Student Gestures and Penetrative Thinking

Vocabulary flashcards based on the research study 'Student Gestures Aid Penetrative Thinking' by Atit, Gagnier, and Shipley ($$2015$$) regarding spatial reasoning in geosciences.

Penetrative Thinking

The ability to visualize and reason about the interior structure of an object based on what is visible on the surface.

Visual Penetrative Ability (VPA)

The ability to visualize the structure of an object from surface clues and project elements of that structure into the interior to make predictions about locations at any arbitrary cross-section.

Gesture

The movement of the hands used to reason about and communicate $3D$ spatial relationships.

Geologic Block Cross-Sectioning Test (GBCT)

An objective measure of penetrative thinking where participants must visualize the cross section produced by a specific cut through a $3D$ form.

Intrinsic Dynamic Spatial Skills

A category of spatial reasoning that involves transforming the spatial codings of objects, including both mental rotation and penetrative thinking.

Mental Rotation Test

A paper-and-pencil test developed by Vandenberg and Kuse ($1978$) and redrawn by Peters et al. ($1995$) used to identify identical but rotated versions of target $3D$ forms.

Volumetric Block Diagram

A diagram that conveys geologic information on either two or three sides of a three-faced block, accounting for approximately $18\%$ of diagrams in major introductory geology textbooks.

Analogical Learning

A mechanism for learning complex spatial information where common spatial structures is mapped from a base domain (such as a gesture) to a target domain.

Cognitive Off-loading

The process of using hand movements to externally represent complex $3D$ relations and transformations to reduce the mental demand of spatial reasoning.

Iconic Gestures

Content-relevant gestures used to illustrate specific concepts, such as the angle of a slice or the shifting of geologic layers.

Spatial Skills Malleability

The concept, cited by Uttal et al. ($2013$), that spatial skills can be improved and developed through training and visualization.

Gesture-Prohibited Group

A comparative group in the study required to complete tasks verbally while sitting on their hands to prevent movement.