The Emerging Spatial Mind

How does the spatial mind develop? In this book, Jodie Plumert and John Spencer bring together the leading researchers from the field of spatial cognitive development to examine how the spatial mind emerges from its humble origins in infancy and becomes its mature, flexible, and skilled adult form. The work presented sheds light on how the emerging spatial mind is fostered and shaped over time by our experiences of thinking about and interacting in the space around us. Each chapter presents cutting-edge research and theory that addresses the two pivotal questions of what changes in the spatial mind, and how these changes come about. The authors provide both conceptual and formal theoretical accounts of developmental process at multiple levels of analysis--genes, neurons, behaviors, social interactions--creating a contemporary overview of the general mechanisms of cognitive change. Commentary chapters show how the developmental advances discussed in these accounts fit into our understanding of not only spatial cognitive development, but also spatial cognition more generally.

Review :
"[I]ncludes much of the best current thinking about fundamental questions in spatial development . . . By encouraging so many of the best thinkers in the field to address these basic issues, and by bringing their ideas together in a single volume, the editors have done a real service." --Robert Siegler, Teresa Heinz Professor of Cognitive Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University ". . . This collection of chapters from many of the main thinkers in the field provides thoughtful perspectives on those issues." --Barbara Tversky, Professor Emerita of Psychology, Stanford University "This is a much needed book in an area that has seen considerable advances over the past 20 years or so . . . will be a must for advanced students and researchers at every level working on the development of spatial cognition." --Gavin Bremner, Professor of Developmental Psychology, University of Lancaster "[P]rovides an authoritative, up-to-date, wide-ranging view of spatial development . . .This volume will be an indispensable source for anyone interested in how children come to understand and act in the world." --Judy S. Deloache, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Psychology, University of Virginia ". . . offers a valuable and timely synthesis that encompasses basic processes, how children come to represent and communicate about space, and the neural systems that support their abilities." --Roberta L. Klatzky, Professor of Psychology and Human-Computer Interaction, Carnegie Mellon University "The editors hoped to contribute to the emerging vision of the spatial mind as it moves beyond the field of spatial cognition, integrating the insights from the field of spatial cognitive development with research on adult spatial cognition, the neural bases of spatial cognition, the evolution of spatial thinking, and beyond. Toward that end, they have achieved success."--John S. Wodarski in PsycCRITIQUES