Ruimtelijke Vaardigheden van Twee Groepen Kinderen in Het Lager Technisch Onderwijs

Abstract

[Information Processing Aspects of Spatial Skills in Children in a Technical Training Course] A visualization ability test (the Revised Minnesota Paper Form Board Test) was administered to 139 Dutch 13-year-old technical school children. In order to see which component processes differentiated between a group of high standard test performers and a group of low standard test performers, these students were presented with an experimental task (Mumaw, 1981) based on an information processing model. The results were in general very similar to the results of adult university students who were tested by Mumaw (1981). Speed differentiation between the present groups was only found for obviously negative (‘no response) items and speed variables correlated much lower with standard test performance than error percentages. Errors in positive ('yes’ response) and negative items were only weakly correlated. This suggests as is indicated by Mumaw at least two separate sources of processing inefficiency. In positive items Ss who had a low standard test score, performed significantly lower on the items that required maximum search and rotation processes. In negative items (which had the strongest relationship with standard test performance) large differences between the two groups were found on the category in which only one element was a mismatch (Neg-1 items). One of the subtypes of Neg-1 items clearly induces a loo global code and low performers apparently failed to notice this For other item subtypes, however, it is less clear which aspects are responsible for incorrect processing of negative information.