The effect of the neighborhood on the spatial abilities and the cognitive maps of 7 to 12-year-old children

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.