Visuospatial thinking encompasses a wide range of thinking processes concerning space, whether it be navigating across town, understanding multimedia displays, reading an architectural blueprint or a map. Understanding it and in particular, how people represent and process visual and spatial information, is relevant not only to cognitive psychology but also education, geography, architecture, medicine, design, computer science/artificial intelligence, semiotics and animal cognition. This book presents a broad overview of research that can be applied to basic theoretical and applied/naturalistic contexts.

1. Functional significance of visuospatial representations Barbara Tversky; 2. Visuospatial images Daniel Reisberg and Friderike Heuer; 3. Disorders of visuospatial working memory Robert Logie and Sergio Della Sala; 4. Individual differences in spatial abilities Mary Hegarty and David Waller; 5. Sex differences in visuospatial abilities: more than meets the eye Diane F. Halpern and Marcia L. Collear; 6. Development of spatial competence Nora S. Newcombe and Amy E. Learmonth; 7. Navigation Daniel R. Montello; 8. Mapping the understanding of understanding maps Holly A. Taylor; 9. Spatial situation models Mike Rinck; 10. Design applications of visual spatial thinking: the importance of frame of reference Christopher D. Wickens, Michele Vincow and Michele Yeh; 11. The presentation and comprehension of graphically-presented data Priti Shah, Eric G. Freedman and Ioanna Vekiri; 12. Multimedia learning: guiding visuospatial thinking with instructional animation Richard E. Mayer.