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Updated: May 14, 2026

The (Spatial) Memory Game: Testing the Relationship Between Spatial Language, Object Knowledge, and Spatial Cognition
Published on: February 19, 2018
The spatial thinking of origami: evidence from think-aloud protocols
Holly A Taylor1, Thora Tenbrink
1Department of Psychology, Tufts University, 490 Boston Ave., Medford, MA 02155, USA. holly.taylor@tufts.edu
Abstract:
Origami, the ancient Japanese art of paper folding, involves spatial thinking to both interpret and carry out its instructions. As such, it has the potential to provide spatial training (Taylor and Hutton under review). The present work uses cognitive discourse analysis to reveal the spatial thinking involved in origami and to suggest how it may be beneficial for spatial training. Analysis of think-aloud data while participants folded origami and its relation to gender, spatial ability measures, and thinking style suggest that one way that people profit from spatial training is through the possibility to verbalize concepts needed to solve-related spatial tasks.
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