Transfer of Learning in People Who Are Blind: Enhancement of Spatial-Cognitive Abilities Through Drawing

Lora T Likova, Laura Cacciamani, Lora T Likova, Laura Cacciamani

Abstract

Introduction: This study assessed whether basic spatial-cognitive abilities can be enhanced in people who are blind through transfer of learning from drawing training.

Methods: Near-body spatial-cognitive performance was assessed through the Cognitive Test for the Blind (CTB), which assesses a wide range of basic spatial-cognitive skills. The CTB was administered to 21 participants who are blind in two behavioral testing sessions separated by five days. For participants in the "trained" group, these intervening days were occupied by the Cognitive-Kinesthetic Drawing Training method, during which participants learned how to draw freehand from memory. The "control" participants were not trained.

Results: The results showed significantly increased overall CTB performance in the trained but not in the control group, indicating that the drawing training effectively enhanced spatial-cognitive abilities. A three to six month follow-up session with a subset of trained participants suggested that these training-induced spatial-cognitive improvements might persist over time, at least for some tasks.

Discussion: These findings demonstrate that learning to draw from memory without vision over just five sessions can lead to enhancement of basic spatial-cognitive abilities beyond the drawing task. This study is the first to examine the transfer of learning of cognitive ability in blind individuals.

Implications for practitioners: This study sheds light on the Cognitive-Kinesthetic Drawing Training as an effective wide-range rehabilitation technique that could be used to enhance basic spatial-cognitive abilities in those who are blind.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
(A) Example trial in the concept learning subtest. Trial shown is from the “number” series (series A), on which the correct answer is 4. A subset of the concept learning cards was also used in the item recognition subtest. (B) Tiles being studied during the texture recognition subtest. On each tile is a different texture. (C) Example trial in the study phase of the spatial pattern recall subtest. The white and black regions are smooth and rough textures, respectively. (D) Example trial of the spatial analysis subtest. Shown here is a participant placing the wooden shapes onto the pegs.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Sample line-drawing stimuli (left column). In the center and rightmost columns are examples of drawings from representative participants before vs. after training, respectively.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Composite scores (in percent correct) on the Cognitive Test for the Blind (CTB). Error bars represent standard error of the mean. ** p .01.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Cognitive test for the blind (CTB) scores on each subtest. Error bars represent standard error of the mean. * p .05, ** p 178 .01.

References

    1. Bailey IL, Jackson AJ, Minto H, Greer RB, & Chu MA (2012). The Berkeley rudimentary vision test. Optometry & Vision Science, 89(9), 1257–1264.
    1. Cacciamani L, & Likova LT (2016). Tactile object familiarity in the blind brain reveals the supramodal perceptual-mnemonic nature of the perirhinal cortex. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 10(92), 1–11.
    1. Cacciamani L, & Likova LT (2017). Memory-guided drawing training increases Granger causal influences from the perirhinal cortex to V1 in the blind. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 141, 101–107.
    1. Casey SM (1978). Cognitive mapping by the blind. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 72, 297–301.
    1. Del Giudice E, Grossi D, Angelini R, Crisanti AF, Latte F, Fragassi NA, & Trojano L (2000). Spatial cognition in children. I. Development of drawing-related (visuospatial and constructional) abilities in preschool and early school years. Brain and Development, 22(6), 362–367.
    1. Dial JG, Chan F, Mezger C, & Parker HJ (1991). Comprehensive vocational evaluation system for visually impaired and blind persons. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 85, 153–157.
    1. Dial J, Mezger C, Gray S, Massey T, Chan F, & Hull J (1990). Manual: Comprehensive vocational evaluation system. Dallas, TX: McCarron-Dial Systems.
    1. Dulin D, & Hatwell Y (2006). The effects of visual experience and training in raised-line materials on the mental spatial imagery of blind persons. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 100(7), 414–424.
    1. Eliot J, & Smith IM (1983). An international directory of spatial tests. Windsor Berkshire, UK: NFER-Nelson.
    1. Gaunet F, & Thinus-Blanc C (1996). Early-blind subjects’ spatial abilities in the loco- motor space: Exploratory strategies and reaction-to-change performance. Perception, 25(8), 967–981.
    1. Hatwell Y (2003). Psychologie cognitive de la ce cite pre coce [Cognitive psychology of early blindness]. Paris, France: Dunod Editeur.
    1. Joyce A, Dial J, Nelson P, & Hupp G (2000). Neuropsychological predictors of adaptive living and work behaviors. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 15(8), 665–665.
    1. Kennedy JM (1993). Drawing & the blind: Pictures to touch. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
    1. Kennedy JM, & Juricevic I (2006). Fore-shortening, convergence and drawings from a blind adult. Perception, 35, 847–851.
    1. Klatzky RL, Golledge RG, Loomis JM, Cicinelli JG, & Pellegrino JW (1995). Performance of blind and sighted persons on spatial tasks. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 89(1), 70–82.
    1. Likova LT (2010). Drawing in the blind and the sighted as a probe of cortical reorganization In IS&T/SPIE Electronic imaging (pp. 752708 –752720). Bellingham, WA: International Society for Optics and Photonics.
    1. Likova LT (2012). Drawing enhances cross-modal memory plasticity in the human brain: A case study in a totally blind adult. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 6(44), 1–15.
    1. Likova LT (2013). A cross-modal perspective on the relationships between imagery and working memory. Frontiers in Psychology, 3(561), 1–14.
    1. Likova LT (2014). Learning-based cross- modal plasticity in the human brain: Insights from visual deprivation fMRI. Advanced Brain Neuroimaging Topics in Health and Disease—Methods and Applications, 327–358.
    1. Likova LT (2015). Temporal evolution of brain reorganization under cross-modal training: Insights into the functional architecture of encoding and retrieval networks In IS&T/SPIE Electronic Imaging (pp. 939417–939432). Bellingham, WA: International Society for Optics and Photonics.
    1. Likova LT (2017). Addressing long-standing controversies in conceptual knowledge representation in the temporal pole: A cross-modal paradigm. Imaging Science & Technology, 2600954, 268–272.
    1. Likova LT (2018). Brain reorganization in adulthood underlying a rapid switch in handedness induced by training in memory-guided drawing In Chaban V (Ed.), Neuro-plasticity (pp. 67–84). London, U.K.: IntechOpen.
    1. Millar S (1994). Understanding and representing space: Theory and evidence from studies with blind and sighted children. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.
    1. Miller J, & Skillman G (2003). Research report: Assessors’ satisfaction with measures of cognitive ability applied to persons with visual impairments. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 97(12), 769–774.
    1. Nelson PA, Dial JG, & Joyce A (2002). Validation of the cognitive test for the blind as an assessment of intellectual functioning. Rehabilitation Psychology, 47(2), 184–193.
    1. Passini R, Proulx G, & Rainville C (1990). The spatio-cognitive abilities of the visually impaired population. Environment and Behavior, 22(1), 91–118.
    1. Piaget J, & Inhelder B (1956). The child’s concept of space. Chicago, IL: Routledge & Paul.
    1. Ponchillia PE (2008). Non-visual sports and arts: Fertile substrates for the growth of knowledge about brain plasticity in people who are blind or have low vision. Blindness and Brain Plasticity in Navigation and Object Perception, 283–313.
    1. Rieser JJ, Guth DA, & Hill EW (1986). Sensitivity to perspective structure while walking without vision. Perception, 15(2), 173–188.
    1. Thinus-Blanc C, & Gaunet F (1997). Representation of space in blind persons: Vision as a spatial sense? Psychological Bulletin, 121(1), 20–42.
    1. Tinti C, Adenzato M, Tamietto M, & Cornoldi C (2006). Visual experience is not necessary for efficient survey spatial cognition: Evidence from blindness. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 59(7), 1306–1328.
    1. Worchel P (1951). Space perception and orientation in the blind. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 65(15), 1–28.

Source: PubMed

Sponsors et collaborateurs

Les conditions médicales

Interventions en matière de drogue

3
S'abonner