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AbstractThere is evidence that spatial thinking is malleable, and that spatial and mathematical skills are associated (Mix et al. [2016] Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 145, 1206; Mix et al. [2017] Journal of Cognition and Development, 18, 465; Uttal et al. [2013] Psychological Bulletin, 139, 352). However, few studies have investigated transfer of spatial training gains to mathematics outcomes in children, and no known studies have compared different modes of spatial instruction (explicit vs. implicit instruction). Based on a sample of 250 participants, this study compared the effectiveness of explicit and implicit spatial instruction in eliciting near transfer (to the specific spatial skills trained), intermediate transfer (to untrained spatial skills) and far transfer (to mathematics domains) at age 8. Spatial scaling and mental rotation skills were chosen as training targets as previous studies have found, and proposed explanations for, associations between these skills and mathematics in children of this age (Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 145, 2016 and 1206). In this study, spatial training led to near, intermediate and far transfer of gains. Mental visualization and proportional reasoning were proposed to explain far transfer from mental rotation and spatial scaling skills respectively. For most outcomes, except for geometry, there was no difference in the effectiveness of implicit (practice with feedback) compared to explicit instruction (instructional videos). From a theoretical perspective, the study identified a specific causal effect of spatial skills on mathematics skills in children. Practically, the results also highlight the potential of instructional videos as a method of introducing spatial thinking into the classroom.

AbstractSpatial thinking is an important predictor of mathematics. However, existing data do not determine whether all spatial sub‐domains are equally important for mathematics outcomes nor whether mathematics–spatial associations vary through development. This study addresses these questions by exploring the developmental relations between mathematics and spatial skills in children aged 6–10 years (N = 155). We extend previous findings by assessing and comparing performance across Uttal et al.'s (2013), four spatial sub‐domains. Overall spatial skills explained 5%–14% of the variation across three mathematics performance measures (standardized mathematics skills, approximate number sense and number line estimation skills), beyond other known predictors of mathematics including vocabulary and gender. Spatial scaling (extrinsic‐static sub‐domain) was a significant predictor of all mathematics outcomes, across all ages, highlighting its importance for mathematics in middle childhood. Other spatial sub‐domains were differentially associated with mathematics in a task‐ and age‐dependent manner. Mental rotation (intrinsic‐dynamic skills) was a significant predictor of mathematics at 6 and 7 years only which suggests that at approximately 8 years of age there is a transition period regarding the spatial skills that are important for mathematics. Taken together, the results support the investigation of spatial training, particularly targeting spatial scaling, as a means of improving both spatial and mathematical thinking.

AbstractRecent findings suggest that children with autism may be impaired in the perception of biological motion from moving point‐light displays. Some children with autism also have abnormally high motion coherence thresholds. In the current study we tested a group of children with autism and a group of typically developing children aged 5 to 12 years of age on several motion perception tasks, in order to establish the specificity of the biological motion deficit in relation to other visual discrimination skills. The first task required the recognition of biological from scrambled motion. Three quasi‐psychophysical tasks then established individual thresholds for the detection of biological motion in dynamic noise, of motion coherence and of form‐from‐motion. Lastly, individual thresholds for a task of static perception – contour integration (Gabor displays) – were also obtained. Compared to controls, children with autism were particularly impaired in processing biological motion in relation to any developmental measure (chronological or mental age). In contrast, there was some developmental overlap in ability to process other types of visual motion between typically developing children and the children with autism, and evidence of developmental change in both groups. Finally, Gabor display thresholds appeared to develop typically in children with autism.

AbstractWilliams syndrome (WS) is a rare genetic syndrome. As with all rare syndromes, obtaining adequately powered sample sizes is a challenge. Here we present legacy data from seven UK labs, enabling the characterisation of cross‐sectional and longitudinal developmental trajectories of verbal and non‐verbal development in the largest sample of individuals with WS to‐date. In Study 1, we report cross‐sectional data between N = 102 and N = 209 children and adults with WS on measures of verbal and non‐verbal ability. In Study 2, we report longitudinal data from N = 17 to N = 54 children and adults with WS who had been tested on at least three timepoints on these measures. Data support the WS characteristic cognitive profile of stronger verbal than non‐verbal ability, and shallow developmental progression for both domains. Both cross‐sectional and longitudinal data demonstrate steeper rates of development in the child participants than the adolescent and adults in our sample. Cross‐sectional data indicate steeper development in verbal than non‐verbal ability, and that individual differences in the discrepancy between verbal and non‐verbal ability are largely accounted for by level of intellectual functioning. A diverging developmental discrepancy between verbal and non‐verbal ability, whilst marginal, is not mirrored statistically in the longitudinal data. Cross‐sectional and longitudinal data are discussed with reference to validating cross‐sectional developmental patterns using longitudinal data and the importance of individual differences in understanding developmental progression.

AbstractLongitudinal research can assess how diverging development of multiple cognitive skills during infancy, as well as familial background, are related to the emergence of neurodevelopmental conditions. Sensorimotor and effortful control difficulties are seen in infants later diagnosed with autism; this study explored the relationships between these skills and autism characteristics in 340 infants (240 with elevated familial autism likelihood) assessed at 4–7, 8–10, 12–15, 24, and 36 months. We tested: (1) the relationship between parent‐reported effortful control (Rothbart's temperament questionnaires) and sensorimotor skills (Mullen Scales of Early Learning), using random intercept cross‐lagged panel modelling; (2) whether household income and maternal education predicted stable individual differences in cognition; (3) sensorimotor and effortful control skills as individual and interactive predictors of parent‐reported autism characteristics (Social Responsiveness Scale) at 3 years, using multiple regression; and (4) moderation of interactions by familial likelihood. Sensorimotor skills were longitudinally associated with effortful control at the subsequent measurement point from 12–15 months. Socioeconomic status indicators did not predict stable between‐infant differences in sensorimotor or effortful control skills. Effortful control skills were longitudinally related to 3‐year autism characteristics from the first year of life, with evidence for an interaction with sensorimotor skills at 24 months. Effects of effortful control increased with age and were particularly important for infants with family histories of autism. Results are discussed in relation to different theoretical frameworks: Developmental Cascades and Anterior Modifiers in the Emergence of Neurodevelopmental Disorders. We suggest a role for 24‐month effortful control in explaining the emergent autism phenotype.Research Highlights
Sensorimotor skills longitudinally predicted effortful control from 12–15 months onward but effortful control did not longitudinally predict sensorimotor skills during infancy.
Measures of effortful control skills taken before the age of 1 predicted continuous variation in autism characteristics at 36 months, with associations increasing in strength with age.
Effortful control (measured at 12–15 and 24 months) was a stronger predictor of 36‐month autism characteristics in infants with elevated familial likelihood for autism.
The relationship between 24‐month sensorimotor skills and 36‐month autism characteristics was stronger in infants with weaker effortful control skills.