Spatial recall for Experiment 2: Non-symbolic Number Arrays.

<p>Female and male participants’ performance in Experiment 2: Non-Symbolic Number at each string length (1 panel up to 10 panels), for the left-to-right structured and right-to-left structured spatial flow types. Error bars are the within-subject SEM.</p

Recall performance in Structured vs. Non-Structured Sequences.

<p>Mean recall performance (% correct) in each experiment, contrasting a composite score for structured (LR and RL) trials in green vs. random structure (IND) trials in red. Error bars reflect the between-subjects SEM. The benefit of structure was apparent in all experiments (asterisks indicate a significant difference with an alpha level of. 05), and significantly greater in the cognitively demanding symbolic number condition.</p

Impact of spatial flow type on recall.

<p>Participants’ performance differential for the two horizontal spatial flow types (LR—RL). The asterisk reflects a significant difference between the experiments at an alpha level of. 05, and error bars depicted are the SEM of each group.</p

Experimental Schematic and Embedded Numerical Stimuli.

<p>Schematic of stimuli and spatial flow for Experiments 2, 3A, and 3B (left-to-right flow shown). In Experiment 2 the non-symbolic arrays were embedded in spatial locations as they appeared on the screen, and in Experiment 3A and 3B the symbolic numerals were embedded in the center of each location as it appeared.</p

Effect of Spatial Flow on Spatial Location Recall for Experiment 1.

<p>Participants’ performance at each position in the 10-panel recall string (T10) for Experiment 1: Space Only, for the left-to-right structured and right-to-left structured spatial flow types. Error bars are the within-subject standard error of the mean (SEM).</p

Ordinality and Verbal Framing Influence Preschoolers’ Memory for Spatial Structure

During the preschool years, children are simultaneously undergoing a reshaping of their mental number line and becoming increasingly sensitive to the social norms expressed by those around them. In the current study, 4- and 5-year-old American and Israeli children were given a task in which an experimenter laid out chips with numbers (1–5), letters (A-E), or colors (Red-Blue, the first colors of the rainbow), and presented them with a specific order (initial through final) and direction (Left-to-right or Right-to-left). The experimenter either did not demonstrate the laying out of the chips (Control), emphasized the process of the left-to-right or right-to-left spatial layout (Process), or used general goal language (Generic). Children were then asked to recreate each sequence after a short delay. Children also completed a short numeracy task. The results indicate that attention to the spatial structuring of the environment was influenced by conventional framing; children exhibited better recall when the manner of layout was emphasized than when it was not. Both American and Israeli children were better able to recall numerical information relative to non-numerical information. Although children did not show an overall benefit for better recall of information related to the culture’s dominant spatial direction, American children’s tendency to recall numerical direction information predicted their early numeracy ability.</p