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This research is part of the "Ancient Xuzhou Houses in China: Cultural Memory, Symbol and Process Reconstruction in the Context of Rural Revitalization" project. Traditional houses contain a large amount of cultural value, literacy role, and historical memory. In order to sort out the transfer process more clearly between memory and people, this study set three research objectives. First, spatial memory transmission and literacy role needs to be studied and analyzed. Then, on this basis, we will further study the method of spatial memory transmission and literacy role. Finally, the appropriate medium for spatial memory transmission is analyzed. This study used descriptive analysis to summarize and discuss the results. The results show that spatial memory transmission and literacy is a process of maintaining and transmitting social and cultural values through the use and evolution of architecture and spatial design over time. Symbols in the memory space of residential buildings are containers for storing memories, just like a mobile hard drive that records relevant memory information. Residential buildings and people are like two devices that convey information and communicate through symbols. After comparison, in the dimension of cultural memory, symbols are more social and cultural and are more suitable as a medium for transmitting spatial memory and literacy role under cultural identity. This article explains the relationship between symbols and spatial memory, through spatial memory transmission to describe how common memories are shared and reproduced among collective members through cultural memory, literacy role and symbolic translation. It can transmit cultural and historical memories between different generations and acquires the importance of spatial positioning and environmental interaction in transmitting cultural memory.

Background: Recent research suggested fluent processing as an explanation on why number sense contributes to simple arithmetic tasks--'Fluency hypothesis'. Aims: The current study investigates whether number sense contributes to such arithmetic tasks when other cognitive factors are controlled for (including those that mediate the link); and whether this contribution varies as a function of participants' individual maths fluency levels. Sample: Four hundred and thirty-seven Chinese schoolchildren (186 females; Mage = 83.49 months) completed a range of cognitive measures in Grade 1 (no previous classroom training) and in Grade 2 (a year later). Methods: Number sense, arithmetic (addition and subtraction), spatial ability, visuo-spatial working memory, perception, reaction time, character reading and general intelligence were measured. Results: Our data showed that the link between number sense and arithmetic was weaker in Grade 1 (Beta = 0.15 for addition and 0.06 (ns) for subtraction) compared to Grade 2 (0.23--0.28), but still persisted in children with no previous maths training. Further, math's performance in Grade 1 did not affect the link between number sense and maths performance in Grade 2. Conclusion: Our data extended previous findings by showing that number sense is linked with simple maths task performance even after controlling for multiple cognitive factors. Our results brought some evidence that number sense-arithmetic link is somewhat sensitive to previous formal maths education. Further research is needed, as the differences in effects between grades were quite small, and arithmetic in Grade 1 did not moderate the link at question in Grade 2.

This experiment employed viewing time methods to investigate the effects of individual differences in visuospatial working memory (VWM) on the processing of older adults' bridging inferences in the understanding of visual narratives. The results showed that older adults could make bridging inferences in visual narrative processing, and that VWM had no significant effect on the generation of older adults' bridging inferences in visual narrative comprehension. The findings of this study have the potential to enrich and advance the theories and models related to discourse comprehension and its inference processing, and they would have important implications for using visual media to facilitate training in inference processing.

Urban and rural children have different levels of performance in arithmetic processing. This study investigated whether such a residence difference can be explained by phonological processing. A total of 1,501 Chinese primary school students from urban and rural areas were recruited to complete nine cognitive tasks: two in arithmetic performance (subtraction and multiplication), one in phonological processing (word rhyming), two in quantity processing (numerosity and number comparison), one in visuo-spatial processing (mental rotation), as well as a mathematical reasoning task (number-series completion) as a contrast with arithmetic processing and two general cognitive tasks (choice reaction time and Raven's progressive matrices). The results showed that Chinese urban children had superior performance in arithmetic, which was eliminated after controlling for phonological ability, but not after controlling for quantity or visuo-spatial performance or general cognitive factors. Urban children also showed better performance in mathematical reasoning than did rural children, but residence difference in mathematical reasoning was not eliminated by any of the cognitive factors. The above result suggests that phonological processing explains the relationship between residence and arithmetic performance.

To examine the relationship between early number sense and later symbolic arithmetic competence and how they are connected in young Chinese children. The present study utilized a longitudinal sample of 115 Chinese children aged 3 to 6. Young children completed measures to assess number sense, visual spatial skills (in the fall of their second kindergarten year, K2), arithmetic competence (in the spring of their second kindergarten year, K3), working memory, verbal comprehension, and inhibitory control (in the fall of their first kindergarten year, K1). The results showed that number sense predicted arithmetic competence six months later. Meanwhile, visual spatial skills played a mediating role in this association, but it became non-significant when working memory, verbal comprehension, and inhibitory control were added as covariates. These longitudinal findings confirm the close association between number sense and arithmetic competence in young Chinese children.

The primary goal of this research was to examine the impact of Augmented Reality (AR) based virtual interaction and physical interaction on the development of spatial skills in Xining Qinghai, China's primary school students (aged 8 to 10). The research was conducted in a public-school setting with 54 participants using a quasi-experimental research method. While the control group engaged in equivalent activities by physical means, the experimental group employed smart phones equipped with augmented reality software. To measure spatial ability, pre- and post-tests were given to the participants. The findings demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in spatial ability test in overall scores for the experimental group.

Background: Previous studies indicated that working memory (WM) updating and WM capacity play essential roles in mathematical ability. However, it is unclear whether WM capacity mediates the effect of WM updating on mathematics, and whether the cascading effects vary with different mathematical domains. Aims: The current study aims to explore the longitudinal mediating role of WM capacity between WM updating and mathematical performance, and how the relations change with the age and domains. Sample: A total of 131 Chinese first-graders participated the study. Methods: Participants were required to complete tasks on WM updating and WM capacity in Grade 1 and Grade 2, as well as paper-and-pencil tests on mathematics achievement in Grade 3. The role of WM updating and capacity in the development of pupil's mathematical achievement was examined. Results: Results revealed that verbal WM updating in Grade 1 predicted basic arithmetic and logical-visuospatial ability in Grade 3 via its cascading effect on verbal WM capacity in Grade 2. Moreover, visuospatial WM updating in Grade 1 predicted visuospatial WM capacity in Grade 2. Visuospatial WM capacity in Grade 1 predicted logical-visuospatial ability in Grade 3 instead of basic arithmetic ability in Grade 3. Conclusions: The findings suggested that WM updating exerts effect on pupil's mathematical performance via WM capacity, meanwhile, this effect depends on children's mathematics domain.

Geographical practice power is a key competency essential for students' overall development. It is, therefore, important to understand its concepts, contexts, and content. Practical activities following scientific and operable principles in real geographical situations would enable students to unleash their potential across the curriculum. The primary aim of this study was to design and validate a conceptual, contextual, and content framework for geographical practice power competency (GPPC) of primary and secondary school students in China. The study used a three-step mixedmethod research design with expert opinions collected through interviews and questionnaires. The dimensions of GPPC in this study included the mental processes of cognition, awareness, attitude, and behavior. A compilation of the attributes of GPPC for primary and secondary school students was proposed. There was a general consensus among the evaluators regarding the conceptual, contextual, and content framework of GPPC. When the weight values of the four dimensions and sub-dimensions of GPPC were calculated, it was found that they played different roles in the framework. Contrary to the expectation that scientific argumentation would be the most important dimension of GPPC, this study found that information acquisition was rated the most important. In each GPPC sub-dimension, consciousness received the highest weighting.

Developmental dyscalculia (DD) is a mathematics learning disorder that affects approximately 5% to 7% of the population. This study aimed to detect the underlying domain-specific and domain-general differences between DD and typically developing (TD) children. We recruited 9-year-old primary school children to form the DD group via a 2-year longitudinal screening process. In total, 75 DD children were screened from 1,657 children after the one-time screening, and 13 DD children were screened from 1,317 children through a consecutive 2-year longitudinal screening. In total, 13 experimental tasks were administered to assess their cognitive abilities to test the domain-specific magnitude representation hypothesis (including symbolic and nonsymbolic magnitude comparisons) and four alternative domain-general hypotheses (including working memory, executive function, attention, and visuospatial processing). The DD group had worse performance than the TD group on the number sense task, finger sense task, shifting task, and one-back task after both one-time and two-time screening. Logistic regressions further indicated the differences on the shifting task and the nonsymbolic magnitude comparison task could distinguish DD and TD children. Our findings suggest that domain-specific nonsymbolic magnitude representation and domain-general executive function both contribute to DD. Thus, both domain-specific and domain-general abilities will be necessary to investigate and to intervene in DD groups in the future.

An abundance of empirical evidence indicates that spatial ability is significantly correlated with educational performance in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Previous studies have explored the relationship between spatial ability and science achievement in adults. However, the relationship between spatial ability and science achievement in children at different stages of learning remains unclear. This study examined how the relationship between spatial ability and science achievement differed by grade. A total of 29, 524 students, including 17, 378 fourth graders (boys = 9022, girls = 8365, mean age = 9.78) and 12, 137 eighth graders (boys =6294, girls = 5843, mean age =13.73), were selected from the Qingdao Basic Education Quality Assessment database using cluster random sampling. Participants were recruited to complete two basic cognitive processing tasks (three-dimensional mental rotation and nonverbal matrix reasoning), two self-report scales (multiple intelligence and learning persistence), and a curriculum-based science achievement assessment. The study demonstrated that spatial ability and science achievement are closely related in Chinese children. That this relationship was evident in every instance tested shows a certain stability. The relationship was stronger in eighth-grade students than in fourth-grade students, even after controlling for reasoning ability (measured via non-verbal matrix reasoning) and learning persistence. The relationship between spatial ability and science achievement over time depends on how spatial ability is assessed, either through self-reports or cognitive-based tests. This indicates that in children, as they advance in grade and science courses become more difficult, spatial abilities play an increasingly important role in science learning.

Scientific modeling (SM) is a core practice of science and an important component of scientific literacy. Supporting students in developing the competence to construct, use, evaluate, and revise models is hence of particular relevance. While research has shown that spatial visualization (SV), a core component of spatial ability, is correlated with students' SM performance, it is unclear which role SV plays in students performing the four elements of SM: the construction, the use, the evaluation, and the revision of models. This study analyzes the role of SV in the performance of a series of SM tasks by 279 students in Grades 4 and 7. The findings indicate that SV affects students' performance in SM but that the effect is more significant in Grade 4 than in Grade 7. More specifically, SV is significantly predictive for model revision in Grade 4, but significant for model evaluation in Grade 7. However, there was no gender difference in the effect of SV on SM. The implications are that science teaching and learning must better attend to supporting younger students through visual aids when engaging them in SM. The study also suggests that further studies are needed to understand the different cognitive processes involved in students' SM and their complex interplay.

Spatial ability has been shown the positive correlations with the mathematics achievement of typically developing children. However, whether there is a relationship between spatial ability and mathematics achievement in deaf children and the mechanisms that underlie the relationship remain unknown. 256 deaf children in Grades 3 to 9 in two special education schools in China performed a series of cognitive and mathematical tests. After controlling for age and gender, we found that spatial ability, processing speed (both accuracy and reaction time), and intelligence were significantly related to mathematics achievement. Moreover, processing speed and intelligence were found to mediate the relationship between spatial ability and mathematics achievement in deaf children. The mediating effect of intelligence was significantly greater than the serial mediating effect of processing speed (accuracy) and then intelligence; both the mediating effect of processing speed (reaction time) and the mediating effect of intelligence were significantly greater than the serial mediating effect of processing speed (reaction time) and then intelligence. These findings suggest a process through which processing speed can decrease intelligence and identify the mediating effects of processing speed (both accuracy and reaction time) and intelligence in the relationship between spatial ability and mathematics achievement in deaf children.

Relatively few studies have directly examined children's memory of object-based spatial structure of room-sized environments. The current study investigated how children remember the spatial structure of a room, and the role of pictorial working memory (WM) and different testing perspectives in this process. In Experiment 1, 80 children aged 5 to 7 years old participated in a memory of spatial structure task, a pictorial spatial WM task, and a verbal ability test. In the first task, participants explored a square-shaped virtual room where each wall was associated with different objects. The virtual room was viewed on a desktop monitor. Then they recalled wall scenes of different perspectives (0, 90, 180 degrees) relative to a reference wall. Results found that pictorial WM predicted memory of spatial structure after accounting for age and verbal ability. Different from perspective taking tasks, children rarely made egocentric errors. Moreover, the memory of spatial structure is perspective independent because there was no difference in performance between the 90 and 180 degrees conditions. We replicated the basic results in Experiment 2, where 77 children completed the same set of tasks except that the virtual room was round-shaped. Furthermore, the developmental trajectories of memory of spatial structure as a function of pictorial WM varied between different experiments and perspective conditions. Together, our study showed that children aged 5-7 years old could retrieve the spatial structure of a room-sized environment from diverse perspectives, which was also susceptible to pictorial WM capacity, perspectives, and geometric cues.

A number of previous studies have identified cognitive deficits in developmental dyscalculia (DD). Yet, most of these studies were in alphabetic languages, whereas few of them examined Chinese DD. Here, we conducted a study aiming to determine the cognitive factors associated with DD in Chinese children. Five candidate cognitive factors of DD--phonological retrieval, phonological awareness, visual-spatial attention, spatial thinking, and pattern understanding--were examined in the present study. A total of 904 Chinese children ages 8 to 11 years participated in this study. From the sample, 97 children were identified with DD through tests of arithmetic ability, and 93 age- and IQ-matched typically developing children were selected as controls. Logistic regression analysis revealed that phonological retrieval, pattern understanding, visual-spatial attention, and phonological awareness significantly predicted DD, whereas spatial thinking failed to do so. Results of logistic relative weights analysis showed that all five factors explained statistically significant amounts of variance in arithmetic scores. Phonological retrieval had the most influence on DD, followed by pattern understanding, visual--spatial attention, phonological awareness, and spatial thinking. These findings have important clinical implications for diagnosis and intervention of Chinese DD.

This study examined how the family capital of upper secondary school students impacted on their geospatial thinking skills and explored the mediating effect of their academic achievement in geography. A total of 1,018 upper secondary school students participated. The results of our mediation analysis conducted using the PROCESS modeling tool revealed that family capital has a direct predictive effect on students' geospatial thinking and an indirect predictive effect via their academic achievement in geography. Therefore, this paper aims to redistribute family capital, so as to effectively apply it to the cultivation of students' geographic academic achievement and geographic spatial thinking ability.

Mental rotation is positively related to arithmetic ability; however, the mechanism underlying this relationship remains unclear. The possible roles of working memory, place-value concept, and number line estimation in the correlation between mental rotation and whole-number computation were investigated. One hundred and fifty-five first-grade students were tested to determine their mental rotation ability, arithmetic ability, and non-verbal intelligence. One year later, their working memory, place-value concept, number line estimation, and overall arithmetic ability were assessed. After controlling for age, gender, and prior arithmetic ability, we found that mental rotation uniquely predicted arithmetic ability after one year. Further mediation analyses demonstrated that number line estimation significantly mediated the relationship between mental rotation and arithmetic ability. In contrast, neither working memory nor place-value concept significantly mediated the relationship between mental rotation and arithmetic ability. This study highlights that mental number line estimation is the most important element explaining the influence of a dynamic spatial skill, that is, mental rotation, on arithmetic ability among young Chinese children.

As a basic indicator of verbal ability, verbal fluency refers to the degree of fluency in the use of language to convey information. The different components of working memory play an important role in verbal fluency. The inhibiting control mechanism takes place during L2 production processing in bilinguals, which may affect their verbal fluency and distinguish them from native speakers. The participants of our study were 90 Tibetan-Chinese bilinguals and 30 native Chinese speakers. The study attempts to investigate the verbal fluency and cognitive mechanism of bilinguals' L2. The present study's results found L2 verbal fluency in Tibetan-Chinese bilinguals is significantly lower than that of native Chinese speakers. L2 verbal fluency has changed under the influence of their mother tongue, mainly manifested as its semantic fluency of L2 relying not only on the visuospatial sketchpad but also the phonological loop. Moreover, the processing of bilinguals' L2 is influenced by the processing mode of L1 in the verbal fluency task.

The overarching goal of this 2-phase study was to investigate the contributions of relational reasoning to mathematical thinking and performance for 790 primary and middle-school Chinese students. Phase I of the study was undertaken to establish the reliability and validity of the Test of Relational Reasoning-Junior (TORRjr), a 32-item measure developed to assess children's and young adolescents' ability to reason analogically, anomalously, antinomously, and antithetically. The range of analyses from item difficulties to the overall structural model showed the TORRjr to be a psychometrically sound measure for study participants. There was also evidence of development in students' relational reasoning ability. In Phase II, the contributions of TORRjr performance to results of a novel measure of quantitative relations (QRTC[superscript 2]), a traditional measure of mathematical ability (MAT), and a fluid measure of mental rotation (MRT) were examined. Relational reasoning was significantly associated with performance on all 3 measures to a moderate or moderately strong level. Relational reasoning was also found to partially mediate the association between the QRTC[superscript 2] and MAT and fully mediate the relation between MRT and MAT. Multiple-group regression analyses revealed a stronger association between relational reasoning and mathematical performance for middle-school students than for primary students. Theoretical and practical implications of the outcomes from both phases are forwarded.

The present study aimed to examine how visual skills, verbal working memory, visuospatial working memory, and other general cognitive skills (inhibitory control, attention, and decision speed) were simultaneously correlated with the early acquisition of reading among kindergarten children. A total of 99 Chinese children were tested individually on the Chinese character recognition task, the block design task, the digit span task, the visuospatial sketchpad task, the continuous performance task (CPT), the flanker task, and the choice reaction time task. The results showed that visual skills and working memory accounted for 15% of the unique variance in character reading, whereas other general cognitive skills, including decision speed, inhibitory control and attention, did not significantly explain the variance in character reading when visual skills and working memory were considered. Specifically, verbal working memory, rather than visuospatial working memory, explained the unique variance in children's learning of character reading. These findings highlighted that visual skills and verbal working memory were among the most important precursors of reading in children at the beginning stage of learning Chinese characters.

Studies have shown that numerosity-based arithmetic training can promote arithmetic learning in typically developing children as well as children with developmental dyscalculia (DD), but the cognitive mechanism underlying this training effect remains unclear. The main aim of the current study was to examine the role of visual form perception in arithmetic improvement through an 8-day numerosity training for DD children. Eighty DD children were selected from four Chinese primary schools. They were randomly divided into the intervention and control groups. The intervention group received training on an apple-collecting game, whereas the control group received an English dictation task. Children's cognitive and arithmetic performances were assessed before and after training. The results showed that the intervention group showed a significant improvement in arithmetic performance, approximate number system (ANS) acuity, and visual form perception, but not in spatial processing and sentence comprehension. The control group showed no significant improvement in any cognitive ability. Mediation analysis further showed that training-related improvement in arithmetic performance was fully mediated by the improvement in visual form perception. The results suggest that short-term numerosity training enhances the arithmetic performance of DD children by improving their visual form perception.

3D design software is a commonly used interactive learning tool in STEM education. It is generally believed that 3D design can effectively train students' spatial thinking and engineering design abilities. There have been many theoretical and practical achievements in the application of 3D printing education, but the evaluation of 3D design is mainly based on diagnostic and summative evaluations, which ignores the growth of students' spatial thinking and engineering design ability. Students' creativity and problem-solving abilities are limited, while teachers have not been able to teach students in accordance with their aptitude. In this study, we propose a 3D printing course data collection model based on xAPI specifications, and use GeekCAD design software to implement the xAPI profile and apply it to the 3D printing course. The successful implementation of this model at Li Jun primary school proved that xAPI can completely record the learning paths of students. Through the analysis of interactive data, we found that students have different operating habits and learning paths which provide the basis for the evaluation of students' spatial thinking ability and engineering design skill in interactive learning environment.

In this article, we use eye-tracking technology to analyze the eye movement differences in cognitive maps between high and low level map-based spatial ability participants, revealing key factors of superior spatial ability. It is found that focusing on the perception of spatial structure information, constructing and manipulating complex images psychologically, and positioning by spatial relationship with reference objects are three key factors of superior spatial ability. Based on this, we developed the teaching strategies of geospatial ability to provide reference and suggestions for the education and evaluation of senior high school students' spatial ability.

The "temporal-focus hypothesis" claims that whether people conceptualize the past or the future as in front of them depends on their cultural attitudes toward time; such conceptualizations can be independent from the space-time metaphors expressed through language. In this paper, we study how Chinese people conceptualize time on the sagittal axis to find out the respective influences of language and culture on mental space-time mappings. An examination of Mandarin speakers' co-speech gestures shows that some Chinese spontaneously perform past-in-front/future-at-back (besides future-in-front/past-at-back) gestures, especially when gestures are accompanying past-in-front/future-at-back space-time metaphors (Exp. 1). Using a temporal performance task, the study confirms that Chinese can conceptualize the future as behind and the past as in front of them, and that such space-time mappings are affected by the different expressions of Mandarin space-time metaphors (Exp. 2). Additionally, a survey on cultural attitudes toward time shows that Chinese tend to focus slightly more on the future than on the past (Exp. 3). Within the Chinese sample, we did not find evidence for the effect of participants' cultural temporal attitudes on space-time mappings, but a cross-cultural comparison of space-time mappings between Chinese, Moroccans, and Spaniards provides strong support for the "temporal-focus hypothesis." Furthermore, the results of Exp. 2 are replicated even after controlling for factors such as cultural temporal attitudes and age (Exp. 3), which implies that linguistic sagittal temporal metaphors can indeed influence Mandarin speakers' space-time mappings. The findings not only contribute to a better understanding of Chinese people's sagittal temporal orientation, but also have additional implications for theories on the mental space-time mappings and the relationship between language and thought.

Background: Previous research showed a significant association between mathematics and working memory (WM). However, evidence regarding the different effects of verbal and visuospatial WM on mathematical abilities was very limited. Aims: The current research aims to explore the relationship between verbal and visuospatial WM with mathematical abilities, and how this relationship is moderated by age and math domains. We also wonder whether the results would change when we use several tests for each component and use a latent variable approach for more reliable measurement. Sample: 131 first graders and 144 fifth graders from a primary school in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China, participated our research. Methods: All participants completed three verbal and three visuospatial WM tasks, mathematics tests, and fluid intelligence test. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to examine the pattern of relations among these constructs. Results: The results of hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that verbal WM significantly predicted mathematics achievement for fifth graders, while failed for first graders. However, visuospatial WM played a substantive role in both graders' mathematical performance. The different role of the two WM components also depend on various fields of mathematics. Conclusion: Our results indicated the distinct influence of verbal and visuospatial WM on primary school students' mathematical abilities and highlighted the developmental and domain-specific effects of WM on mathematics.

Does visuospatial orientation influence repetition and transposed character (TC) priming effects in logographic scripts? According to perceptual learning accounts, the nature of orthographic (form) priming effects should be influenced by text orientation (Dehaene, Cohen, Sigman, & Vinckier, 2005; Grainger & Holcomb, 2009). In contrast, Witzel, Qiao, and Forster's (2011) abstract letter unit account argues that the mechanism responsible for such effects acts at a totally abstract orthographic level (i.e., the visuospatial orientation is irrelevant to the nature of the relevant orthographic code). The present experiments expanded this debate beyond alphabetic scripts and the syllabic Kana script used by Witzel et al. to a logographic script (Chinese). Experiment 1 showed masked repetition and TC priming effects with primes and targets presented in both the conventional left-to-right horizontal orientation and the vertical top-to-bottom orientation, replicating Witzel et al. Experiment 2 showed masked repetition and TC priming effects even when both the primes and targets were presented in the right-to-left orientation, a rare but existent text orientation in Chinese. In Experiment 3, the primes, but not the targets, were presented in the right-to-left orientation. Priming effects were again obtained regardless of the fact that the primes and targets appeared in different orientations. Experiment 4, which involved primes and targets presented in a completely novel bottom-to-top orientation, also produced a TC priming effect. These results support abstract letter/character unit accounts of form priming effects while failing to support perceptual learning accounts.

Background: There is emerging evidence that individuals with developmental dyslexia show deficits in visual-spatial attention. This study focused on visual searches and examined whether visual search deficits would be found in Chinese children with dyslexia. More importantly, we examined the associations between dyslexia and distinct types of visual searches, to determine whether deficits are specific to some visual searches but not others. Methods: The dyslexic children and their age-matched typical peers completed both the inefficient and relatively efficient search tasks. Results: The dyslexic children were generally impaired in visual searches, although the deficit in inefficient searches was more severe than in efficient searches. After phonological awareness, working memory and nonverbal IQ were considered; inefficient searches were found to be selectively impaired. Conclusions: These findings suggest that visual search deficits in dyslexia are universal across alphabetic and logographic writing systems. They highlight the importance of further study on the role of top-down attention on reading.

This chapter addresses how child-, family-, and school-level characteristics are associated with Chinese children's academic skill development during their preschool years. Academic skills are defined in terms of young children's emergent competencies in academic domains including literacy, mathematics, and science. First, we review the relations of young Chinese children's cognition (language, visuospatial, and executive functioning), behavior (social behavior and behavioral regulation), and affect (interest and attitude) to their performance in these academic domains. Second, we review the roles of familial variables, including family socioeconomic status and broad and specific aspects of parenting practices and parental involvement. Third, we review school- and classroom-level factors, with a special emphasis on preschool and classroom quality that is particularly relevant to young Chinese children's academic skills. We discuss the educational implications of these study findings and identify methodological limitations that may threaten their internal and external validity. Our aim is to bring attention to the growing body of research on young Chinese children's academic skill development and to highlight several areas that need further research.

Although geography education researchers in both China and Korea acknowledge that the education of spatial thinking and the development of teachers' dispositions toward teaching spatial thinking are important, very few studies are available on the topic. This article examines the dispositions of Chinese and Korean geography preservice teachers' dispositions toward teaching spatial thinking through geography, and it identifies the similarities and differences between the two countries. A survey was conducted with 979 Chinese and 323 Korean geography preservice teachers using the "Teaching Spatial Thinking through Geography Disposition Inventory." Overall, both Chinese and Korean preservice teachers showed low-to-moderate dispositions toward teaching spatial thinking in their future classrooms. Chinese participants exhibited more positive dispositions in all five subcategories of the disposition inventory than did their Korean counterparts. Participants from both countries expressed low confidence in utilizing geospatial technologies. No specific score differences were observed by gender, grade level, and overall geography course experiences. The results reveal the current conditions of spatial thinking education in China and Korea and will help to establish strategies for successful spatial thinking education in geography in the future.

A geographical education offers more than skills, subject knowledge and generic attributes. It also develops a set of discipline-specific capabilities that contribute to a graduate's future learning and experience, granting them special ways of thinking for lifelong development and for contributing to the welfare of themselves, their community and their world. This paper considers the broader purposes and values of disciplinary teaching in contributing to individual human development. Set in the context of recent debates concerning the role of the university and the neo-liberalisation of higher education this paper explores approaches to developing the geography curriculum in ways that re-assert the educational value of geographical thinking for students. Using international examples of teaching and learning practice in geography, we recognise five geocapabilities: use of the geographical imagination; ethical subject-hood with respect to the impacts of geographical processes; integrative thinking about society-environment relationships; spatial thinking; and the structured exploration of places. A capabilities approach offers a productive and resilient response to the threats of pedagogic frailty and increasingly generic learning in higher education. Finally, a framework to stimulate dialogue about curriculum development and the role of geocapabilities in the higher education curriculum is suggested.

Vignette design has been largely neglected in anchoring vignette studies. This study aimed to contribute to the science of vignette design by developing and evaluating vignettes for measuring vision in rural China. Cognitive interviews were conducted among 36 participants in a Chinese middle school. The respondents either directly evaluated vision of the vignette character (i.e., noncomparative judgment) or compared their own vision with that of the vignette character (i.e., comparative judgment). It was found that a hypothetical person in the vignette was successfully envisioned by participants in grade 7 and beyond. However, more than half the participants were unable to accurately estimate distances expressed in meters. Some participants were critical in self-evaluation, yet tolerant of others' performance. Participants more easily produced an answer and had greater confidence in the answer in comparative judgment than for noncomparative judgment. We conclude with recommendations for designing concise and complete vignettes and suggest the use of comparative rather than noncomparative judgment.

Social skills involved in leadership were examined in a problem-solving activity in which 252 Chinese 5th-graders worked in small groups on a spatial-reasoning puzzle. Results showed that students who engaged in peer-managed small-group discussions of stories prior to problem solving produced significantly better solutions and initiated significantly more effective leadership than control students. A mediation analysis suggested that it was because of effective leadership that groups who had experienced discussions achieved better problem solutions.

For mental rotation, introspection, theories, and interpretations of experimental results imply a certain type of mental representation, namely, visual mental images. Characteristics of the rotated representation can be examined by measuring the influence of stimulus characteristics on rotational speed. If the amount of a given type of information influences rotational speed, one can infer that it was contained in the rotated representation. In Experiment 1, rotational speed of university students (10 men, 11 women) was found to be influenced exclusively by the amount of represented orientation-dependent spatial-relational information but not by orientation-independent spatial-relational information, visual complexity, or the number of stimulus parts. As information in mental-rotation tasks is initially presented visually, this finding implies that at some point during each trial, orientation-dependent information is extracted from visual information. Searching for more direct evidence for this extraction, we recorded the EEG of another sample of university students (12 men, 12 women) during mental rotation of the same stimuli. In an early time window, the observed working memory load-dependent slow potentials were sensitive to the stimuli's visual complexity. Later, in contrast, slow potentials were sensitive to the amount of orientation-dependent information only. We conclude that only orientation-dependent information is contained in the rotated representation. (Contains 10 figures, 2 tables, and 10 footnotes.)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the hemispheric effect of creative insight. This study used high-density ERPs to record participants' brain activity while they performed an insight task. Results showed that both insight solutions and incomprehension solutions elicited a more negative ERP deflection (N320~550) than noninsight solutions in the time window of 320~550 msec. Scalp ERPs and topographical maps revealed that the insight N320~550 exhibited a relative RH dominance, whereas the incomprehension N320~550 exhibited a relative midline dominance. Dipole source analysis showed that the generator of N320~550 elicited by insight and incomprehension solutions was localized in the right middle frontal gyrus and the right parahippocampus gyrus, respectively. These distinct spatiotemporal patterns involved in insight processing and incomprehension processing suggest that the observed N320~550 might reflect the processing of set-shift and the formation of novel associations. Moreover, the spatiotemporal pattern of brain activation associated with insight solutions supported the idea that the right hemispheric dominance theory of creative thinking also applies to creative insight.

A large part of the empirical research in the field of visual attention has focused on various concrete paradigms. However, as yet, there has been no clear demonstration of whether or not these paradigms are indeed measuring the same underlying construct. We collected a very large data set (nearly 1.3 million trials) to address this question. We tested 257 participants on nine paradigms: conjunction search, configuration search, counting, tracking, feature access, spatial pattern, response selection, visual short-term memory, and change blindness. A fairly general attention factor was identified. Some of the participants were also tested on eight other paradigms. This general attention factor was found to be correlated with intelligence, visual marking, task switching, mental rotation, and Stroop task. On the other hand, a few paradigms that are very important in the attention literature (attentional capture, consonance-driven orienting, and inhibition of return) were found to be dissociated from this general attention factor. (Contains 3 figures and 3 tables.)

This study investigated intellectual development in 4-7 years old Greek and Chinese children. They were examined on speeded performance, working memory, reasoning, and self-awareness tasks in order to investigate possible effects of learning the Chinese logographic system on possible differences in intellectual development between these ethnic groups. Speeded performance was examined with commonly familiar objects and tasks related to reading (i.e., Latin, Arabic, and Chinese characters). Chinese outperformed Greeks in (1) reading-related processing efficiency tasks but not in common objects (2) spatial but not verbal WM, (3) cognitive, and (4) the self-awareness tasks. Structural equation modeling showed that performance is organized in four systems (i.e., domain-specific problem solving, representational capacity, inference, and consciousness) integrated by g, in both ethnic groups. There were differences between the two ethnicities in the strength of relations between constructs, attributed to Chinese logographic experience. That is, the massive practice in visuo/spatial processing and memory seemed to provide an advantage in the communication between systems of the mind causing increased general cognitive fluidity, expressed in higher intellectual performance among the Chinese. (Contains 3 tables and 7 figures.)

Inhibition of return (IOR) occurs when a target is preceded by an irrelevant stimulus (cue) at the same location: Target detection is slowed, relative to uncued locations. In the present study, we used relatively complex displays to examine the effect of repetition of nonspatial attributes. For both color and shape, attribute repetition produced a robust inhibitory effect that followed a time course similar to that for location-based IOR. However, the effect only occurred when the target shared both the feature (i.e., color or shape) and location with the cue; this constraint implicates a primary role for location. The data are consistent with the idea that the system integrates consecutive stimuli into a single object file when attributes repeat, hindering detection of the second stimulus. The results are also consistent with an interpretation of IOR as a form of habituation, with greater habituation occurring with increasing featural overlap of a repeated stimulus. Critically, both of these interpretations bring the IOR effect within more general approaches to attention and perception, rather than requiring a specialized process with a limited function. In this view, there is no process specifically designed to inhibit return, suggesting that IOR may be the wrong framing of inhibitory repetition effects. Instead, we suggest that repetition of stimulus properties can interfere with the ability to focus attention on the aspects of a complex display that are needed to detect the occurrence of the target stimulus; this is a failure of activation, not an inhibition of processing. (Contains 2 footnotes and 6 figures.)

The authors used holistic and structured interviews to examine Chinese student perspectives on their own spatial ability. The results of this study were compared and contrast with a previous study that was conducted by Mohler (2008) of Caucasian student perspectives in United States. Findings of the current study agree with other literature that Chinese student spatial ability may be culturally formed. Their background, experiences, and upbringing may contribute to Chinese student development of spatial ability and appear to differ significantly from students in United States. Recommendations and educational implications are discussed in the following contribution. (Contains 1 table.)

Online interaction with 3D facial animation is an alternative way of face-to-face communication for distance education. 3D facial modeling is essential for virtual educational environments establishment. This article presents a novel 3D facial modeling solution that facilitates quasi-facial communication for online learning. Our algorithm builds 3D facial models from a single image, with support of a 3D face database. First from the image, we extract a set of feature points, which are then used to automatically estimate the head pose parameters using the 3D mean face in our database as a reference model. After the pose recovery, a similarity measurement function is proposed to locate the neighborhood for the given image in the 3D face database. The scope of neighborhood can be determined adaptively using our cross-validation algorithm. Furthermore, the individual 3D shape is synthesized by neighborhood interpolation. Texture mapping is achieved based on feature points. The experimental results show that our algorithm can robustly produce 3D facial models from images captured in various scenarios to enhance the lifelikeness in distant learning.

A software package which can aid descriptive geometry instruction is described. Included are the features of the software and the software configuration. This software has been honored as the best and most advanced software of its kind in the People's Republic of China. (KR)

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is currently the most harmful greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. Obtaining long-term, high-resolution atmospheric column CO2 concentration (XCO2) datasets is of great practical significance for mitigating the greenhouse effect, identifying and controlling carbon emission sources, and achieving carbon cycle management. However, mainstream satellite observations provide XCO2 datasets with coarse spatial resolution, which is insufficient to support the needs of higher-precision research. To address this gap, in this study, we integrate spatial information with the extreme random trees model and develop a new machine learning model called spatial extreme random trees (SExtraTrees) to reconstruct a 1 km spatial resolution XCO2 dataset for China from 2016 to 2020. The results indicate that the predictive ability of spatial extreme random trees is more stable and has higher fitting accuracy compared to other methods. Overall, XCO2 in China shows an increasing trend year by year, with the spatial distribution revealing significantly higher XCO2 levels in eastern coastal regions compared to western inland areas. The contributions of this study are primarily in the following areas: (1) Considering the spatial heterogeneity of XCO2 and combining spatial features with the advantages of machine learning, we construct the spatial extreme random trees model, which is verified to have high predictive accuracy. (2) Using the spatial extreme random trees model, we reconstruct high-resolution XCO2 datasets for China from 2016 to 2020, providing data support for carbon emission reduction and related decision making. (3) Based on the generated dataset, we analyze the spatiotemporal distribution patterns of XCO2 in China, thereby improving emission reduction policies and sustainable development measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Satellite observations of precipitation have greatly improved our understanding of its temporal and spatial distribution. In view of the high spatiotemporal heterogeneity and severely skewed distribution characteristics of precipitation, it is necessary and of considerable application value to understand the ability of satellite-derived precipitation products (SPPs) to characterize the variations of precipitation in the time and space dimensions separately. However, to date, research concerning this is scarce. In this study, we explore the ability of 13 SPPs to characterize the temporal and spatial variations of precipitation based on observations from more than 2400 meteorological stations in Chinese mainland from 2001 to 2018. The results show that (1) SPPs tend to perform better in identifying the temporal than the spatial variation of precipitation. Most SPPs can reliably monitor the temporal and spatial variation of monthly and seasonal precipitation in Chinese mainland, although the identification of the spatial variation of daily precipitation involves larger uncertainty; (2) CMORPH-B, IMERG-F, 3B42, and MSWEP generally had better performance in identifying the temporal and spatial variations of precipitation, while PERSIANN and GSMaP-N performed poorly. However, no single SPP outperformed others in all scenarios; (3) with respect to monitoring the temporal variation of daily precipitation, SPPs performed better in southern China than in the north, with three-quarters and half of median KGE values above 0.5 In comparison, no significant spatial difference was observed in their ability to monitor the spatial variation of daily precipitation; and (4) SPPs had large uncertainties in capturing the temporal and spatial variations of precipitation in winter, while they performed best in identifying the temporal and spatial variations of daily precipitation in summer. The results of this paper provide an important reference for data users needing to select suitable SPPs and for satellite developers desiring to further improve data quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an important part of soil and water conservation, ecological stability, and climate regulation, vegetation is sensitive to climate change and human disturbance. At present, there is a lack of research on the dynamic changes to vegetation in river basins and sub-basins from a holistic and partial perspective, which limits our ability to understand the spatial heterogeneity of vegetation changes and their influencing factors. In this study, the spatial and temporal variations of vegetation and their influencing factors in the Songliao River Basin (SLB) from 2000 to 2020 were analyzed using Sen's trend method, the Mann–Kendall test, the coefficient of variation method, and the Geodetector method. The results showed that the NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) in the SLB exhibited an increasing trend of 0.003 yr−1, indicating that the vegetation was greening. In general, climatic factors and soil type were the dominant factors affecting the spatial differentiation of the NDVI in the SLB and sub-basin units. The interactions between the influencing factors were all enhanced, and the population density highlighted its influence on reflected vegetation changes. We also focused on analyzing the spatial differentiation of vegetation changes and influencing factors in the sub-basins. The research results provide a basis for the ecological restoration and stability of the basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a major component of water cycle, the accuracy quantification of different precipitation products is critical for evaluating climate change and ecosystem functions. However, a lack of evidence is available to choose a precise precipitation product in relative applications. Here, to solve this limit, we analyze the spatiotemporal pattern and accuracy of four precipitation products, including CHIRPS V2.0, PERSIANN-CDR, ECMWF ERA5-Land, and GLDAS_NOAH025_3H, over China during the period of 1981–2020, based on the five precipitation traits (i.e., spatial pattern of multi-year average, annual trend, seasonality, frequency, and intensity), and meteorological gauge observations are taken as the benchmark. Our results show that, compared to other products, CHIRPS data has the strongest ability to present spatial pattern of multi-year average precipitation, especially in most parts of northeastern and southern China, and ERA5 has the weakest ability to simulate the multi-year average precipitation. All four precipitation products can accurately depict the spatial pattern of seasonality, among which CHIRPS and ERA5 have the highest and lowest fitting ability, respectively, but four products poorly describe the spatial pattern of precipitation intensity and frequency at a daily scale. These products only correctly predict the interannual precipitation trend in some local areas. Our findings provide evidences to select high-quality precipitation data, and could help to improve the accuracy of relative geophysical models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]