Spatial Transformation Task Research Articles

“Are we both right?” relations between theory of mind and epistemic humility in dyadic cooperative problem-solving in 5- to 9-year-old children

The current study addresses the question of the relation between ToM and children's epistemic humility - the tendency to acknowledge the limitations of one's knowledge while being open to another's input during socio-cognitive conflict regulation - in a cooperative problem-solving context. Sixty-four boys and girls between the ages of 5 to 9 years (32 same-gender dyads) were tested for their ToM with the Theory of Mind Test (TMT) and The Test of Emotion Comprehension (TEC), and for their epistemic humility through an analysis of their spontaneous verbal interactions during the resolution of a dyadic spatial transformation task. The results showed that children with higher levels of ToM more frequently showed more epistemic humility when faced with conflicting ideas, even when age was taken into account. The results are discussed in terms of the processes underlying socio-cognitive conflict regulation in peer cooperation and their educational implications.

A general spatial transformation process? Assessing the neurophysiological evidence on the similarity of mental rotation and folding

Mental rotation and mental folding are established as archetypal mental spatial transformation tasks. Yet, it is uncertain as to whether these tasks rely on a general spatial transformation mechanism or on dedicated processes. We scrutinized benchmark mental spatial transformation findings for and against the concept of a shared mechanism in two EEG experiments, on mental rotation and folding respectively. We found the typical increase in reaction times with greater transformation difficulties for both tasks, however there was no relationship between participants’ reaction time slope for each task. Analyses of event-related potentials revealed a negative going component 400–800 ms post stimulus onset which distinguished transformation from baseline in both tasks, but only differed between difficulty levels for mental rotation. We found that this component originated from two parietal sources. A central parietal source displayed negativity in this time period distinguishing only transformation from baseline conditions in mental rotation and folding. Additionally, a left parietal source showed the same pattern for mental folding as the central source, but rotation yielded greater negativity for higher difficulties. Time-frequency analyses revealed desynchronisation in broadband alpha power throughout mental rotation and folding trials in both parietal sources, commensurate with a cognitive load being placed on transformation and visuospatial systems. We discuss a possible functional explanation for the results in line with a general spatial transformation process, for which we argue the evidence is stronger than for distinct rotation and folding mechanisms.

Micro-Doppler Extraction of Radar Targets With Translational Motion Based on Spatial Transformer Network

The micro-Doppler (MD) signature, an effect that is induced by micro-motion, characterizes the rich motion information of targets, making it a valuable tool for target classification and recognition. However, the MD structure is always destroyed for radar targets with translational motion. In this letter, we propose an end–to–end translational motion compensation network based on a spatial transformer network (STN). First, the effect of the translational motion on the radar echo and its time-frequency graph (TFG) is modeled, so that translational motion compensation is regarded as an image spatial transformation task. Then, a two-branch convolutional network based on residual modules is designed to locate the transformation parameters, and the TFG containing only MD is obtained using a grid generator and sampler. Finally, the simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm has high accuracy and stability.

Too good to be true? Towards an understanding of the Zone of Proximal development (ZPD) dynamics from a Piagetian perspective: Gender composition and its changing role from early to middle childhood

The present study revisits the complexities of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) through an experimental investigation of the role of social identity dynamics in asymmetric social interaction around a cognitive Piagetian task in two age groups. Children from two age groups (6 and 10 years old) first solved a spatial transformation task individually (pretest) and then worked in same- or mixed-gender pairs with a partner who was more advanced in task knowledge. In the posttest phase, participants again solved the task individually. At posttest, the six-years old participating in interaction, performed better than those in control groups, who did not engage in interaction. However, there were no differences in the posttest performance of the ten-years old who participated in interaction and those who did not. Moreover, the effect of gender composition on the dynamics of the interaction was different in the two age groups. The social gender identity dynamics formed in the interactions of the six-year olds related to cognitive progress outcomes, but at 10 years social construction of knowledge was equally successful in promoting cognitive development compared to asymmetric social interactions and gender identity dynamics did not have the same formative influence.

Learning 4-D Spatial Representations Through Perceptual Experience With Hypercubes

Imagine a day when humans can form mental representations of higher-dimensional space and objects. These higher-dimensional spatial representations may enable us to gain unique insights into scientific and cultural advancements. To augment human spatial cognition from three to four dimensions, we have developed an interactive 4-D visualization system for acquiring an understanding of 4-D space and objects. In this paper, we examine whether humans are capable of formulating 4-D spatial representations through perceptual experience in 4-D space with 4-D objects. Participants learn about 4-D space and hypercubes through an interactive system, and are then examined on a series of 4-D spatial ability tests. They demonstrate the ability to perform perspective taking, navigation, and mental spatial transformation tasks in 4-D space. The results provide empirical evidence that humans are capable of learning 4-D spatial representations. Moreover, the results support the interpretation that humans form a cognitive coordinate system, consisting of an origin and four directional axes, to understand 4-D space and objects.

View makes a difference: Presenting human figures from the back or front affects mental spatial transformations of children and adults

Previous research suggested that performance in spatial judgments involving rotated human figures is poorer if these figures are presented from the front than from the back. We further investigated this effect, controlling for visible facial information in front and back view by presenting figures' faces as profile. Children's and adults' judgments were still faster and less error prone if figures were presented from the back. Moreover, reaction times indicated that participants did not mentally rotate figures in front view. Children performed overall more poorly than adults, but there were also qualitative differences suggesting that children are more susceptible to embodiment effects than adults. This study underlines that embodiment may have differential effects in spatial transformation tasks, enhancing or impairing performance.

Early puzzle play: A predictor of preschoolers' spatial transformation skill.

Individual differences in spatial skill emerge prior to kindergarten entry. However, little is known about the early experiences that may contribute to these differences. The current study examined the relation between children's early puzzle play and their spatial skill. Children and parents (n = 53) were observed at home for 90 min every 4 months (6 times) between 2 and 4 years of age (26 to 46 months). When children were 4 years 6 months old, they completed a spatial task involving mental transformations of 2-dimensional shapes. Children who were observed playing with puzzles performed better on this task than those who did not, controlling for parent education, income, and overall parent word types. Moreover, among those children who played with puzzles, frequency of puzzle play predicted performance on the spatial transformation task. Although the frequency of puzzle play did not differ for boys and girls, the quality of puzzle play (a composite of puzzle difficulty, parent engagement, and parent spatial language) was higher for boys than for girls. In addition, variation in puzzle play quality predicted performance on the spatial transformation task for girls but not for boys. Implications of these findings as well as future directions for research on the role of puzzle play in the development of spatial skill are discussed.

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.

The constructive role of gender asymmetry in social interaction: Further evidence

Two hundred and sixty-four children aged 6.5-7.5 years (first graders) took part in a pre-test, interaction, and post-test experiment working on a spatial transformation task known as the 'village task'. Cognitive progress was assessed by pre- to post-test gains in both an immediate and delayed post-test in dyads and individual participants as a control. The results indicate clear links between particular pair types with both communication processes and with learning and cognitive developmental outcomes. The present study demonstrates that gender can act as a source of status asymmetry in peer interaction to influence communication, learning, and cognitive development in same- and mixed-sex dyads.

Neural correlates of two imagined egocentric transformations

Two egocentric spatial transformation tasks, hand and perspective rotation, were compared using the same visual stimulus within both block and event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigms. Both involved body-relative judgments but were predicted to vary in the recruitment of the body schema and a motor execution system. The Hand task required the imagined rotation of one’s own hand to make a left–right handedness decision. In contrast, the Viewer task required a perspective transformation and updating of the parts of a hand as an object. Previous behavioral and neuroimaging work suggested that hand rotations would rely on dynamic and biomechanical processing of body-part relations recruiting a motor processing system, whereas perspective transformations and the updating of object–self relations would be supported by primarily visual–spatial mechanisms. There was a common neural substrate found for both tasks including the lateral occipital areas, inferior and superior parietal cortex, and the cerebellum. Direct comparisons between the two tasks revealed greater activation in the Hand task in left superior and inferior parietal and premotor cortex and cerebellum, whereas the Viewer task showed greater activation only in the right lingual and fusiform gyri. Degree of rotation also modulated activity in the Hand task in bilateral superior parietal and premotor cortex, but not in the Viewer task. Implications of these regions for the role of dynamic body schema and motor processing in egocentric transformations are discussed.

The importance of gesture in children's spatial reasoning.

On average, men outperform women on mental rotation tasks. Even boys as young as 4 1/2 perform better than girls on simplified spatial transformation tasks. The goal of our study was to explore ways of improving 5-year-olds' performance on a spatial transformation task and to examine the strategies children use to solve this task. We found that boys performed better than girls before training and that both boys and girls improved with training, whether they were given explicit instruction or just practice. Regardless of training condition, the more children gestured about moving the pieces when asked to explain how they solved the spatial transformation task, the better they performed on the task, with boys gesturing about movement significantly more (and performing better) than girls. Gesture thus provides useful information about children's spatial strategies, raising the possibility that gesture training may be particularly effective in improving children's mental rotation skills.

Functional reorganization of spatial transformations after a parietal lesion

Mental spatial transformations are ubiquitous and necessary for everyday spatial cognition, such as packing luggage into a car or repairing a broken vase. The posterior parietal cortex is known to be involved in performing such transformations. To measure reorganization after lesioning of posterior parietal cortex areas subserving spatial transformation. Brain activity in a patient who underwent a resection of right parietal cortex to manage intractable epilepsy was measured using fMRI while he performed a set of spatial transformation tasks. These data were compared with data from a group of healthy control subjects. During spatial transformations, activity in the regions overlapping the resection was reduced in the patient compared with control subjects, but activity in the contralateral cortex was greater than that of control subjects. After a lesion the left hemisphere can adopt components of spatial reasoning normally subserved by the right hemisphere. This converges with evidence that components of language processing normally subserved by the left hemisphere can be taken over by the right hemisphere, suggesting that plasticity of function in the adult human cortex is a general characteristic.

Early sex differences in spatial skill.

This study investigated sex differences in young children's spatial skill. The authors developed a spatial transformation task, which showed a substantial male advantage by age 4 years 6 months. The size of this advantage was no more robust for rotation items than for translation items. This finding contrasts with studies of older children and adults, which report that sex differences are largest on mental rotation tasks. Comparable performance of boys and girls on a vocabulary task indicated that the male advantage on the spatial task was not attributable to an overall intellectual advantage of boys in the sample.

Marquage social des opérations cognitives. L’effet de la différence entre régles sociales

The present study is concerned with assessing whether social marking (i.e. the correspondence between the correct solution of a task and some known social rule) is a mechanism of cognitive progress which depends on specific forms of rule represented in the task material. Results of an experiment on a spatial transformation task (N=sixty-four non-conserving 5–6-year-olds) showed no significantly different levels of cognitive progress for subjects who transformed the spatial arrangement of a classroom or of a theatre. Significant difference emerged only when a deviation from the normally regulated arrangement were represented. In the condition where the deviation concerned the theatre subjects showed the lower level of progress. It was concluded that the beneficial effect of social marking may depend on the form of rule represented. Results were discussed with respect to children’s knowledge of the relative alterability of different types of rules.

Social marking, socio‐cognitive conflict and cognitive development

AbstractThis study is concerned with assessing whether social marking, i.e. the correspondence between the cognitive solution of a task and the social relation expressed in the material, is a mechanism of cognitive progress which depends on specific forms of socio‐cognitive conflict or on presence of familiar social relations in the material. In the first experiment 5‐6‐year‐old non‐conserver children were selected during a pre‐test that comprised three spatial transformation tasks. During the test phase, 56 children worked on spatial transformation tasks with an adult partner in four socially marked conditions in which the correctness of the adult model varied. All subjects were individually post‐tested on the same tasks with unmarked content. Results showed that, under the same marked conditions in the test phase, more progress took place, at the post‐test phase, when subjects had interacted with an incorrect adult model than when they had interacted with a correct one. In the second experiment the hypothesis of an interaction between the nature of the material and the kind of social interaction was examined by means of a factorial design in which the factors were adult versus child partner and marked versus unmarked material. The procedures in the pre‐ and post‐test phase were carried out in the same way as in Experiment I. In the test phase 61 non‐conserver children interacted with partners who presented completely incorrect model. The results of post‐test phase indicated that there was a main effect of social marking although findings of a condition in which children interact with another child on unmarked material also have shown a certain amount of progress. The findings are discussed with respect to the psycho‐social model of cognitive development.

Techniques of subjective workload assessment: a comparison of SWAT and the NASA-Bipolar methods

Abstract Assessment of subjective workload is becoming increasingly important in the evaluation of human-machine systems. Two popular methods were compared: (1) the Subjective Workload Assessment Technique (SWAT) that employed a conjoint measurement procedure to confer interval scale properties on the workload ratings, and (2) a technique under development at NASA that used an individually weighted workload score. Both methods were applied in a laboratory experiment that required the rating of a number of single- and dual-tracking and spatial transformation tasks. Both subjective assessment techniques displayed similar sensitivity to the different task manipulations. However, both techniques failed to detect the resource competition effects in the dual-task performance, and were in general insensitive to response execution processing demands. A notable difference between the two techniques was that the NASA-Bipolar ratings consistently had a smaller between-subject variability than the SWAT ratings. Discussion of the results is centred around the issue of the validity of assessment of subjective workload in general, and the construct and concurrent validity of the two techniques in particular.

To Speak or not to Speak: A Multiple Resource Perspective

The desirability of employing speech response in a dynamic dual task situation was discussed from a multiple resource perspective. A secondary task technique was employed to examine the time-sharing performance of five dual tasks with various degrees of resource overlap according to the structure-specific resource model (Wickens, 1980). The primary task was a visual/manual tracking task which required spatial processing. The secondary task was either another tracking task or a spatial transformation task with one of four input (visual or auditory) and output (manual or speech) configurations. The results show that the dual task performance was best when the primary tracking task was paired with the visual/speech transformation task. This finding was explained by an interaction of the S-C-R compatibility of the transformation task and the degree of resource competition between the time-shared tasks. Implications on the utility of speech response were discussed.

Assessing Subjective Workload Assessment: A Comparison of SWAT and the NASA-Bipolar Methods

Subjective assessments of workload are becoming increasingly important in the evaluation of new systems. Two popular methods were compared in the present investigation: (1) the Subjective Workload Assessment Technique (SWAT) which was developed around the use of conjoint analysis to create interval scales, and (2) a technique under development at NASA that utilizes an individually weighted workload score from a set of nine bipolar ratings. Both methods were applied in a laboratory experiment that required rating a number of single- and dual-task trials of tracking and/or a spatial transformation task. The dual transformation-tracking task results were reviewed. The results for the two assessment techniques were remarkably similar, indicating that the subjective experience of workload is sufficiently robust to be resistant to variations in the measuring technique. Also, both subjective assessment techniques were successful in measuring the differences in task difficulty as indicated by a multivariate analysis of performance. Finally, the specific strengths and weaknesses of each assessment technique were reviewed.

A re-evaluation of the minimum altitude at which hypoxic performance decrements can be detected.

Denison et al. reported an initial transient increase in reaction time on a spatial transformation task while exercising at 27 W at an altitude of 2438 m (8000 ft). This increase was attributed to ‘task novelty’. However, subsequent experiments using different performance tests have failed to demonstrate a reliable effect at this altitude. In experiment 1 the spatial transformation task was performed at 27 W with SaO2 (percentage arterial oxyhaemoglobin saturation) held at the equivalent of 2438 m while breathing a low-oxygen mixture. Initial reaction time did not increase. In experiment 2, SaO2 was first stabilized at 2438 m, then the 27 W workload was applied while SaO2 was allowed to vary freely and the spatial transformation task performed. There was an increase in reaction time which was attributed to an accompanying decrease in SaO2. These results lead to the conclusion that the minimum altitude at which hypoxic performance decrements can be detected is greater than 2438 m and they raise doubts abou...