Educating Spatial Intelligence
Nora S. Newcombe
Temple University
Talk at National Geographic Society
November 2008
Four Arguments
Spatial intelligence and learning are important
Spatial intelligence and learning can be
improved

There are sex-linked and SES-linked differences in
spatial intelligence--addressing these differences is
important for social equity
Spatial intelligence and learning are critically
under-studied
Specific educational techniques to foster spatial
intelligence are within our grasp
Standing on the Shoulders of
Giants, Preaching to the Converted
Penn State spatial
discussion group
UC-Santa Barbara
NCGIA and Varenius
Projects
Learning to Think
Spatially
Four Arguments
Spatial intelligence and learning are important
Spatial intelligence and learning can be
improved

There are sex-linked and SES-linked differences in
spatial intelligence--addressing these differences is
important for social equity
Spatial intelligence and learning are critically
under-studied
Specific educational techniques to foster spatial
intelligence are within our grasp
Spatial Intelligence and
Learning Are Important
In an evolutionary context, spatial
adaptation is vital
In modern life, spatial thinking is used both
in everyday tasks and in reasoning and
communication
In scientific thought and communication,
spatial skills are particularly central
Basic Adaptation
Way Finding
Tool Making
Everyday Life
Reasoning and Communication
Graphs and diagrams
Inference
Analogy
Metaphor
Performance in STEM Disciplines
Physics
Chemistry
Biology
Engineering
Mathematics
Geoscience
Predicting B.A. Degree Areas
From Shea, Lubinski & Benbow (2001)
What We Still Need
Do improvements in spatial skill translate
into greater STEM interest and ability?



How important are any such effects?
Do such effects reduce sex- and SES-based
differences in STEM participation?
How do such effects compare with other
influences, e.g., work-family conflicts?
Does early spatial skill relate to early
STEM learning?
Four Arguments
Spatial intelligence and learning
are important
Spatial intelligence and learning
can be improved

There are sex-linked and SESlinked differences in spatial
intelligence--addressing these
differences is important for social
equity
Spatial intelligence and learning
are critically under-studied
Specific educational techniques
to foster spatial intelligence are
within our grasp
Especially Important For Girls
40
35
30
25
Boys
Girls
20
Frequency
15
10
5
0
Spatial Transformation Score
Levine, Huttenlocher, Taylor & Langrock (1999)
Social Class Effects and the Male
Advantage
(Levine, Vasilyeva, Lourenco, Newcombe &
Huttenlocher, Psychological Science, 2005)
100
100
Boys
Boys
Girls
80
80
Percentage Correct
Percentage Correct
Girls
90
90
70
60
50
40
70
60
50
40
30
30
Chance
20
Low
Middle
SES
Aerial Maps
High
Chance
20
Low
Middle
High
SES
Mental Rotation
Not Just Because of Difficulty Level
(Levine, Vasilyeva, Lourenco, Newcombe &
Huttenlocher, Psychological Science, 2005)
100
Boys
Girls
Percentage Correct
90
80
Fall, 2nd grade
Spring, 3rd grade
70
60
50
40
30
20
High
Middle
SES
Low
Some Prior Reasons To Believe in
Malleability
Effects of practice and training

Baenninger & Newcombe (1989)
Effects of simple instructions

Ward, Newcombe & Overton (1986)
School effects

Huttenlocher, Levine & Vevea (1998)
New Data on Malleability
New meta-analysis supports large training
effects, as well as durability and transfer


Liu, Uttal, Marulis, Lewis, Warren, & Newcombe,
under review
David Uttal will present this later on
Two specific recent studies on improvement that
is durable and transferable


Terlecki, Newcombe & Little (Applied Cognitive
Psychology, 2008)
Wright, Thompson, Ganis, Newcombe & Kosslyn
(Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 2008)
Five Questions about Improvement
in Mental Rotation Skills
What is the shape of long-term growth
trajectories?
Does videogame training have effects exceeding
simple practice?
Do growth trajectories differ for men and women,
and for individuals of higher or lower spatial
experience?
Are practice and training effects durable?
Do practice and training transfer, and is transfer
durable?
Training
One hour per week for a semester

Tetris or Solitaire
Weekly MRT administration
Time Course of Improvement
MRT Score
Terlecki, Newcombe & Little, 2008
20
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Practice
Training
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Weeks
8
9
10 11 12
Time Course of Improvement
Terlecki, Newcombe & Little, 2008
20
18
16
MRT Score
14
12
10
High M
High W
8
Low W
6
4
2
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Weeks
8
9
10 11 12
Improvement is Durable
Terlecki, Newcombe & Little, 2008
20
18
16
MRT Score
14
12
Practice
10
Training
8
6
4
2
Pretest
Posttest
Retake
Transfer is Durable and
Tetris Augments Transfer
Terlecki, Newcombe & Little, 2008
0.9
Transfer Task % Correct
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
Practice
Training
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
Pretest
Posttest
Retake
Five New Aims
Training intensive enough to produce large
gains but shorter than a semester
Novel stimuli: to assess stimulus-specific
versus general effects
Symmetric look at transfer: A to B and also
B to A
Non-spatial task to make sure transfer is
spatially-specific
Componential analysis: intercept versus
slope effects
Three Tasks
Training
21 consecutive
days, about 20
minutes per day
Either MRT or
Paper Folding
Transfer Across Spatial Tasks
Wright, Thompson, Ganis, Newcombe & Kosslyn,
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 2008
Transfer Across Spatial Tasks
Wright, Thompson, Ganis, Newcombe & Kosslyn,
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 2008
Goals for New Training Studies
Delineate mechanisms of improvement
and possible additivity of methods

Allowing for tailored recommendations about
sequencing and aptitude-treatment
interactions
Tim Shipley will present progress report on an
adult study of this kind
How should we best enhance spatial
learning in children?
Methods that are more play, less work

Gesture, puzzle play, paper folding, block play
Training in different SES groups
More Goals
What are the neural correlates of
improvements?

Do they provide clues as to mechanism?
How do we improve way finding skills?
Is there far transfer from visualization to
way finding and vice versa?
(Again) What are the implications of
improvements for STEM learning?


Different at various ages?
Different for different disciplines or sub-areas?
Four Arguments
Spatial intelligence and learning are important
Spatial intelligence and learning can be
improved

There are sex-linked and SES-linked differences in
spatial intelligence--addressing these differences is
important for social equity
Spatial intelligence and learning are critically
under-studied
Specific educational techniques to foster spatial
intelligence are within our grasp
Spatial Framework
Two spatial frames


Object (internal relations that define shape)
Scene (external relations that define relations
among objects)
Two temporal properties


Static (unchanging relations)
Dynamic (changing relations)
The 2 by 2 Framework
Object
Scene
Static
Dynamic
One Application of the Framework:
Language
Object
Static
Noun
Dynamic
Manner Verb
Scene
Preposition
Path Verb
The Third Dimension:
Scale
Different processes for different scales
(particularly peri-personal space)
Object versus scene at many scales
Domain General Processes
There are many such processes and most
of them are relevant to spatial learning
In SILC, we have been concentrating on:



Analogy
Gesture
Working memory
In addition, understanding diagrams
involves non-spatial content mastery, e.g.,
of diagrammatic conventions
Static Scene Representations:
Hierarchical Coding Model
Categorical or qualitative
Fine-grained or coordinate or metric
Bayesian combination
Leads to
 Method to diagnose categories
Work on natural scenes and geoscience expertise
 Way to think about development
 Way to think about neural bases of spatial coding
Anjan Chatterjee will talk about this later
Dynamic Representations:
Mental Transformations May Be
Formally But Not Psychologically
Equivalent
Rotate object (or array) vs move viewer
Dynamic Scene
Representations
Navigation can be guided by


Egocentric coding
Allocentric coding
Landmarks/place learning
Gradients such as slope

Daniele Nardi will present
work on this later
Most work of this kind is on
groups or normative
development—individual
differences?
39
Morris Water Maze
40
Morris Water Maze
Room Cue
Room Cue
3
1
Room Cue
2
41
The Emergence of Place
Learning
 Considerable evidence, from a wide variety of
techniques, that place learning depends on
hippocampus
 Animal studies: e.g., Morris, Garrud, Rawlins, &
O’Keefe (1982)
 Human studies: e.g., Holdstock et al. (2000)
Place learning seems to emerge between
18 and 24 months of age
Place Learning Task
 Children go to other
side of box before
searching
 Landmarks in room
either visible or
hidden by circular
white curtain
 Results: Only
children older than
21 months used the
landmarks
Newcombe, Huttenlocher, Drummey & Wiley
(1998), Cognitive Development
New Research Questions
Are there individual differences in early place
learning abilities?
Do language and spatial representations
develop independently?
What is the relationship between the
developing brain and emergent behavior?
44
Morris Water Maze for Kids
45
Balcomb & Newcombe
Subjects
 Children aged 16-24
months
Materials
 10’ diameter carpeted
circle divided into
quadrants
 Battery operated puzzle
Task
 Locate puzzle hidden
under carpet
 Remember puzzle
location
46
47
cueA
cueB
X
cueD
48
cueC
Procedures
Familiarization
Learning


4 trials to learn the puzzle’s location
Different points of entry
Test


Same as learning trials
No puzzle
Control


Control for motivation & walking speed
Puzzle clearly visible
49
Results
Age correlates with


# times goal found: r(24)=.58, p=.001
Expressive language: r(24)=.73, p=.0001
Partial out age 

No correlation between # times goal found
and expressive language r(26)=.15, p=.47
50
More Detailed Analyses
Search types


Spatial (perimeter, correct quadrant)
Non-spatial (under self, other, unrelated)
Language

Nouns, verbs, preps, total language, relational
language
Peripheral Searches (proximal cue use)
cueA
cueB
X
cueD
cueC
Correct Quadrant Search (distal cue use = place learning)
cueA
cueB
X
cueD
cueC
Non-spatial searches
cueA
cueB
X
cueD
cueC
Spatial Results
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
goal found/4
% adj
% periph
% spatial
% non spatial
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
16-18
19-21
Age
22-24
Space and Language
Intercorrelations between language and spatial searches
Measure
Nouns
Verbs
Preps
# times goal found
# searches
under “other”
Nouns
--
.87
.72
.21 (.34)
.36 (.09)
--
.80
.11 (.61)
.34 (.10)
--
.42 (.05)
.20 (.34)
--
-.2 (.35)
Verbs
Preps
# times
goal found
Conclusions and Implications
Place learning and expressive language
develop independently in 16-24 month old
children

BUT--Acquisition of prepositions and place
learning do correlate
Individual differences measure allows us
to address relations with other abilities



Episodic memory (not spatial but should
correlate)
Mental rotation (spatial but may not correlate)
New way to address structure of intellect in
comparative and neuroscience-inspired
context
Four Arguments
Spatial intelligence and learning are important
Spatial intelligence and learning can be
improved

There are sex-linked and SES-linked differences in
spatial intelligence--addressing these differences is
important for social equity
Spatial intelligence and learning are critically
under-studied
Specific educational techniques to foster spatial
intelligence are within our grasp
Some Examples
The use of analogical comparison in teaching
geoscience

Dedre Gentner
Understanding young children’s difficulties with
measurement—and ameliorating them

Susan Levine & Kristin Ratliff
The importance of spatial language to children

Just a few examples now
Many others

Spatial toolkit will bring them together
Teachers Vary in Spatial Input
(Levine & Huttenlocher)
1
25
2
3
20
Instances of spatial
talk in one hour of
coded tape
4
15
5
6
10
7
8
5
9
10
0
1
11
12
13
And Input is Correlated with
Children’s Spatial Growth
(Levine & Huttenlocher)
25
spatial input
20
15
10
5
0
-0.2
-0.1
0
0.1
0.2
change in chidlren's spatial scores
0.3
Play Contexts
Pre-assembled Play
Free Play
Guided Play
Proportion of Parental Spatial Language
Parental Spatial Language in
Four Contexts
0.12
0.1
0.08
0.06
0.04
0.02
0
Pre-assembled
Play
Free Pla y
Session 1
Guided Play
Session 2
CHILDES
Control
How Do We Accelerate Pace and
Scope of Study of These Issues?
Spatial Network at
www.spatiallearning.org
Resources at same URL

Sian Beilock is coordinating
Gatherings like this one!

Thanks to Danny Edelson and the NGS
Four Arguments
Spatial intelligence and learning are important
Spatial intelligence and learning can be
improved

There are sex-linked and SES-linked differences in
spatial intelligence--addressing these differences is
important for social equity
Spatial intelligence and learning are critically
under-studied
Specific educational techniques to foster spatial
intelligence are within our grasp