Abstract
Background: A revision is presented of the effects that motor, visual and language impairments have on the ontogeny of spatial and temporal cognition. Purpose: To explore the role of age and the state of vision in pointing related to spatial deixis (SD) and temporal deixis (TD) in 1) typically developing children (CG), 2) children with strabismus and/or amblyopia (ASG), and 3) blind children (BCG).
Method: 96 children between 3.11 and 8.1 years participated in the study. Children were asked to point at space and time locations in relation to their bodies by using their hand or finger immediately after a verbal instruction was given.
Results: Children from CG group aged from 3.11 to 8.1 were almost two times more likely to perform correct SDs than TDs. An increasing trend in performing more SDs than TDs such that CG group < ASG group < BG group was detected in children from these three groups in the 7 to 8 years old range. A significant association between personal deixis in lieu of TD and/or SD and children group was also found.
Conclusion: Vision and age play an important role in the performance of SD and TD embedded in tasks requiring the use of axial structure of reference objects. It is argued that the mastering of the stage of coordinate representations is a crucial precondition for the evolution of concepts related to space and time.
Method: 96 children between 3.11 and 8.1 years participated in the study. Children were asked to point at space and time locations in relation to their bodies by using their hand or finger immediately after a verbal instruction was given.
Results: Children from CG group aged from 3.11 to 8.1 were almost two times more likely to perform correct SDs than TDs. An increasing trend in performing more SDs than TDs such that CG group < ASG group < BG group was detected in children from these three groups in the 7 to 8 years old range. A significant association between personal deixis in lieu of TD and/or SD and children group was also found.
Conclusion: Vision and age play an important role in the performance of SD and TD embedded in tasks requiring the use of axial structure of reference objects. It is argued that the mastering of the stage of coordinate representations is a crucial precondition for the evolution of concepts related to space and time.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 75-98 |
| Journal | Journal of Speech and Language Pathology |
| Volume | 2 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 2012 |
| Externally published | Yes |