Transcript Spatial Visualization Training Using Interactive Animations

Spatial Visualization Training
Using Interactive Animations
Cheryl A. Cohen
Mary Hegarty
University of California, Santa Barbara
Department of Psychology
June 15, 2008
Research questions
• What is the potential for using interactive
animation and virtual models to train
spatial visualization skill?
• To what extent will training transfer?
Evidence for Mutability
of Spatial Ability
Baenninger & Newcombe (1989)
Two meta-analyses examined the contribution of experience
to the development of spatial skill:
• Correlational studies: participation in spatial activities
(sports, crafts and other hobbies) is positively related to
scores on spatial ability measures
• Experimental studies: performance on spatial ability tests
can be improved through training
– Pre-postest and practice effect experiments
Spatial Visualization
Spatial visualization:
the ability to understand, mentally encode and
manipulate 3D visuo-spatial forms (Carroll,
1993; Hegarty & Waller, 2005).
Some spatial visualization tasks involve relating 2D
to 3D representations, and vice versa. One such
task is inferring a cross section, which we
define as a 2D slice of a 3D object or form.
Cross sections in
science education
Russell-Gebbett, 1984; 1985
Spatial skills needed in biology:
•ability to abstract sectional shapes of a structure
•ability to understand spatial relationships of
internal parts of a 3D structure seen in sections
Suggested how to improve students’ spatial skills:
•
•
•
•
clarify meaning of the term “cross section”
use analogies to remember shapes (e.g., this cell is shaped like an hour-glass)
use verbal cues to help recognize spatial relationships
practice mental rotation
Geology (Kali, Orion, & Mazzor, 1996)
“visual penetrative ability”
In previous research, we found that ability to infer and draw a crosssection of an anatomy-like object is correlated with spatial ability
(Cohen, 2005; Cohen & Hegarty, 2007), r =.59**
Experiment 1:
Trained participants
using 10 interactive
animations.
Experiment 2:
Trained participants
using 4 interactive
animations.
Pre-post Measure
•
30-item multiple choice
measure to examine
sources of difficulty in
inferring cross sections
Santa Barbara
Solids Test (SBST)
•
Cronbach’s α =.86
•
SBST performance
correlated with spatial
score, r =.49**
Spatial score = sum of normalized means of
Vandenberg Mental Rotation Test + Guay Visualization of Views
Pre-post Measure
Dimensions of hypothesized difficulty:
•
Structural complexity (simple, joined or
embedded figures)
•
Orientation of cutting plane (orthogonal and
oblique)
Simple
orthogonal
Joined
oblique
Embedded
oblique
Test instructions
Santa Barbara Solids Test:
Sample Problem
Experiment 1
(SBST)
(.50 ≤ on pre-test)
Pretest/
screening
Training
Control
(10 interactive animations)
(read non-fiction prose)
Posttest
(SBST)
Experiment 1: Trained Figures
Drawing Trial
animation
Mental imagery
Kosslyn (1980); Kosslyn, Brunn, Cave, & Wallach (1984)
• images can be produced from:
– recently acquired visual percepts
– verbal descriptions
– representations in long-term memory
• orientation-bound representation
– images in the short-term visuospatial buffer represent
objects as seen from particular points of view
Manipulating geometric forms and viewing the resulting images
should improve participants’ performance by providing them with
memories they can use in this task.
Motor processes
& mental imagery
Wiedenbauer & Jansen-Osmann (2008)
• Participants trained on mental rotation by rotating a
joystick and simultaneously viewing images representing
these rotations
– Authors attributed participants’ improved mental
rotation performance at posttest to their congruent
updating of movement and vision.
Trained participants received online visual updating of the
results of their manipulations of objects.
Training Effects
• Training effects were specific to trained stimuli and
practiced transformations:
– Kail & Park (1990) accounted for this training effect by
reference to instance theory (Logan, 1988)
– Pani, Chariker, Dawson & Johnson (2005): attributed
participants’ performance gains in virtual reality
environment to acquisition of spatial intuitions
• Spatial training generalized to transformations of new
objects and new spatial transformations:
– Wiedenbauer et al., (2008); Leone, Taine, & Droulez (1993);
Wallace & Hofelich (1992)
We investigated if training effects were specific to
trained stimuli, or if they generalized to untrained
figures.
Experiment 1
(SBST)
(.50 ≤ on pre-test)
Pretest/
screening
Training
Control
(10 interactive animations)
(read non-fiction prose)
Posttest
(SBST)
Experiment 1 Predictions
Experimental > controls on posttest:
• Across 30 test items
• 10 Trained items
• 17 Similar items
• 3 New items
• Greater reduction in egocentric errors for trained
participants vs. controls
Trained figure
Similar problem
(One shape in cross section of Problem 18
is the cross section of the Trained figure)
New problem
(The cross section of the Trained figure does not
appear in the cross section of Problem 15.)
Exp. 1: Difference scores
by type of figure and condition
0.7
0.6
p < .001
proportion correct
0.5
p = .001
0.4
p < .05
Animation
0.3
Control
0.2
0.1
0
Trained
Similar
-0.1
Type of test figure
New
Exp. 1: Pre-posttest egocentric
responses by condition
Proportion of egocentric responses
0.7
0.6
n.s.
0.5
0.4
p<.001
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
Pre-test
Post-test
Animation
Control
Experiment 1 Discussion
•
Training led to improved ability to
identify cross sections of Trained figures
•
Training also led to improved
performance on complex figures.
–
•
trained participants could identify trained
cross sections as elements of novel, complex
figures.
Trained individuals rejected egocentric
responses more frequently than controls.
Experiment 2
(SBST)
(.50 ≤ on pre-test)
Pretest/
screening
Training
Control
(4 interactive animations)
(read non-fiction prose)
Posttest
(SBST)
Experiment 2: Trained Figures
Experiment 2 Predictions
Experimental > controls on posttest:
• Across all (30) test items
• 4 Trained items
• 13 Similar items
• 13 New items
• Greater reduction in egocentric errors for trained
participants vs. controls
Exp. 2: Difference scores by type of figure and
condition
0.8
proportion correct
0.7
p<.001
0.6
0.5
p<.001
0.4
p<.001
Control
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
-0.1
Animation
Trained
Similar
Type of test figure
New
Exp. 2: Pre-posttest egocentric
responses by condition
proportion of egocentric responses
0.6
0.5
n.s.
p<.001
0.4
Animation
0.3
Control
0.2
0.1
0
Pre-test
Post-test
Experiment 2 Discussion
• Training to improved ability to identify cross sections of
Trained figures
• Training led to improved performance on the Similar
figures.
• Training led to improved performance on New figures
• Trained individuals rejected egocentric response.
• Limitation of Experiments 1 & 2:
– Multiple choice format allows for process of elimination
strategies
– Did not train on all possible views represented in test
General Discussion
• More evidence for mutability of spatial
visualization
• Interactive animation using virtual geometric
figures is an effective mode of training spatial
visualization (inferring cross-sections)
• Trained participants:
– Transferred learning on Trained shapes to a novel, more
complex context Similar problems
– Transferred Trained shapes to New problems
How did transfer occur?....
General Discussion
Possible mechanisms of transfer to New
figures:
• Learned Trained cross sections (instance
theory)
• Inferred New cross sections by:
– noting similar features among test figures &
combining features of their cross sections
– process of elimination strategies
Implications &
Future Directions
• Insight into cognitive processes
related to transfer of spatial learning
– Instance theory
– Comparison and inference
– Process of elimination
• Applications in science education
– Adapt training to specific domains of science
education
– Level the playing field
Thanks to:
Mary Hegarty
Jack Loomis
Rich Mayer
Russ Revlin
Jerry Tietz
University of California, Santa Barbara
Department of Psychology