Development of a 3-D Expression System to Visualize Spatial Expression Ability

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to analyze how children develop their spatial expression ability in 3-D space. We prepared a 3-D paint system that has “Translation-test”, “Rotation-test” and “Paper-layout-test”. As an experiment, we collected data by using our 3-D paint system for children between the ages of 4 and 6 in a pre-school in August 2009, January 2010, and August 2010. We conducted a survey on correlation between the system and WPPSI. The results are summarized as follows: 1) We classified children's spatial expressions into some expression patterns, 2) The data shows the trand that spatial expression ability in space becomes better with advancing ages; 3) We obtained correlations between the system and WPPSI. The system can analyze some abilities that are difficult for WPPSI.