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1. Fiber Arts Require Spatial Skills: How a Stereotypically Feminine Practice Can Help Us Understand Spatial Skills and Improve Spatial Learning

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-022-01340-y  

   Bennett-Pierre, Grace ; Gunderson, Elizabeth A. ( January 2023 , Sex Roles)
2. Understanding Spatial Abilities and Spatial Strategy under Extreme Visual and Gravitational Environments

   https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784483381.040  

   Park, Hannah ; Dixit, Manish ; Faghihi, Nafiseh ; McNamara, Ann ; Vaid, Jyotsna ( April 2021 , 17th Biennial International Conference on Engineering, Science, Construction, and Operations in Challenging Environments)

   null (Ed.)

   The purpose of this study is to understand how spatial ability differs under extreme environments and to provide implications on individually relevant training approaches by using VR technologies. Special jobs under extreme conditions (e.g., astronaut or scuba diver) demand higher spatial ability and effective spatial strategy. This paper examines how the conflicts between visual vertical and the body vertical may affect spatial ability. In addition, the study tested the relationship between an individual’s tendency to adopt a certain spatial strategy (egocentric vs. allocentric) and their use of a particular spatial reference frame (body vs. visual) under the extreme condition. 

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3. An open-source framework for non-spatial and spatial segregation measures: the PySAL segregation module

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s42001-019-00059-3  

   Cortes, Renan Xavier ; Rey, Sergio ; Knaap, Elijah ; Wolf, Levi John ( April 2020 , Journal of Computational Social Science)
4. Spatial activity participation in childhood and adolescence: consistency and relations to spatial thinking in adolescence

   https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-020-00239-0  

   Peterson, Emily Grossnickle ; Weinberger, Adam B. ; Uttal, David H. ; Kolvoord, Bob ; Green, Adam E. ( December 2020 , Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications)

   null (Ed.)

   Abstract Background Prior research has revealed positive effects of spatial activity participation (e.g., playing with blocks, sports) on current and future spatial skills. However, research has not examined the degree to which spatial activity participation remains stable over time, and little is known about how participating in spatial activities at multiple points in development impacts spatial thinking. In this study, adolescents completed measures of spatial thinking and questionnaires assessing their current and previous participation in spatial activities. Results Participation in childhood spatial activities predicted adolescent spatial activity participation, and the relation was stronger for females than for males. Adolescents’ current participation in spatial activities predicted spatial thinking skills, whereas participation in childhood spatial activities predicted adolescents’ spatial habits of mind, even when accounting for factors such as gender and academic performance. No cumulative benefit was incurred due to participating in spatial activities in both childhood and adolescence, and a lack of spatial activities in childhood was not made up for by later spatial activity participation. Conclusions These findings reveal a consistently positive relationship in spatial activity participation between childhood and adolescence. Results highlight the importance of participating in spatial activities during childhood, and underscore the differential impact that participation in spatial activities during childhood versus adolescence has on different facets of adolescents’ spatial thinking. Implications for the timing of interventions is discussed. 

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5. Systematic Enumeration and Identification of Unique Spatial Topologies of 3D Systems Using Spatial Graph Representations

   https://doi.org/10.1115/DETC2021-66900  

   Peddada, Satya R. ; Dunfield, Nathan M. ; Zeidner, Lawrence E. ; James, Kai A. ; Allison, James T. ( August 2021 , 47th Design Automation Conference (DAC))

   Systematic enumeration and identification of unique 3D spatial topologies of complex engineering systems such as automotive cooling layouts, hybrid-electric power trains, and aero-engines are essential to search their exhaustive design spaces to identify spatial topologies that can satisfy challenging system requirements. However, efficient navigation through discrete 3D spatial topology options is a very challenging problem due to its combinatorial nature and can quickly exceed human cognitive abilities at even moderate complexity levels. Here we present a new, efficient, and generic design framework that utilizes mathematical spatial graph theory to represent, enumerate, and identify distinctive 3D topological classes for an abstract engineering system, given its system architecture (SA) — its components and interconnections. Spatial graph diagrams (SGDs) are generated for a given SA from zero to a specified maximum crossing number. Corresponding Yamada polynomials for all the planar SGDs are then generated. SGDs are categorized into topological classes, each of which shares a unique Yamada polynomial. Finally, for each topological class, one 3D geometric model is generated for an SGD with the fewest interconnect crossings. Several case studies are shown to illustrate the different features of our proposed framework. Design guidelines are also provided for practicing engineers to aid the utilization of this framework for application to different types of real-world problems. 

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