Language supports young children’s use of spatial relations to remember locations

Miller, Hilary E.; Patterson, Rebecca; Simmering, Vanessa R.

doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2016.02.006

Cited by 37 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Our findings also contribute to understanding the relation between spatial language and spatial thinking. Several studies have shown that spatial language helps spatial thinking and performance on many spatial tasks (e.g., Dessalegn & Landau, ; Loewenstein & Gentner, ; Miller, Patterson, & Simmering, ). Analysis of parental verbal and gestural spatial input and how children's individual characteristics relate to the quantity and quality of this input offers us venues to improve children's performance on spatial tasks.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental use of spatial language and gestures in early childhood

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Aktan-Erciyes

Turan

et al. 2018

British J of Dev Psycho

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Parents' use of spatial language and gestures is closely linked to children's spatial language development. Little is known about the quantity and quality of early spatial input and how infants' individual characteristics may be related to the spatial input they receive. Here, we examine (1) the amount and type of spatial input 16- to 21-month-old Turkish-learning children (n = 34) received in the context of a spatial activity (puzzle play) and (2) whether parental spatial input in the form of speech and gesture varies based on children's age, sex, and early spatial vocabulary comprehension assessed in an earlier session. Results of the regression analyses showed that parents' use of spatial words was predicted by children's age over and beyond earlier spatial word comprehension and sex. In particular, parents used more spatial speech as their children got older even in this restricted age range. Children's early spatial word comprehension also correlated with parents' spatial word production. Yet, parents' overall gesture use and gestures with spatial words were not predicted by children's age, sex, or early spatial word comprehension. These findings suggest that in the spatial domain, early verbal input, but not gestural input, can change depending on children's age and children's spatial vocabulary comprehension may also be related to parental use of later spatial language. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Parents enhance their children's spatial skills using spatial language and gestures. Parental spatial talk is related to children's later spatial skills. What does this study add? We assess both spatial talk and gesture in early childhood. We examine the children's characteristics (age, sex) in relation to spatial talk and gesture. We present how children's earlier vocabulary competence relates to parental input.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental use of spatial language and gestures in early childhood

Kısa

Aktan-Erciyes

Turan

et al. 2018

British J of Dev Psycho

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“…Multiple studies have demonstrated links between spatial language and spatial cognition across a range of spatial tasks, using both correlational and experimental designs (e.g., Dessalegn & Landau, , ; Hermer‐Vazquez, Moffet, & Munkholm, ; Loewenstein & Gentner, ; Miller, Patterson, & Simmering, ; Pruden, Levine, & Huttenlocher, ; Pyers, Shusterman, Senghas, Spelke, & Emmorey, ; but see Nardini, Burgess, Breckenridge, & Atkinson, ; Ratliff & Newcombe, for exceptions). One proposed explanation for these findings is that spatial language supports children's encoding of spatial features and relations, thus facilitating their performance on spatial tasks (e.g., Hermer‐Vazquez et al., ; Pruden et al., ).…”

Section: Current Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Children's production of spatial words has been shown to be positively associated with their spatial skills (e.g., Hermer‐Vazquez et al., ; Miller et al., ; Pruden et al., ; Simms & Gentner, ). For example, children's production of particular spatial words, such as “left” and “right” at 5–6 years of age (Hermer‐Vazquez et al., ) or “middle” at 3–5 years of age (Simms & Gentner, ), is correlated with their performance on spatial tasks that depended on representing those relations.…”

Section: Current Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In these studies, children between 3 and 5 years of age were exposed to verbal cues specifying relations among objects or features, either before or during the spatial tasks. Results showed that providing children with verbal cues containing relevant spatial language enhanced their spatial performance (Dessalegn & Landau, , ; Loewenstein & Gentner, ; Miller et al., ; Shusterman et al., ). Moreover, studies have demonstrated similar effects with nonspatial but task‐relevant language (Dessalegn & Landau, ; Shusterman et al., ).…”

Section: Current Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Producing Spatial Words Is Not Enough: Understanding the Relation Between Language and Spatial Cognition

2016

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Prior research has investigated the relation between children’s language and spatial cognition by assessing the quantity of children’s spatial word production, with limited attention to the context in which children use such words. This study tested whether 4-year-olds children’s (N = 41, primarily white middle-class) adaptive use of task-relevant language across contexts predicted their spatial skills. Children were presented with a spatial scene description task, four spatial tasks, and vocabulary assessments. Children’s adaptive use of task-relevant language was more predictive of their spatial skills than demographic and language factors (e.g., quantity of spatial words produced). These findings identify new links between language and spatial cognition and highlight the importance of understanding the quality, not just quantity, of children’s language use.

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“…In addition to clear developmental improvement, wide individual variation also was evident. Production of bi-referential spatial terms is especially challenging for English-speaking preschool-aged children (Weist et al, 1999), so more research is needed to understand the processes by which children come to produce complex spatial language that is precise and consistent and the implications of spatial language for other aspects of development (Miller, Patterson, & Simmering, 2016).…”

Section: Complex Spatial Language 25mentioning

confidence: 99%

Complex spatial language improves from 3 to 5 years: The role of prompting and overhearing in facilitating direction giving using Between and Middle

Winner

Hesson-McInnis

2017

Cognitive Development

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McInnis, M. S. (2017). Complex spatial language improves from 3 to 5 years: The role of prompting and overhearing in facilitating direction giving using between and middle. for help with data collection, transcription, and coding. We also thank the parents and children for their participation and area preschools for their support. Hund, A. M., Bianchi, L. J., Winner, J. F., & Hesson-McInnis, M. S. (2017). Complex spatial language improves from 3 to 5 years: The role of prompting and overhearing in facilitating direction giving using between and middle. Cognitive Development, 43, 170-181.Complex Spatial Language 2 AbstractThe primary goal of this study was to specify age-related improvements in young children's use of the complex spatial terms between and middle in response to prompting and overhearing supports. Three-to 5-year-old children described the location of a mouse hidden between two furniture items in a dollhouse. Three prompting conditions (Between Directive, Middle Directive, Nondirective) were compared with two overhearing conditions (Overhearing Between, Overhearing Middle). Children's use of between and middle was much more frequent in response to directive prompting than in response to nondirective prompting or overhearing. Only 4-5-yearold children showed some evidence of using middle in response to nondirective prompting and overhearing, demonstrating developmental gains in sensitivity to subtle cues. The secondary goal was to assess young children's production and comprehension of between and middle using tasks suitable for young children and parent report checklists. As expected, children's spatial language showed strong developmental improvement and was related to direction-giving performance.

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Language supports young children’s use of spatial relations to remember locations

Cited by 37 publications

References 26 publications

Parental use of spatial language and gestures in early childhood

Parental use of spatial language and gestures in early childhood

Producing Spatial Words Is Not Enough: Understanding the Relation Between Language and Spatial Cognition

Complex spatial language improves from 3 to 5 years: The role of prompting and overhearing in facilitating direction giving using Between and Middle

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