The spatial imagery in blind children: Abilities to scan and rotate tactile objects’ shapes
Keywords:
the blind; spatial imagery; scanning; rotation; tactile perception
Abstract
The aim of the research was to explore the ability of spatial imagery in blind students, particularly their abilities to scan and mentally rotate tactile objects’ shapes. The results demonstrate that the older the blind children are, the easier it is for them to differentiate shapes, but only in case when one of two objects is rotated. It may mean that the ability of mental rotation is developing during the school years, and the spatial scanning ability is achieved at an earlier age. It was also stated that identification of objects’ shapes is more accurate in an aligned condition than in a rotated condition. It suggests that the mental rotation process is more complicated than the scanning process for blind children to perform.
References
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Vecchi, T. (1998). Visuo-spatial imagery in congenitally totally blind people. Memory, 6, 1, 91-102.
Warren, D. H. (1994). Blindness and children. An individual differences approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wheeler, L. C., Floyd, K., Griffin, H. C. (1997). Spatial organization in blind children. RE:view, 28, 4, 177-181.
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Ballesteros, S., Bardisa, D., Millar, S., Reales, J. M. (2005). The haptic test battery: A new instrument to test tactual abilities in blind and visually impaired and sighted children. British Journal of Visual Impairment, 23, 1, 11-24.
Bertolo, H., Paiva, T., Pessoa, L., Mestre, T., Marques, R., Santos, R. (2003). Visual dream content, graphical representation and EEG alpha activity in congenitally blind subjects. Cognitive Brain Research, 15, 3, 277-284.
Bigelow, A. E. (1996). Blind and sighted children’s spatial knowledge of their home environments. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 19, 4, 797-816.
Dulin, D., Hatwell, Y. (2006). The effects of visual experience and training in raised-line materials on the mental spatial imagery of blind persons. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 100, 7, 414-424.
D’Angiulli, A. (2007). Raised-lined pictures, blindness, and tactile “beliefs”: An observational case study. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 101, 3, 172-177.
D’Angiulli, A., Kennedy, J. M. (2001). Children’s tactual exploration and copying without vision. International Journal of Rehabilitation Research, 24, 3, 233-234.
D’Angiulli, A., Kennedy, J. M., Heller, M. A. (1998). Blind children recognizing tactile pictures respond like sighted children given guidance in exploration. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 39, 3, 187-190.
D’Angiulli, A., Maggi, S. (2003). Development of drawing abilities in a distinct population: Depiction of perceptual principles by three children with congenital total blindness. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 27, 3, 193-200.
De Beni, R., Cornoldi, C. (1988). Imagery limitations in totally congenitally blind subjects. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 14, 4, 650-655.
Dulin, D., Hatwell, Y. (2006). The effects of visual experience and training in raised-line materials on the mental spatial imagery of blind persons. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 100, 7, 414-424.
Espinosa, M. A., Ochaita, E. (1992). Using tactile maps to improve the practical spatial knowledge of adults who are blind. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 92, 5, 338-345.
Gottesman, M. (1971). A comparative study of Piaget’s developmental schema of sighted children with that of a group of blind children. Child Development, 42, 2, 573-580.
Hatwell, Y. (2003). Manual exploratory procedures in children and adults. W: Y. Hatwell, A. Streni, E. Gentaz (red.), Touching for knowing. Cognitive psychology of haptic manual perception (s. 67-82). Amsterdam-Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Heller, M. A. (2006). Picture perception and spatial cognition in visually impaired people. W: M. A. Heller, S. Ballesteros (red.), Touch and blindness (s. 49-71). London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Iverson, J. M. (1999). How to get to the cafeteria: Gesture and speech in blind and sighted children’s spatial descriptions. Developmental Psychology, 35, 4, 1132-1142.
Kennedy, J. M. (1997). How the blind draw. Scientific American, 276, 76-81.
Kerr, N. H. (1983). The role of vision in “visual imagery” experiments: Evidence from the congenitally blind. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 112, 2, 265-277.
Kerr, N. H., Domhoff, G. W. (2004). Do the blind literraly „see” in their dreams? A critique of a recent claim that they do. Dreaming, 14, 4, 230-233.
Kinsbourne, M., Lempert, H. (1980). Human figure representation by blind children. Journal of General Psychology, 102, 1, 33-37.
Kuczyńska-Kwapisz, J. (1994). Efektywność kształcenia młodzieży niewidomej i słabowidzącej w zakresie orientacji przestrzennej i poruszania się. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo WSPS.
Lewis, V., Collis, G., Shadlock, R., Potts, M., Norgate, S. (2002). New methods for studying children’s understanding of familiar space. The British Journal ofVisual Impairment, 20, 1, 17-23.
Lopes da Silva, F. H. (2003). Visual dreams in the congenitally blind? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 7, 8, 328-330.
Majewski, T. (1983). Psychologia niewidomych i niedowidzących. Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe.
Marmor, G. S., Zaback, L. A. (1976). Mental rotation by the blind: Does mental rotation depend on visual imagery? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 2, 4, 515-521.
Miletic, G. (1995). Perspective taking: Knowledge of Level 1 and Level 2 rules by congenitally blind, low vision, and sighted children. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 89, 6, 514-523.
Millar, S. (1975). Spatial memory by blind and sighted children. British Journal of Psychology, 66, 4, 449-459.
Millar, S. (1976). Spatial representation by blind and sighted children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 21, 3, 460-479.
Morrongiello, B. A., Timney, B., Humphrey, G. K., Anderson, S., Skory, C. (1995). Spatial knowledge in blind and sighted children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 59, 2, 211-233.
Niestorowicz, E. (2007). Świat w umyśle i rzeźbie osób głuchoniewidomych. Lublin: Wydawnictwo UMCS.
Noordzija, M. L., Zuidhoeka, S., Postma, A. (2006). The influence of visual experience on the ability to form spatial mental models based on route and survey descriptions. Cognition, 100, 2, 321-342.
Pasqualotto, A., Newell, F. N. (2007). The role of visual experience on the representation and updating of novel haptic scenes. Brain and Cognition, 65, 2, 184-194.
Pathak, K., Pring, L. (1989). Tactual picture recognition in congenitally blind and sighted children. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 3, 4, 337-350.
Piaget, J., Inhelder, B. (1948). The child's conception of space. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Postma, A., Zuidhoek, S., Noordzij, M. L., Kappers, A. M. (2008). Keep an eye on your hands: On the role of visual mechanism in processing of haptic space. Cognitive Processing, 9, 1, 63-68.
Pring, L. (2008). Psychological characteristics of children with visual impairments: Learning, memory and imagery. British Journal of Visual Impairment, 26, 2, 159-169.
Renshaw, R. L., Zimmerman, G. J. (2007). Using a tactile map with a 5-year-old child in a large- scale outdoor environment. RE:view, 39, 3, 113-121.
Sánchez, J., Sáenz, M. (2006). Three-dimensional virtual environments for blind children. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 9, 2, 200-206.
Shimizu, R., Yoneda, T., Minagawa, H., Ohnishi, N., Uchiyama, M. (1999). A system for helping blind children acquire spatial awareness. Technology and Disability, 11, 3, 143-149.
Ungar, S., Blades, M., Spencer, Ch. (1995). Mental rotation of a tactile layout by young visually impaired children. Perception, 24, 8, 891-900.
Vanlierde, A., De Volder, A. G., Wanet-Defalque, M.-C., Veraart, C. (2003). Occipito-parietal cortex activation during visuo-spatial imagery in early blind humans. Neuroimage, 19, 3, 698-709.
Vanlierde, A., Wanet-Defalque, M.-C. (2005). The role of visual experience in mental imagery. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 99, 3, 165-178.
Vecchi, T. (1998). Visuo-spatial imagery in congenitally totally blind people. Memory, 6, 1, 91-102.
Warren, D. H. (1994). Blindness and children. An individual differences approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wheeler, L. C., Floyd, K., Griffin, H. C. (1997). Spatial organization in blind children. RE:view, 28, 4, 177-181.
Więckowska, E., Szwedowska, E. (2001). Rysunek jako metoda kształcenia wyobraźni i orientacji przestrzennej dziecka niewidomego. W: J. Kuczyńska-Kwapisz (red.), Orientacja przestrzenna w usamodzielnianiu osób niewidomych (s. 29-43). Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Akademii Pedagogiki Specjalnej im. Marii Grzegorzewskiej.
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