A Developmental Psychologist’s Approach to

Spatial Cognition in Geography

Lynn S. Liben Penn State, USA

NGS, Washington D.C., November 6-8 2008

Overview

• My approach/interests• Spatial skills• Projects

Spatial Concepts

• topological• projective• Euclidean

Spatial Skills

• mental rotation• spatial visualization• spatial perception or orientation

Circle all of the figures that are the SAME as the first figure in the row.

Rotation

Circle the figure on the right that shows where the holes would be after the paper is unfolded.

Visualization

Perception/ Orientation

Water Level Performance by Sex (Liben & Golbeck, 1986)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Per

cent

Pas

sing

(5

-6 c

orre

ct)

malesfemales

Linking Spatial Cognition & Geography(+)

Linking Spatial Cognition & Geography(+)(Subliminally)

Developing Map Concepts & Map Skills

Success on the National Geographic Bee

Spatial Skills & Mapping Locations

Boys Girls

Red

Spatial Skills & Mapping Locations

Spatial Skills & Geology

Educational Interventions & Mapping

Dependent Variable

PLACE ("reality")

CHILD

REPRESENTATION (map)

TASK

Educational Interventions & Mapping

Exploring Maps in a Museum Context

I invite you to my 150 slide poster… and

Thank you for a chance at speed spatial cognition.

FOUR