Spatial perspective-taking as related to spatial ability and task demand characteristics
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1982
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Based on their well-known spatial study published in 1956, Piaget and Inhelder concluded that the performance of the children on the coordination of perspectives task is best explained in terms of the unitary construct egocentrism. There seems to be, however, a growing awareness among researchers who study spatial perspective-taking (PT) that the ability to infer another's visual percepts is a much more complex social-cognitive skill (e.g., Flavell, 1978). Several researchers have suggested that the results of spatial PT studies seem to be more a function of task complexity and response requirements than they are a function of egocentric thought (Borke, 1975; Eliot & Dayton, 1976). The primary objective of the present research was to examine an alternative explanation of the PT construct. The purpose was to clarify the relationship between spatial PT and two established factors of spatial ability, spatial orientation and spatial visualization. A second major emphasis of the present research was to focus on the effects of methodological variations that influence results on spatial PT performance. A total of sixty-four 11-year-olds served as participants. Spatial PT was examined as a function of stimulus arrangement, response mode, position of interence (90° , 180° , 270° ) , gender, spatial orientation ability and spatial visualization ability. Spatial ability was not a significant predictor of performance on the spatial PT task. The cognitive operations that underlie spatial PT within the various task conditions do not seem to be mediated by spatial orientation or spatial visualization skills. On the other hand, results lend support to the hypothesis that spatial PT performance is a complex skill that is significantly influenced by contextual variables and task demands. There were strong separate effects due to stimulus arrangement, response mode, and the position from which inferences are made about an observer1s perspectives. Further, there were no significant effects due to gender differences on the spatial PT task or on either of the spatial ability tests. Thus, the data indicate that the spatial PT task requires additional cognitive operations beyond social inferential distinctions. Future research might be most fruitful in the context of an information-processing approach whereby component sub-skills such as verbal, propositional, or computational-type processes may be identified.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1982.
Bibliography: leaves 109-118.
Microfiche.
x, 118 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm
Bibliography: leaves 109-118.
Microfiche.
x, 118 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm
Keywords
Space perception in children, Cognition in children, Child psychology
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Theses for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (University of Hawaii at Manoa). Educational Psychology; no. 1584
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