Spatial Representation in Blind Children. 1: Development Compared to Sighted Children

Abstract

Studies of the development of spatial representation have led to blind children being characterized as deficient, inefficient, or different when compared to sighted children. The study described in this article involved 68 blind and blindfolded sighted students who explored a real or model room, either freely or guided along a predetermined route. The subjects then were questioned about the position of furniture in the room. Some questions could be answered from memory of the route traversed; others required the formation of a cognitive map for their solution. Data were analyzed in terms of the proportion of each type of question correctly answered by each age group. As a group, sighted students performed better than blind students. However, some blind students performed as well as the sighted students. The results of the study show the deficiency theory to be untenable, but do not provide conclusive support for either the inefficiency or difference theories.