Spatial description learning in preschoolers: The role of perspective and individual factors

Preschoolers’ ability to form mental spatial models derived from descriptions, and their individual skills in relation to these models have been scarcely examined. The present study examines preschoolers’ ability to mentally represent environments based on verbal descriptions from a survey perspective (i.e. landmark locations presented from an aerial view) or route perspective (i.e. a path along which landmarks are encountered from a person's point of view), and the relationship with the children's verbal and visuo-spatial abilities. Sixty-three five- to six-year-old children were enrolled. They listened to survey and route descriptions. Then they were assessed on landmark recognition and spatial recall with a landmark location task. Results suggested that these preschoolers could effectively learn environmental information and perform spatial recall tasks well above the chance level, with negligible differences in the survey and route conditions. Vocabulary and mental rotation accuracy were individual measures significantly associated with landmark location accuracy.