This insightful book offers an authoritative yet accessible introduction to the development of visual abilities and motor skills in infants and children. Based on theory and cutting-edge up-to-date research about the development of non-verbal intelligence, it provides readers with essential knowledge about the foundations of typical and atypical development.
Split into two parts, the book begins by describing the development of components of non-verbal intelligence in typical development. Several studies are presented that document the importance of a transition from an object-place to objects-region encoding for proper spatial categorisation. In the second part, the book discusses which of the visual, spatial, motor, imagery, categorisation, memory and planning processes may be affected in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) and developmental coordination disorder (DCD). Lange-Küttner introduces a Spatial Model that integrates object salience, speed and abstraction of spatial patterns of locations, re-occurring at different ages. She also develops a Spatial Freedom Theory that argues that spatial containment, constraints and exploration belong together.
The book encourages and stimulates new research ideas by discussing the most important research results to date and identifying new research questions. This text will be of interest to students and instructors as well as researchers in the fields of developmental, clinical, educational and cognitive psychology as well as neuroscience and physical education.