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Updated: Jul 16, 2026
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The (Spatial) Memory Game: Testing the Relationship Between Spatial Language, Object Knowledge, and Spatial Cognition
Published on: February 19, 2018
Fitting objects into holes: on the development of spatial cognition skills
Helena Ornkloo1, Claes von Hofsten
1Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. Helena.Ornkloo@psyk.uu.se
Developmental Psychology
|March 14, 2007
Summary
Infants aged 22 months and older can understand spatial relationships, successfully inserting objects into shapes. This involves mental rotation and action planning, with successful solutions linked to pre-adjustments.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Development
- Infant Spatial Reasoning
- Object Manipulation
Background:
- Understanding spatial relationships is crucial for infant development.
- Early object manipulation tasks reveal cognitive abilities.
- Infants must learn to adapt object orientation for insertion tasks.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate 14- to 26-month-old infants' spatial reasoning abilities.
- To determine the age at which infants can mentally rotate objects for insertion.
- To analyze the relationship between object orientation and successful task completion.
Main Methods:
- Infants (14-26 months) performed an object manipulation task.
- Objects with various cross-sections were inserted into matching apertures.
- Object orientation (standing vs. lying down) was varied across trials.
Main Results:
- Infants consistently solved the task from 22 months of age.
- Successful solutions involved infants pre-adjusting object orientation before hand arrival.
- No significant sex differences were observed in task performance.
Conclusions:
- Infants develop mature spatial reasoning and planning skills by 22 months.
- Successful object insertion relies on mental rotation and anticipatory actions.
- This study highlights key milestones in early cognitive and motor development.
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