Chapter 9 – How Children Learn to Discover Their Environment: An Embodied Dynamic Systems Perspective on the Development of Spatial Cognition

This chapter provides a review of studies on the development of selected aspects of spatial cognition from an embodied dynamic systems perspective. Dynamic systems and embodied cognition theory are discussed first, followed by a summary of studies investigating mental rotation and spatial memory (including memory for object locations, orientation, and navigation), two central aspects of spatial cognition that emerge in the first years of life. The chapter argues against the notion that children learn specific skills at specific “set” ages—rather, children are able to do particular things, such as remembering an object’s location, under specific circumstances and after having had specific experiences. Here we describe the dynamics of both typical and atypical development of mental rotation and spatial memory in relation to both these factors, addressing how these aspects of spatial cognition are often assessed at various ages, and how advances in motor development allow children to learn increasingly more about the world around them through exploration.