Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 31, 2025
A View of Their Own: Capturing the Egocentric View of Infants and Toddlers with Head-Mounted Cameras
Published on: October 5, 2018
Development of egocentric and allocentric spatial orientation abilities in children born preterm with very low birth
Cristina Fernandez-Baizan1, Leticia Alcántara-Canabal2, Gonzalo Solis3
1Neuroscience Institute of Principado de Asturias (INEUROPA), Faculty of Psychology, Plaza Feijoo s/n, 33003 Oviedo, Asturias, Spain; Department of Psychology, University of Oviedo, Faculty of Psychology, Plaza Feijoo s/n, 33003 Oviedo, Asturias, Spain.
Insights
Children born preterm with very low birth weight exhibit impaired spatial orientation and visuospatial skills. These deficits are linked to perinatal factors, suggesting the need for targeted neuropsychological evaluations.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Very low birth weight preterm infants often display neuropsychological deficits affecting memory and visuospatial skills.
- Spatial orientation, a related cognitive function, has been less studied in this population.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare spatial orientation (egocentric and allocentric) between preterm and term children aged 5-7 years.
- To examine the relationship between spatial orientation and visuospatial skills, behavior, daily memory, and perinatal risk factors.
Main Methods:
- An observational cross-sectional study involving 88 very low birth weight preterm children and 59 controls.
- Assessment of IQ, visuospatial skills, spatial orientation, behavior, and everyday memory.
- Collection of perinatal risk factors from medical records.
Main Results:
- Preterm children scored significantly lower on IQ, visuospatial tasks (Route Finding), and allocentric spatial orientation.
- Spatial orientation correlated with other neuropsychological variables but not with behavior or daily memory in preterm children.
- Perinatal risk factors like surgical procedures and peri/intraventricular hemorrhages were most associated with visuospatial and orientation difficulties.
Conclusions:
- Very low birth weight preterm children experience spatial orientation challenges.
- The study recommends incorporating spatial orientation assessments into routine neuropsychological evaluations for these children.
Background:
Very low birth weight preterm infants show neuropsychological alterations in functions such as memory or visuospatial skills, although certain related functions, such as spatial orientation, have not been studied.
Objectives:
To compare children born preterm and at term between the ages of 5 and 7 years on egocentric and allocentric spatial orientation, and relate their performance to visuospatial skills, behavior, memory in daily environments, and perinatal risk factors.
Study Design:
Observational cross-sectional study.
Subjects:
88 very low birth weight children born preterm and 59 controls.
Outcome Measures:
IQ (RIST), visuospatial skills (NEPSY II: Route Finding and Geometric Puzzles), spatial orientation (Egocentric and Allocentric Spatial Memory Test - Children's Version), behavior (BASC questionnaire for parents), memory in everyday environments (ECM-Q questionnaire for parents), and perinatal risk factors (collected from medical records).
Results:
Children born preterm obtain significantly lower scores than controls on the RIST, Route Finding, and Allocentric Spatial Memory Tests. Although spatial orientation is related to other neuropsychological variables in both premature and control children, there is no meaningful association with behavior or daily memory in children born preterm. The perinatal risk factors that are associated the most with visuospatial and orientation problems are surgical procedures and peri- and intraventricular hemorrhages.
Conclusions:
Children born preterm with low birth weight present difficulties in their spatial orientation, and for this reason, we propose including these types of tasks in the usual neuropsychological evaluation.
Related Concept Videos
01:21The Nativist Approach
01:14Piaget's Stage 1 of Cognitive Development
Exploration...
01:14Piaget's Stage 2 of Cognitive Development
01:30Socioemotional Development during Infancy
Primary Temperament Types
01:28Relationship with Parents: Attachment
01:19Self-Concept
Infancy and Emerging Recognition
During infancy, self-concept is virtually nonexistent. Babies do not distinguish themselves as separate entities and often mistake their...