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Updated: Apr 17, 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
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An information theory analysis of spatial decisions in cognitive development
Nicole M Scott1, Maria D Sera2, Apostolos P Georgopoulos3
1Center for Cognitive Sciences, University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Frontiers in Neuroscience
|February 21, 2015
Summary
Cognitive entropy, a measure of decision-making order, decreases quadratically with age in spatial reasoning tasks from 5 to 10 years. This information gain correlates with improved performance, showing structured development.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Information Theory
Background:
- Cognitive task performance reflects decision-making across knowledge domains.
- Analyzing decisions reveals domain interplay and integration with task characteristics.
Purpose of the Study:
- Quantify knowledge gain in spatial relational knowledge development using an information-theoretic approach.
- Examine changes in spatial relational knowledge from ages 5 to 10 years.
Main Methods:
- Applied hierarchical clustering to decisions in 16 spatial relational tasks.
- Used two measures of cognitive entropy based on task clustering and distribution.
- Analyzed developmental changes in entropy from ages 5 to 10 years.
Main Results:
- Both measures of cognitive entropy decreased quadratically with age.
- Entropy measures were positively and linearly correlated.
- Decreased entropy (information gain) was associated with improved performance.
Conclusions:
- Demonstrates orderly, structured 'chunking' of decisions in spatial relational reasoning development.
- Quantifies developmental gain in spatial relational knowledge using information theory.
- Highlights the link between cognitive organization and performance improvement.
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