data analysis techniques include data condensation, data presentation, conclusion drawing and verification, and data validity testing using data triangulation. The results of this research are as follows: (1) In the development of critical thinking, children were found to have a strong sense of curiosity, often ask deep questions, can analyze information, are willing to explore ideas, actively participate in learning, and can solve problems independently. Teacher strategies to motivate critical thinking in young children demonstrate a variety of approaches to stimulating critical thinking. Each strategy has its own unique benefits. Educators have a variety of tools and techniques that they can use to stimulate critical thinking in children. Combining diverse strategies can provide a richer and deeper learning experience. Supporting factors in motivating critical thinking in children include parental support, collaboration with other teachers, adequate resources, good communication between mothers and children, the use of creative teaching strategies, and positive encouragement. However, there are also inhibiting factors that need to be considered, such as time constraints, lack of training in teaching critical thinking, excessive academic pressure, miscommunication with parents, and constraints in the learning environment.

Spatial navigation is an adaptive skill that involves determining the route to a particular goal or location, and then traveling that path. A major component of spatial navigation is spatial reorientation, or the ability to reestablish a sense of direction after being disoriented. The hippocampus is known to be critical for navigating, and has more recently been implicated in reorienting in adults, but relatively little is known about the development of the hippocampus in relation to these large-scale spatial abilities in children. It has been established that, compared to school-aged children, preschool children tend to perform poorly on certain spatial reorientation tasks, suggesting that their hippocampi may not be mature enough to process the demands of such a task. Currently, common techniques used to examine underlying brain activity, such as electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), are not suitable for examining hippocampal development in young children. In the present paper, we argue instead for the use of eyeblink conditioning (EBC), a relatively under-utilized, inexpensive, and safe method that is easy to implement in developing populations. In addition, EBC has a well defined neural circuitry, which includes the hippocampus, making it an ideal tool to indirectly measure hippocampal functioning in young children. In this review, we will evaluate the literature on EBC and its relation to hippocampal development, and discuss the possibility of using EBC as an objective measure of associative learning in relation to large-scale spatial skills. We support the use of EBC as a way to indirectly access hippocampal function in typical and atypical populations in order to characterize the neural substrates associated with the development of spatial reorientation abilities in early childhood. As such, EBC is a potential, simple biomarker for success in tasks that require the hippocampus, including spatial reorientation.

Sources of individual differences in young Chinese children's reading and mathematics skill: A longitudinal study

The hippocampus is a subcortical structure in the medial temporal lobe involved in cognitive functions such as spatial navigation and reorientation, episodic memory, and associative learning. While much is understood about the role of hippocampal function in learning and memory in adults, less is known about the relations between the hippocampus and the development of these cognitive skills in young children due to the limitations of using standard methods (e.g., MRI) to examine brain structure and function in developing populations. This study used hippocampal-dependent trace eyeblink conditioning (EBC) as a feasible approach to examine individual differences in hippocampal functioning as they relate to spatial reorientation and episodic memory performance in young children. Three- to six-year-old children (N=50) completed tasks that measured EBC, spatial reorientation, and episodic memory, as well as non-hippocampal-dependent processing speed abilities. Results revealed that when age was held constant, individual differences in EBC performance were significantly related to individual differences in performance on the spatial reorientation test, but not on the episodic memory or processing speed tests. When the relations between hippocampal-dependent EBC and different reorientation strategies were explored, it was found that individual differences in hippocampal function predicted the use of geometric information for reorienting in space as opposed to a combined strategy that uses both geometric information and salient visual cues. The utilization of eyeblink conditioning to examine hippocampal function in young populations and its implications for understanding the dissociation between spatial reorientation and episodic memory development are discussed.

Computational Thinking is introduced as a problem-solving ability that is important for future generations to master. The mastery of computational thinking skills from an early age prepares children to anticipate competition and pursue success in the future. Robotics devices are widely advocated as interactive learning media to facilitate Computational Thinking development. Educational robotics have grown from ideas that represent critical stages of Computational Thinking. The application of robotics in teaching computational thinking skills is increasingly used and is evident in the literature. The paper reviews the development of an innovative robotics device in facilitating understanding of computational thinking in young children in terms of several aspects of computational thinking indicators. A review was also conducted to see the advantages and disadvantages of commercially available robotics devices. This paper was prepared by applying critical analysis methods to the literature published from 1952 to 2017 in international journals and proceedings. As a recommendation for future research, this paper proposes for an educational robotic development that facilitates the of computational thinking skills, especially for early childhood education.

Movement and Song Idiom Traditional to Enhance Early Mathematical Skills: Gelantram Audio-visual Learning Media

Previous studies indicate that childhood aptitude in spatial thinking predicts future academic success and participation in science. This study investigates how children engaged in spatial thinking during seven museum astronomy programs (N = 52). We analysed how children’s use of spatial sensemaking practices – the observable behaviors used during spatial thinking – allowed us to interpret their use of spatial skills. Using previously established frameworks, we identified the spatial sensemaking practices used by the children: gestures, sketching, use of body, spatial talk, and object manipulation. We categorized children’s use of spatial skills into four broad groups: Intrinsic-Static, Intrinsic-Dynamic, Extrinsic-Static, and Extrinsic-Dynamic. We found that children engage in a wide range of spatial skills across all four broad spatial skill categories during museum astronomy programs. Children most often engaged with Extrinsic-Static spatial skills, which involve comparing the properties of multiple static objects. Further, we find that each individual program only engaged children in one or two of the four spatial skill quadrants. Our second finding describes how all of the observed spatial sensemaking practices facilitated multiple spatial skills, suggesting that children use the same behaviors to facilitate various cognitive processes. Overall, this study shows that museum astronomy programs engage preschool-age children in spatial thinking.

Identifying factors that contribute to spatial thinking is of great interest given links between spatial thinking and success in STEM. Working memory has been found to be predictive of spatial thinking but little research has explored other components of executive function (i.e., inhibition, shifting) in relation to spatial thinking. A total of 131 four- to six-year-olds (M age = 5.06; 53.4% male; 56% Latinx, 18% White, 12% Mixed Race, 5% Asian, and 5% other) were assessed using spatial, executive function, and intelligence tasks. Results show that inhibition, shifting, and working memory are all associated with intrinsic and extrinsic spatial task scores. These results advance developmental theory on spatial thinking and offer a promising route for future interventions in improving spatial ability.

Does spatial language contribute to the growth of preschool children's spatial skills? Four-year-old children (N = 50) were randomly assigned to a play-only (n = 24) or a spatial-language and play condition (n = 26). Their mental rotation and spatial vocabulary were assessed at baseline and several days after 5 play sessions. Children in the spatial-language condition scored higher at posttest on a mental rotation task than those in the play-only condition. The amount and diversity of experimenter spatial language during the play sessions accounted for a significant amount of the variance on children's posttest mental rotation. Significant gains in mental rotation were replicated in a second study (N = 34) with a broader range of play activities and with children enrolled in Head Start. These results show that the facilitative effects of spatial language on spatial cognition are not restricted to the context in which the spatial language is provided. In particular, 4-year-old children's experience with spatial language during play can transfer to promote their mental rotation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

This study investigated the relationship between mental rotation ability and postural stability, with a focus on the role of the visuospatial sketchpad of working memory, as it has been found to be correlated with both concepts. A total of 87 healthy young adults completed a postural stability task on a force plate, a mental rotation task, and both spatial and object working memory tasks in a counterbalanced order. Bayesian correlations revealed weak positive correlations between mental rotation and postural stability, as well as a correlation between mental rotation and spatial working memory. A weak association was also observed between mental rotation and object working memory. No correlation was found between the working memory components and postural stability. Furthermore, the results showed that spatial working memory did not play a crucial role in predicting postural stability. We conclude that the visuospatial sketchpad, particularly the spatial working memory component, cannot explain the relationship between mental rotation and postural stability.

The memory game paradigm is a behavioral procedure to explore the relationship between language, spatial memory, and object knowledge. Using two different versions of the paradigm, spatial language use and memory for object location are tested under different, experimentally manipulated conditions. This allows us to tease apart proposed models explaining the influence of object knowledge on spatial language (e.g., spatial demonstratives), and spatial memory, as well as understanding the parameters that affect demonstrative choice and spatial memory more broadly. Key to the development of the method was the need to collect data on language use (e.g., spatial demonstratives: "this/that") and spatial memory data under strictly controlled conditions, while retaining a degree of ecological validity. The language version (section 3.1) of the memory game tests how conditions affect language use. Participants refer verbally to objects placed at different locations (e.g., using spatial demonstratives: "this/that red circle"). Different parameters can be experimentally manipulated: the distance from the participant, the position of a conspecific, and for example whether the participant owns, knows, or sees the object while referring to it. The same parameters can be manipulated in the memory version of the memory game (section 3.2). This version tests the effects of the different conditions on object-location memory. Following object placement, participants get 10 seconds to memorize the object's location. After the object and location cues are removed, participants verbally direct the experimenter to move a stick to indicate where the object was. The difference between the memorized and the actual location shows the direction and strength of the memory error, allowing comparisons between the influences of the respective parameters.

The memory game paradigm is a behavioral procedure to explore the relationship between language, spatial memory, and object knowledge. Using two different versions of the paradigm, spatial language use and memory for object location are tested under different, experimentally manipulated conditions. This allows us to tease apart proposed models explaining the influence of object knowledge on spatial language (e.g., spatial demonstratives), and spatial memory, as well as understanding the parameters that affect demonstrative choice and spatial memory more broadly. Key to the development of the method was the need to collect data on language use (e.g., spatial demonstratives: "this/that") and spatial memory data under strictly controlled conditions, while retaining a degree of ecological validity. The language version (section 3.1) of the memory game tests how conditions affect language use. Participants refer verbally to objects placed at different locations (e.g., using spatial demonstratives: "this/that red circle"). Different parameters can be experimentally manipulated: the distance from the participant, the position of a conspecific, and for example whether the participant owns, knows, or sees the object while referring to it. The same parameters can be manipulated in the memory version of the memory game (section 3.2). This version tests the effects of the different conditions on object-location memory. Following object placement, participants get 10 seconds to memorize the object's location. After the object and location cues are removed, participants verbally direct the experimenter to move a stick to indicate where the object was. The difference between the memorized and the actual location shows the direction and strength of the memory error, allowing comparisons between the influences of the respective parameters.

La educación científica en la primera infancia favorece el desarrollo del pensamiento crítico, la curiosidad y la capacidad de indagación de niños y niñas. Sin embargo, diversos estudios advierten que su implementación en educación parvularia enfrenta obstáculos vinculados a la formación docente, los recursos disponibles y creencias adultas que limitan la exploración autónoma. Considerando esos antecedentes, el objetivo de este estudio fue caracterizar las percepciones y estrategias metodológicas que emplean las educadoras de párvulos de niveles medios para promover el desarrollo del pensamiento científico en niños y niñas de educación parvularia. Para ello, se desarrolló un enfoque mixto con predominancia cualitativa, basado en entrevistas semiestructuradas y un cuestionario aplicado a educadoras de la provincia de Arauco. Los resultados muestran cinco ámbitos clave: una comprensión general, aunque incipiente, del pensamiento científico; desafíos asociados al lenguaje de los párvulos, la falta de recursos y la formación insuficiente; prácticas de mediación centradas en preguntas movilizadoras, exploración sensorial y experimentos simples, entre otras. Se concluye que, si bien las educadoras reconocen la importancia de esta habilidad, requieren mayor formación sistemática y apoyo institucional para fortalecer experiencias de indagación científica desde edades tempranas.

One-to-one interviewing is one of the most powerful ways of exploring young children's thinking. While there are a few studies which report the use of this pedagogic strategy by preservice teachers, more are needed. This paper describes an early childhood mathematics education assignment which preservice teachers in a teacher-education college in Ireland undertake with four- and five-year-old children. It presents an analysis of data from a selected sample of 58 preservice teachers' reflections on their dialogues with individual children. It describes how the preservice teachers engaged with the process of interviewing the children; how they reflected on their interactions with the children; their reflections on the children's engagement; and their reflections on young children's mathematics generally. Some dilemmas faced by the participants in the course of the interviewing are highlighted. Findings demonstrate the integrated nature of the knowledge that early childhood teachers need to teach early childhood mathematics effectively. The learning arising from this assignment relates to early childhood mathematics thinking, to the psycho-social nature of learning in early childhood and to pedagogy in early childhood education.

The current dissertation examined neurological and behavioral approaches to studying the development of large-scale spatial cognition and its underlying neurobiology in young children. Study one reviewed the literature on the development of the neurobiology of spatial navigation and reorientation, including the hippocampus and the parahippocampal, parietal, and prefrontal cortices, and discussed how researchers can overcome the challenges of studying these brain-behavior relations in young children. One solution, I propose, is to employ a hippocampal-dependent form of associative learning known as Pavlovian Trace Eyeblink Conditioning (EBC) to assess hippocampal functioning indirectly and safely in pediatric populations. For the following two empirical studies, children between the ages of four and six years completed three structural magnetic resonance imaging scans (MRI), a hippocampal-dependent eyeblink conditioning paradigm, a spatial reorientation test, a left-right assessment, the Boehm-3 Preschool Test of Basic Concepts, and two control tasks, the Children’s Mental Transformation Task (CMTT) and the NIH Toolbox Pattern Comparison Processing vii Speed (PCPS) Test. Study two (N=31) examined the validity of using a child-friendly, hippocampal-dependent measure of associative learning (i.e., trace EBC) as a proxy for hippocampal function and efficiency. Results revealed that individual differences in greater neurite density of the bilateral hippocampus, but not the cerebellum, predicted later, and thus more efficient, timing of learned associations between auditory and tactile stimuli. Study three (N=39) investigated the role of spatial language on children’s spatial reorientation strategies and outcomes. Findings showed that, independent of age, children who could comprehend relative locations such as left and right, as opposed to general relational concepts, were better at encoding the geometry of a room to recall the location of a hidden object after being disoriented. Implications, limitations, and suggestions for future studies with young children are discussed.