Michelle De Landtsheer, Els Frett, Henric. Devenyns, Johan Simons
Faculty of Kinesiology and Rehabilitation Sciences, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, KULeuven, Belgium
Abstract
The aim of this longitudinal study is to evaluate spatial orientation in children. The possible relationship between perception (visual and auditory) and spatial orientation will be examined. Other objectives are the investigation of developmental and gender differences concerning spatial orientation. Children were recruited for this study from the last year of nursery school, and were monitored for 7 years. Each year the Piaget test for spatial orientation, the Test of Visual Perceptual Skills for visual perception and the Stambak Rhythm test for auditory perception were administrated. The Piaget test was fairly correlated with the Test of Visual Perceptual Skills and with the Stambak Rhythm test, which indicates that visual and auditory perception are related to spatial orientation. Secondly, a positive evolution of spatial orientation in function of age was found, mainly in the first grades of elementary school. No significant gender differences concerning spatial orientation were noted.
Keywords:
Piaget-Head test, Test of Visual Perceptual Skills, Stambak Rhythm test, spatial orientation, perception, development, integration, space, visual, auditory, multisensory, children, gender.
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