C. Quaiser-pohl, The effect of the neighborhood on the spatial abilities and the cognitive maps of 7 to 12-year-old children, PSYCHOL ERZ, 48(4), 2001, pp. 280-297
Using a quasi-experimental design; the study compares the spatial cognition
of 438 children enrolled in the 2nd, the 4th and the 6th grades living in
four different neighborhoods in Magdeburg, East-Germany. Different factors
of spatial ability were measured by standardized tests (water-level task, r
od-and-frame test and mental rotation test). Children's cognitive maps of t
he neighborhood were investigated by sketch maps. Data on the spatial behav
ior of the children were gathered by semi-structured interviews. Results sh
owed significant age and gender differences with regard to spatial-test per
formance and concerning the sketch maps of the neighborhood, but also diffe
rences between the neighborhoods. Children living in a neighborhood with la
rge and geometrically organized cube-shaped apartment buildings showed the
best results in both fields of spatial cognition, children from the old-tow
n neighborhoods the worst. On the one hand, results support the positive in
fluence of intensive spatial behavior on the spatial representations of chi
ldren. On the other hand, there are hints showing that features of the neig
hborhood like route angularity and the shape of the buildings have an impac
t on spatial abilities, too.