Spatial Coding of Individuals With Visual Impairments

Konstantinos Papadopoulos, Eleni Koustriava, Lefkothea Kartasidou

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the ability of children and adolescents with visual impairments to code and represent near space. Moreover, it examines the impact of the strategies they use and individual differences in their performance. A total of 30 individuals with visual impairments up to the age of 18 were given eight different object patterns in different arrays and were asked to code and represent each of them. The results revealed better performances by those who use an allocentric approach during spatial coding and those with residual vision. In fact, allocentric strategies were more prevalent in coding near space than egocentric ones. Moreover, the ability of participants to move independently was positively correlated with their ability to use the most effective haptic strategies. These findings suggest that children and adolescents with visual impairments are capable of using allocentric reference and providing a different perspective to the currently dominant one.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)180-190
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Special Education
Volume46
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2012

Keywords

  • near space
  • spatial coding
  • spatial representation
  • visual impairments

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