Spatial Abilities

Es un recurso didáctico multiplataforma (Windows, Mac Os, Linux, iOs y Android), multisoporte (PC/Mac, Tabletas Digitales y Smartphones) y multiformato (pdfs, vídeos, modelos 3d, realidad aumentada, ...) con el objeto de facilitar el aprendizaje de conceptos gráficos y desarrollar competencias, entre ellas las asociadas a la Capacidad de Visión Espacial incluidas en los títulos de grado en el ámbito de las ingenierías del EEES.
Se propone una estructura metodológica que permite combinar varias tecnologías: procedimientos clásicos de lápiz y papel, software de modelado en tres dimensiones, Realidad Aumentada, Tabletas Digitales y Smartphones.

A sample of 116 children (M = 6 years 7 months) in Grade 1 was randomly assigned to experimental (n = 60) and control (n = 56) groups, with equal numbers of boys and girls in each group. The experimental group received a program aimed at improving representation and transformation of visuospatial information, whereas the control group received a substitute program. All children were administered mental rotation tests before and after an intervention program and a Global–Local Processing Strategies test before the intervention. The results revealed that initial gender differences in spatial ability disappeared following treatment in the experimental but not in the control group. Gender differences were moderated by strategies used to process visuospatial information. Intervention and processing strategies were essential in reducing gender differences in spatial abilities.

O presente estudo visa explorar as concepções dos alunos na aprendizagem da geometria descritiva (GD) no grupo C, do II Ciclo do Ensino Secundário moçambicano. O processo de ensino e aprendizagem da geometria tridimensional caracteriza-se por uma panóplia de dificuldades entre outras as de natureza curricular e da preparação de professores.

In the majority of people, functional differences are observed between the two cerebral hemispheres: language production is typically subserved by the left hemisphere and visuospatial skills by the right hemisphere. The development of this division of labour is not well understood and lateralisation of visuospatial function has received little attention in children. In this study we devised a child-friendly version of a paradigm to assess lateralisation of visuospatial memory using functional transcranial Doppler ultrasound (fTCD). In a group of 24 adults we found this child-friendly version gave similar results to the original version of the task. In addition, fourteen children aged 6–8 years successfully completed the child-friendly fTCD task, showing a negative lateralisation index, indicating right hemispheric specialisation at the group level. Additionally, we assessed effects of task accuracy and reaction time on the lateralisation index. No effects were found, at the group level or at the level of single trials, in either the adult or the child group. We conclude that this new task reliably assesses lateralisation of visuospatial memory function in children as young as 6 years of age, using fTCD. As such, it holds promise for investigating development of lateralisation of visuospatial function in typically and atypically developing children.

This study examined individual differences in spatial abilities of architecture students. Students at different educational levels were assessed on spatial ability tests that varied in their domain-specificity to architecture, with the hypothesis that larger differences between beginner and advanced students will emerge on more domain-specific tests. We also investigated gender differences in test performance and controlled for general reasoning ability across analyses. In a cross sectional study, master students (N = 91) outperformed beginners (N = 502) on two novel tests involving perspective taking and object composition, as well as on a standardized visualization of cross-sections test, but not on a standardized mental rotations test. Longitudinally (N = 117), spatial performance improved after the first bachelor year on visualization of cross-sections, object composition and mental rotation. Although both genders showed higher spatial test performance with increased experience, male students outperformed females across tests and levels of education. The results overall confirmed improvements in spatial performance during architecture studies, with partial support for the domain-specificity hypothesis. A gender gap among advanced students calls for further examining architecture-specific spatial thinking.

when it is placed more central, closer and higher in the visual field­and vice versa. Changing the locations of mental objects in space thus alters the (socio-) emotional meaning of the relationships.
Aims: The aim of the method Depression in Awareness Space is to reduce the distress of clients with depression in the clinical counseling practice, as a reliable alternative method of psychological therapy for the treatment of depression.
Approach: The method Depression in Awareness Space aims at making dark areas smaller, lighter and more transparent in order to identify the problem or the cause of the depression which lies behind the darkness. It was hypothesized that the darkness is a subjective side-effect of the neurological process of repression.
After the first promising results of a pilot study, The Society of Mental Space Psychology has started up an up scaled experiment of which the first results can be expected in 2018.
Development of a novel test to measure spatial abilities
of architecture students: Preliminary findings
Michal Berkowitz1, Beatrix Emo1, Andri Gerber1,
Christoph Hoelscher1, Stefan Kurath2 and Elsbeth Stern1
1 ETH Zurich; 2 ZHA W
Architects are commonly held to have high spatial abilities. We suppose that the long course of study refines the spatial abilities of the students. While spatial abilities in other domains have been studied quite frequently (e.g, engineering, chemistry), the special nature of spatial thinking among architects has not been given as much empirical focus. Moreover, whilst many standard tests of spatial abilities exist, no spatial test is specifically aimed at measuring spatial abilities among architects, without having to rely on prior knowledge in architecture.
We report the preliminary findings of a novel test designed to measure spatial abilities of architecture students. In the first phase of the project, we administered a series of established spatial ability tests (e.g., mental rotations test, paper folding test) to architecture students from several levels of expertise in order to establish a 'baseline' of general spatial abilities.
In the next phase we have developed a novel test, which is com­posed of three sub-scales: A perspective taking task ('Street view test'), a 3D assembly task ('packing'), and an indoor perspective task. The test is based on architectural design tasks relied to spatial abili­ties. We report the initial findings from testing sessions of architecture students using the novel test. The idea behind the new test, its validity and relevance for architecture will be discussed.

The spatial skills are a core competency in the new engineering degrees belonging to the European Space for Higher Education. This work aims to find out the improvement of spatial abilities using a workshop held on digital tablets (iPad). For this purpose, the choice of a web-based spatial training course for mobile phones developed at University of Laguna for mobile phones was adapted for this research having in mind the dimensions of the digital tablet. The hypothesis is that expanding the size of the screen strengthens the spatial abilities of students also improving satisfaction rather than previous experiences. The workshop installed in a learning virtual environment (moodle) and has several difficulty levels. The pilot test for this material took place on agricultural engineering students during 2011-2012. Using the iPad given to every student, the workshop happened outside class hours. For measuring the spatial skills before and after the workshop, we used different technical drawing exercises used in the Spanish university admission exams over the last few years. Besides, students answered a questionnaire for assessing their opinion regarding course's format.