Visuo-Spatial Working Memory and Individual Differences

by Cornoldi,Cesare

• ISBN13: 9781841692166
• ISBN10: 1841692166
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-05-30
• Publisher: Psychology Pres

Summary

Research on both visuo-spatial representation and mental imagery has developed rapidly over the past decade. This has lead to a greater understanding of the specific mechanisms which underlie visuo-spatial cognition, and the relationship between these and more general concepts such as working memory and executive processes. However, it is also vital that theoretical models of these mechanisms be integrated in order to develop a cogent account of human cognition. In this book Cornoldi and Vecchi describe a coherent experimental approach to the investigation of visuo-spatial cognition, based upon the analysis of individual differences. A review of the most influential theoretical advances in the study of visuo-spatial cognition is presented, including both critical analysis and comparisons between the distinct approaches. In addition, the authors describe recent research into memory for spatial configurations, mental manipulation and the active integration of visuo-spatial information. This includesstudies on the effects of congenital blindness on mental imagery abilities, developmental and age-related modifications, gender effects, and the role of genetic syndromes in determining visuo-spatial abilities. The authors draw together these distinct areas of research and integrate the findings within an innovative framework of working memory. This timely and comprehensive text will be a valuable resource for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students of psychology, as well as researchers in the fields of experimental and cognitive psychology, neuropsychology, and neuroscience.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgements	xi
Introduction	1	(1)
Spatial cognition	2	(2)
Visual mental imagery	4	(2)
Working memory	6	(1)
Spatial processes, visual mental imagery, and working memory	7	(2)
The study of individual differences in visuo-spatial abilities	9	(24)
The study of individual differences	9	(2)
The specificity of visuo-spatial ability	11	(1)
The specificity of visuo-spatial components of working memory	12	(1)
Inter-individual (and intra-individual) variability and intellectual functioning	13	(2)
Classification of visuo-spatial abilities	15	(1)
Examination of individual differences in VSWM	15	(11)
Differences in visual mental imagery and VSWM differences	26	(3)
Units of analysis in the study of individual differences	29	(1)
Concluding remarks	30	(3)
Models and components of visuo-spatial representation and working memory	33	(22)
The imagery perspective	33	(4)
Visual pathways and mental imagery	37	(1)
Visual, spatial, and motor processes	38	(1)
Working memory	39	(5)
Visuo-spatial working memory	44	(5)
Continuity models of working memory	49	(3)
Concluding remarks	52	(3)
Gender differences in visuo-spatial abilities	55	(14)
Males perform better than females in visuo-spatial tasks: A classical view	57	(1)
Meta-analyses concerning gender differences	58	(2)
Gender differences in passive and active VSWM	60	(3)
Males perform better than females in visuo-spatial tasks: Structural or strategic factors?	63	(3)
Concluding remarks	66	(3)
Individual differences in children's visuo-spatial working memory	69	(14)
The development of VSWM	69	(4)
Differentiation within VSWM	73	(2)
Deficits and expertise in VSWM	75	(1)
Children with low visuo-spatial intelligence and high verbal intelligence	76	(3)
The selective VSWM Matrix task and role of inhibition, interference, and control	79	(1)
Children with nonverbal learning disability	80	(1)
Concluding remarks	81	(2)
Visuo-spatial working memory in ageing	83	(12)
Modification of VSWM in ageing	84	(2)
Investigation of active VSWM abilities in the elderly: The Jigsaw Puzzle test	86	(3)
Ageing effects and the architecture of visuo-spatial memory models	89	(2)
Process-dependent effects in old age	91	(2)
Concluding remarks	93	(2)
Imagery, blindness, and visuo-spatial working memory	95	(14)
Imagery processing in blind people	95	(2)
Imagery and memory effects in blind people	97	(2)
Visuo-spatial working memory limitations in congenital blindness	99	(2)
Active and passive visuo-spatial processes in blind people	101	(2)
Blindness and the use of the third dimension	103	(3)
Concluding remarks	106	(3)
Visuo-spatial abilities in genetic syndromes	109	(10)
Down's syndrome	109	(4)
Williams syndrome	113	(2)
Fragile-X syndrome	115	(1)
Turner syndrome	116	(2)
Concluding remarks	118	(1)
A continuity approach to visuo-spatial working memory	119	(18)
Continuities of mind	119	(1)
A continuity model of working memory	120	(4)
Global and local cognitive resources in the continuous WM system and sources of individual differences	124	(2)
Vertical continuum: Processing-dependent features	126	(5)
Horizontal continuum: Modality-dependent features	131	(3)
Dissociating functions, integrating models	134	(3)
References	137	(22)
Author index	159	(7)
Subject index	166