The Emerging Spatial Mind

Human activity and thought is embedded within and richly structured by the space around us. We have detailed knowledge of the world that surrounds us - we remember where objects are, what they are, and how they are arranged relative to one another. We can navigate through spaces to locate and retrieve objects, or we can direct the actions of others through language. We can use maps to find out way from one city to the next, or we can navigate using a virtual map to locate a missing computer file. But where do these abilities come from? What is the developmental origin of the spatial mind?This book brings together leading scholars from the field of spatial cognitive development to examine how the spatial mind emerges from its humble origins in infancy to its mature, flexible, and skilled adult form. Each chapter presents cutting-edge research and theory that asks: 1. what changes in spatial cognition occur over development?, and 2. how do these changes come about? The authors provide conceptual as well as formal theoretical accounts of developmental process at multiple levels of analysis (e.g. genes, neurons, behaviours, social interactions), providing a contemporary overview of general mechanisms of cognitive change. In addition, commentators place these advances in our understanding of spatial cognitive development within the field of spatial cognition more generally.As humans, we are profoundly influenced by the space around us. This book sheds light on how our experiences thinking about and interacting in space through time foster and shape the emerging spatial mind.