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Construction play and cognitive skills associated with the development of mathematical abilities in 7-year-old children
... Block construction toys such as LEGO ® are extremely popular, and evidence suggests that block construction skills in childhood are positively related to mathematics performance, cross-sectionally (e.g., Nath and Szücs 2014), and longitudinally (e.g., Verdine et al. 2014a). There is also some preliminary evidence that training block construction skills can improve children's mathematics performance (Newman et al. 2020;although, see Bower et al. 2020a;Schmitt et al. 2018). ...
... Similarly, Richardson et al. (2014) found that Lego construction task performance in 7-to 8-year-olds was significantly correlated with mathematics achievement (standard UK Curriculum tests known as SATs) (N = 96). Nath and Szücs (2014) replicated and expanded these findings, reporting that visuo-spatial working memory ability in 7-year-olds mediates positive associations between Lego construction and mathematical skills (N = 66). More recently, McDougal et al. (2023) reported both direct and indirect (mediated by numerous spatial skills) associations between Lego construction and mathematical skills, explaining up to 26.5% of the variation in mathematics performance (N = 358). ...
... Beyond domain-specific skills, block construction is also likely to recruit a composite of domain-general skills, each individually known to be related to mathematics achievement. These include spatial skills (Gilligan et al. 2019;Frick 2019), working memory (Peng et al. 2015;Nath and Szücs 2014), and executive functions (Hawes et al. 2019b). For example, there is evidence that both spatial and mathematic abilities are dependent on the same brain regions in the intra parietal sulcus (Hawes et al. 2019a). ...
Research shows that children’s block construction skills are positively associated with their concurrent and later mathematics performance. Furthermore, there is evidence that block construction training is particularly beneficial for improving early mathematics skills in children from low-Socio Economic Status (SES) groups who are known to have lower maths performance than their peers. The current study investigates (a) the association between block construction and mathematics in children just before the start of formal schooling (4 years-of-age in the UK) and (b) whether the association between block construction and mathematics differs between children from more compared to less affluent families. Participants in this study included 116 children (M = 3 years 11 months, SD = 3 months) who all completed numeracy, block construction, and receptive vocabulary tasks. Socio-economic status and demographic information (child age, gender, ethnicity) were also obtained from parents. Findings show a strong positive association between block construction and early numeracy skills. Block construction skills explained approximately 5% of the variation in numeracy, even after controlling for age in months, household income, and child receptive vocabulary. When separated by SES group, for children from less affluent families, block construction explained a significant amount of variability (14.5%) in numeracy performance after covariates. For children from more affluent families, block construction did not explain a significant amount of variation in numeracy. These findings suggest that, interventions involving block construction skills may help to reduce SES-based attainment gaps in UK children’s mathematics achievement.
... Lego building recruits block construction ability, an ability that involves assembling objects, such as Lego or other similar block materials, to create a structure or model. There is robust evidence that block construction ability is positively related to mathematics outcomes from concurrent studies (e.g., Nath & Szücs, 2014;Richardson et al., 2014;, longitudinal investigations (e.g., Verdine, Irwin, et al., 2014;Wolfgang et al., 2003), and from intervention studies (e.g., Hawes et al., 2017;Newman et al., 2021;Schmitt et al., 2018). Despite this, there is little knowledge of the underlying mechanisms which support this association. ...
... First, arithmetic involves the manipulation of numbers, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Nath and Szücs et al. (2014) used a Lego construction task with 7-year-olds and found that task accuracy was related to arithmetic measured by the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT) II Numerical Operations subtest (Wechsler, 2005). ...
... Storing, recalling, and manipulating information is necessary for numerical tasks such as basic arithmetic, therefore VSWM may play a role in these types of mathematics activities. Research has so far shown strong associations between VSWM and mathematics achievement (for a review see Allen et al., 2019), arithmetic (Caviola et al., 2012;Mammarella et al., 2010;Mix et al., 2016;Szücs et al., 2014), and geometry (Giofrè et al., 2014), and evidence that VSWM fully mediates the association between Lego construction ability and arithmetic (Nath & Szücs, 2014). ...
There is a known association between LEGO® construction ability and mathematics achievement, yet the mechanisms which drive this association are largely unknown. This study investigated the spatial mechanisms underlying this association, and whether this differs for concrete versus digital construction. Between January 2020 and July 2021, children aged 7–9 years (N = 358, 189 female, ethnicity not recorded) completed spatial and mathematics tasks, and either a concrete or digital Lego construction task. Mediation analyses examining direct and indirect pathways (through spatial skills) between Lego construction ability and mathematics explained 8.4% to 26.6% of variance in mathematics scores. Exploratory moderated mediation analyses revealed that only the indirect path through mental rotation differed between Lego conditions. Findings are discussed in relation to theories of spatial‐numerical associations and the potential of Lego training for mathematics improvement.
... For instance, if they have been taught multiplication of numbers below 10, they may struggle with answering questions involving two-digit numbers. Children cannot perform multiplication and division with decimal numbers and numbers reaching into the thousands (Nath & Szücs, 2014). ...
... Nature-based learning, which involves learning in an open natural environment, is highly relevant to this phase, as it helps children stay engaged and prevents boredom. To facilitate easier comprehension of material, teachers should provide real-life examples and conduct experiments (Nath & Szücs, 2014). Children at this age can focus on learning for approximately 2-3 hours, after which they may feel tired, sleepy, and seek play activities. ...
The acceleration and optimization of an individual's development can surpass that of their peers, with disparities emerging from age-related, genetic, dietary, and environmental factors. A profound understanding of human development serves as a crucial foundation for comprehending an individual's needs and character, particularly among elementary-aged children. Defined as those aged 7-12 years or encompassed within the educational system, this demographic necessitates a thorough examination of their cognitive development. Cognitive development constitutes an extensive domain that encompasses various thinking abilities, such as reasoning, memory, problem- solving, ideation, and creativity. Consequently, the present study embarks on a substantive and comprehensive analysis of the cognitive development of elementary-aged children, elucidating its implications for pedagogical practices and learning activities within primary educational institutions (SD/MI). The overarching objective of this research is to ascertain the cognitive development levels of children aged 7-12 and beyond, further exploring the subsequent ramifications on teaching materials, strategies, models, and learning methodologies. The anticipated outcomes of this scholarly inquiry are twofold: to augment the existing body of knowledge accessible to the general public and to provide a valuable resource for educators as they fulfill their pedagogical obligations. By investigating the subject matter through a literary or library research approach, this study engages in data collection and information synthesis derived from various sources housed within libraries.
... Regarding domain-general cognitive skills, interest is revived in the classically often-assumed connection between space and number [65]. Visuospatial working memory (WM) may provide a mental workspace for some aspects of mathematical thinking [17,68]. It is a question whether spatial thinking can be distinguished from general intelligence [43] and if so, whether it consists of multiple subdomains (e.g. ...
... spatial visualization, form perception, and an ability to manipulate spatial scales [65]), or whether visuospatial WM can be considered a unique factor at all [65]. Further questions concern whether verbal and visuospatial WM [1,111,59], intelligence, and spatial skills [90] relate to different kinds of math measures, distinguish children with different math achievement profiles [87,90], and whether there are significant gender differences (note that consistently with the relevant literature, here 'gender' refers to biological sex) in spatial skills [38,39,68]. Similar questions can be raised about executive functions, particularly inhibition and task-switching skills [107,22,13]. ...
The biological, social, and individual-level foundations of mathematics development are typically studied in isolation. However, isolated study of these areas can only offer limited understanding. In order to facilitate a holistic, integrative view of the field, here, we review recent studies in several of the above domains, focusing on how individual-level cognitive, emotional, motivational, and self-concept-related variables interact within-and cross-domain.
... Lego merupakan permainan konstruktif dan juga produktif sehingga dapat memunculkan kreativitas siswa dan membangun kerjasama, serta memfasilitasi siswa untuk lebih berkonsentrasi pada proses pembelajaran (Nath, 2014). Kegiatan dalam permainan lego dapat menumbuhkan kreatifitas dan mengembangkan imajinasi sesorang (Rejeki, 2016). ...
... Permainan lego dapat digunakan dalam proses pembelajaran dibuktikan dapat meningkatkan hasil belajar siswa dengan ketuntasan 75% pada mata pelajaran IPS SMP Sangat Praktis (Cahyani, 2014). Dengan bentuk lego selain dapat digunakan dalam kegiatan pembelajaran, juga dapat memunculkan kreativitas siswa dan membangun kerja sama, serta memfasilitasi siswa untuk lebih berkonsentrasi pada proses belajar (Nath, 2014). Penggunaan lego dalam pembelajaran juga meningkatkan kemampuan siswa dalam hal menguasai kemampuan yang esensial diantaranya, kemampuan komunikasi, mengemukakan pendapat, mendengarkan pendapat dan menyajikan penyelesaian (Rejeki, 2016). ...
The difficulty of students in learning chemistry subjects is due to the use of media that is not in accordance with the characteristics of students who want fun-based learning. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a Lego hydrocarbon learning media that is suitable for use as a learning medium for hydrocarbon materials. This study aims to produce a feasible and practical Lego hydrocarbon learning media. The feasibility of the Lego hydrocarbon learning media in terms of two criteria, namely (1) validity is determined from the validation results, (2) practicality is determined from student response questionnaires. This type of research is research and development of the ADDIE model. The results showed that the Lego hydrocarbons learning media was suitable for use as learning media with the eligibility criteria measured from the results of the validity of the material aspects and the aspects of the Lego hydrocarbons media of 0.95 and 0.92, respectively, with very valid criteria. The percentage of practicality from the results of student responses in the initial field trial and the main field trial were 90.42% and 95.64%, respectively, with both very practical criteria. Thus, the Lego hydrocarbon learning media is appropriate to be used as a chemistry learning medium
... The third, dark blue cluster is focused on 'performance', which can be understood in various aspects and is manifested by the multi-thematic nature of the keywords included here. For example, the use of construction blocks can be used as a measure of mathematical performance in children, and the use of construction games of this type can eliminate disorders such as dyscalculia (Nath and Szücs 2014). 'Performance' can also be understood from a business perspective, as a measure of which appropriate sets of tools will be created for better 'management' (Kerr et al. 2017)-another keyword from this list. ...
This article presents a bibliometric study of articles and reviews articles released between 1972 and 2022, about using the LEGO topic and its interpretation in the scientific literature. This study aims to scientifically explore the evolution of global research on the use of the LEGO theme in scientific literature uncovering its most relevant use in scientific research. The analysis includes figures on the occurrence of keywords, main journals, most cited papers and authors, and their country of origin. In the literature review, 1398 publications found in 77 countries were published in 951 journals. The papers, primarily, came from the USA. The top journal include the International Journal of Engineering Education with 16 articles. However, the leading publisher was Elsevier with 234 papers. The results of the bibliometric analysis showed that from the total 7393 keywords, we formed 6 thematic clusters. The analysis shows the multidimensionality of the use of LEGO blocks/bricks and the LEGO topic in the scientific literature: whether in the social or the natural sciences, and the last years of the study show a continuous growth of works with an exponential trend line with a value of R² = 0.936. In the future, the scope of the analysis should be extended to gather a complete picture of the data on the use of the LEGO topic in the scientific literature.
... the latter two, were also related to time use. this may be due to the nature of the communication tasks used in this study, which resembled constructional play activities and involved visual-spatial abilities (Nath & szücs, 2014;Piaget, 1951). in the present study, the aided communicators with better visual-spatial abilities tended to perform better on the construction task. it is possible that these children jumped more rapidly into figuring out what to communicate, rather than spending time thinking about what they needed to communicate in terms of construction (i.e., focus on communication rather than on understanding the actual constructions). this implies that the time needed to communicate an idea using aided communication is spent on a variety of complex tasks, of which the most important ones may be thinking about what information to relay and how to express it. ...
Time use and timing are of particular relevance for people who use communication aids because of the role time plays in communication. However, the use of time in real-life communicative interactions of aided communicators has not been much researched. The present study explores time use in goal-oriented and activity-based communicative interactions involving 72 children who used aided communication and 56 children who used natural speech, aged 5-15 years, and their communication partners. The children using aided communication took significantly longer time than their naturally speaking peers to complete the tasks using language. Access method, whether direct or scanning, did impact aided communicators' time use, with children using direct access being faster than children using scanning. Time use was not statistically related to age or verbal comprehension but was related to non-verbal reasoning: to communicate with their partners, children with higher non-verbal reasoning scores used less time than children with lower reasoning scores. Regardless of access method, aided communicators who used less time to communicate had more success in solving the tasks. The results suggest that to tackle the issue of time, aided language interventions with children could focus on communicative problem-solving with partners in real-life situations.
... Playing and constructing with building blocks is experienced as creative and enjoyable by both children and adults, with prior research suggesting positive impact on learning, creativity, and the development of social skills [2,4,8,11]. ...
We present a comparative study of building with LEGO in three environments: the physical world, a Virtual Reality (VR) counterpart, and a VR setting enhanced with "superpowers". The study aims to understand how traditional creative hands-on activities translate to virtual environments, with potential benefits for educational, training, entertainment, and therapeutic uses. 22 participants engaged in both structured assembly and creative free-building tasks across these environments. We investigated differences in user performance, engagement, and creativity, with a focus on how the additional VR functionalities influenced the building experience. The findings reveal that while the physical environment offers a familiar tactile experience, VR, particularly with added superpowers, was clearly favoured by participants in the creative free-building scenario. Our recommendations for VR design include balancing automation with user control to enhance task efficiency while maintaining engagement, and implementing intuitive systems that manage complexity to prevent user overwhelm and support creative freedom.
... The capacity to see an object or image as a composite of parts and then to construct the original from these parts is referred to as visuospatial constructive cognition 45 . Children with FASD seem to have difficulty seeing the complex object as a whole or 'gestalt,' and integrating pieces of the design into a cohesive whole 46 . ...
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) refer to a group of clinical conditions that occur in a person exposed to alcohol before birth. Neuroimaging shows abnormalities in brain structure, cortical development, white matter microstructure, and functional connectivity in individuals with FASD. These abnormalities modify the normal developmental trajectories resulting in deficits in cognition and behavior across several domains, including general intelligence, memory, language, attention, learning, visuospatial abilities, executive functioning, fine and gross motor skills, and social and adaptive functioning. This paper provides a review of the cognitive and behavioral outcomes of prenatal alcohol exposure. Updates data on FASD-specific neurobehavioral profile and its potential as a diagnostic tool will then be presented.
... Die Fähigkeit zum dreidimensionalen Bauen steht in einem signifikanten Zusammenhang mit numerischen Kompetenzen und dem visuell-räumlichen Gedächtnis (Henschen 2020;Nath & Szücs 2014;Einsiedler 1999). Zudem fordern Konstruktionsspiele die Aufmerksamkeit und das Durchhaltevermögen von Kindern (Einsiedler 1999 ...
... Indeed, compared to controls, individuals with WS tend to look less frequently to the model while copying a figure, exhibiting a failure of spatial attention which would result, in turn, in a greater working memory load contributing to impaired drawing performance (Hudson and Farran, 2013). As far as Block Design is concerned, literature on block building tasks found significant contributions of spatial working memory (Ballard et al., 1992(Ballard et al., , 1997Nath and Szücs, 2014;Rahbari and Vaillancourt, 2015), as well as of fine motor skills (Jeon et al., 2013). Taken together, in addition to the effects already found in literature (Zappullo et al., 2021), visual-motor coordination is expected to be a shared predictor of the two spatial construction tests, whereas spatial attention and working memory could represent task-specific predictors. ...
Introduction
Spatial construction is a complex ability involving attention, global/local visual processing, mental representation, visuo-motor coordination and, to varying extent, working memory and executive functions, and verbal abilities. In developmental neuropsychology, little attention has been paid to comprehend whether and to what extent the above cognitive processes are involved in two main spatial construction tasks, that is drawing and block building.
Method
We used path analysis to test shared and specific effects of verbal and spatial working memory, spatial attention, inhibition, verbal abilities (vocabulary and naming), figure disembedding, mental rotation, and visual-motor coordination, as well as of demographics (sex, age and socio-economic status), on two classical drawing (Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure; ROCF) and block building (Block design; BD) tasks in a sample of 195 typically developing children (age range: 7–11 years).
Results
Figure disembedding and visuo-motor coordination were the only shared predictors of both spatial construction tasks. Moreover, ROCF score was directly related with spatial attention and inhibition, while BD score was directly related with sex, vocabulary, mental rotation and backward spatial working memory.
Discussion
These findings distinguish between abilities involved in spatial construction regardless of the type of task and those specifically related to ROCF or Block Design, thus providing clues relevant to neuropsychological assessment and intervention in children with spatial construction disorders.
... Newman et al. [32] found a relation between the use of block-play and mental rotation. Furthermore, Nath & Szücs [33] found that level in construction games is related to visuospatial WM and this is related to mathematical performance. ...
Citation: Estrada-Plana, V.; Martínez-Escribano, A.; Ros-Morente, A.; Mayoral, M.; Castro-Quintas, A.; Vita-Barrull, N.; Terés-Lleida, N.; March-Llanes, J.; Badia-Bafalluy, A.; Moya-Higueras, J. Benefits of Playing at School: Filler Board Games Improve Visuospatial Memory and Mathematical Skills. Brain Sci. 2024, 14, 642. https://doi.org/10.3390/ brainsci14070642 Academic Editors: Bart Roelands and Špela Bogataj These authors contributed equally to this work. Abstract: The aim of the study was to test the effectiveness of cognitive interventions based on modern board games in school settings to improve memory outcomes and math skills. A parallel, quasi-experimental study was carried out with children (n = 234) into third and fourth grades (8-10 years old). School centres were allocated into a general domain intervention (playing memory board games), a specific domain intervention (playing mathematical board games) or a control group (regular classes without playing). Teachers carried out biweekly sessions during the last 30 min of mathematical lessons (8 weeks, 15 sessions). Before and after intervention, we individually measured verbal and visuospatial memory outcomes (short-term memory and working memory updating) and mathematical skills (number operations, number ranking, number production and problem solving). The results showed significant transfer effects of both memory and math trainings. In third grade, we found that playing math games showed medium-large effect sizes in visuospatial short-term memory and updating memory, number operations and number ranking compared to the control group. In fourth grade, we found that playing memory games showed significant small effect sizes in problem solving compared to the control group. Playing board games could be a methodology that enhances cognitive and mathematical development in children.
... This finding is important, as construction play has also been found to positively impact the development of children's spatial reasoning [27] and reading and maths skills [28]. Further, it has been found that the relationship between construction play and maths abilities might be mediated by aspects of executive function and specifically visuospatial memory [72]. Therefore, in addition to such toys having the potential to provide developmental benefits through allowing children to engage in pretend play, gains in some domains may also be present through toys, such as toy trains, allowing for construction play. ...
Children play with different toys in different ways which may be associated with different developmental outcomes. While existing work has investigated different categories of toys, differences may also be present within specific toy categories. Therefore, understanding how specific toys promote play behaviours and their associated developmental outcomes has important implications for teachers, parents, caregivers, and researchers. To better understand how children play with toy trains, whether groups of children show a particular preference for toy trains and what (if any) associated benefits there are for playing with toy trains, 36 studies published in psychology and educational databases up to December 2022 were reviewed. A key finding emerged regarding the importance of the structured, realistic, and familiar nature of toy trains being important for facilitating pretend play as well as social collaboration behaviours during social play. Whilst findings in relation to gender-stereotyped preferences for playing with toy trains were mixed and no gender differences were found in research investigating play styles, neurodivergent children were found to have a preference for toy trains. These findings are important given that certain play styles, pretend play in particular, have been associated with benefits in children’s executive function, language, creativity, and social understanding.
... This can be accomplished in a variety of ways, one of which is through introducing mathematical concepts. In kindergarten, mathematics is associated with the development of cognitive capacity [37] and mental, social, and emotional preparation [38], psychomotor development [39], religious and moral values [40], language development [41], and artistic development [42]. According to the United States National ...
The purpose of this research was to identify math topics and methods in Islamic kindergartens or Raudhatul Athfal in Indonesia. This study used a qualitative exploration method, with data collected through focus group discussions and reflective essays. Twenty-two Islamic kindergarten teachers from South Sumatra and East Java, Indonesia, participated in the research. The findings of this study indicated that the math topics taught by Islamic kindergarten teachers adhered to the KMA 792 2018 criteria for implementing math teaching and learning in Islamic kindergarten. They include comprehending the concept of numbers, perceiving patterns and relationships, comprehending geometry and spatial concepts, becoming acquainted with measures, and becoming acquainted with data collecting and presentation. While teaching approaches included the following: 1) utilizing a variety of methodologies; 2) using children's toys and games; 3) activating the child's psychomotor; and 4) developing children's problem-solving skills. The researchers projected that because the learning topics and instructional methods were varied and innovative, learners should be encouraged to learn and master mathematics. The researchers advocate for the continued development of comprehensive math topics and innovative math methods at the higher educational level to sustain children's interest in math and, as a result, to improve the country's national PISA score and ranking.
... This can be accomplished in a variety of ways, one of which is through introducing mathematical concepts. In kindergarten, mathematics is associated with the development of cognitive capacity [37] and mental, social, and emotional preparation [38], psychomotor development [39], religious and moral values [40], language development [41], and artistic development [42]. According to the United States National ...
... symbolic play with dolls; [46,47]) and spatial skills [48]. In older children, other forms of play (including ball play) have been associated with problem-solving skills [49], creativity [50] and mathematics performance [49,51]. Numerous explanations have been put forward for why play might be important for learning and development, including its exploratory nature, the sense of agency it invokes, the way it meaningfully integrates new information into existing information, and the way it can incorporate elements of pedagogy attuned to the child's needs and interests [52]. ...
While mother–infant affect synchrony has been proposed to facilitate the early development of social understanding, most investigations into affect synchrony have concentrated more on negative than positive affect. We analysed affect sharing during parent–infant object play, comparing positive and negative affect, to examine how it is modulated by shared playful activity. Mother–infant dyads ( N = 20, average infant age 10.7 months) played together (social) or separately (solo) using an object. Both participants increased positive affect during social play as compared with solo play. Positive affect synchrony also increased during social play compared with solo play, whereas negative affect synchrony did not differ. Closer examination of the temporal dynamics of affect changes showed that infants' shifts to positive affect tended to occur contingently in response to their mothers', whereas mothers’ shifts to negative affect followed their infants'. Further, during social play, positive affect displays were more long-lived while negative more short-lived. While our sample was small and from a homogeneous population (e.g. white, highly educated parents), limiting the implications of the findings, these results demonstrate that maternal active engagement in playful interaction with her infant affords, increases, and extends infant positive affect and parent–infant positive affect synchrony, providing insights into how the social context modulates infants’ affective experiences.
This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Face2face: advancing the science of social interaction’.
... Seperti pada sintesa desain penelitian ini, sistem Mortise & Tenon dan sistem puzzle memungkinkan bagian-bagian lepasan mainan ini dapat disatukan dan juga bisa digerakan. Penerapan konsep 'plug it' ini tentunya bukan tanpa landasan, menurut Nath & Szücs (2014), mainan dengan tipe konstruksi atau yang umum disebut mainan bongkar pasang dapat menunjang perkembangan anak dalam jangka yang panjang. ...
Mainan edukasi berbahan kayu adalah salah satu media pembelajaran yang efektif dalam membantu perkembangan kognitif anak usia prasekolah. Di sisi lain, Kalimantan memiliki banyak fauna endemik yang terkenal seperti, burung enggang, orangutan, monyet bekantan, dan masih banyak lagi. Akan tetapi, banyak dari hewan eksotis ini kini kian terancam punah. Isu kepunahan ini sebenarnya sudah akrab untuk didengar oleh kalangan dewasa. Namun, yang menjadi permasalahan adalah cara mengedukasikan hal ini kepada anak-anak sedari usia dini. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah mengembangkan perancangan terdahulu mengenai mainan edukasi berbahan kayu untuk anak prasekolah bertemakan fauna endemik Kalimantan, sehingga anak tidak hanya belajar mengembangkan kemampuan kognit i f saja, tetapi mampu mengenali fauna endemik Kalimantan sedari dini. Metodologi penelitian yang digunakan adalah metode kualitatif didukung dengan data kuantitatif , dan a nalisis yang digunakan adalah analisis kebutuhan produk, analisis sistem , analisis material , dan analisis bentuk . Dari hasil analisis ini kemudian menghasilkan sebuah konsep bernama “Match it, Plug it, Play it!”. Hasil akhir dari penelitian ini adalah prototipe desain dari konsep mainan ini.
... Lego blocks) correlates with improvement of visual-spatial working memory. 38 The Lego training served as an active control task, and the program focused specifically on improving visual creativity to enhance children's improvisation skills (Table 2). ...
Music training programs have shown mixed results on children's executive functions. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the impact of a 10‐week multimodal music program with vocal development, bimanual coordination, and musical improvisation, on children's executive functions. We hypothesized that a 10‐week music program would enhance executive functions in working memory in 4‐ to 6‐year‐old children. Eighty‐four children were randomly assigned to a multimodal music program, an active control Lego program, or no treatment control condition (i.e., randomized controlled design). All children completed measures of music aptitude, music achievement, and executive functions (i.e., EF Touch) pre‐ and post‐training. Results revealed enhanced pitch accuracy and working memory for children in the music training group as compared to the other conditions. Children in the Lego condition demonstrated significant enhancements of spatial working memory. Tonal music aptitude significantly predicted performance on measures of working memory. Contributions to the literature include the randomized controlled design, group multimodal music program appropriate for 4‐ to 6‐year‐old children, and the use of executive function measures sensitive to individual differences.
... Block construction tasks are part of the heterogeneous class of spatial reasoning skills, which have been shown to predict various aspects of academic and career achievements (Hsi, Linn, & Bell, 1997;Kell, Lubinski, Benbow, & Steiger, 2013;Sorby, 1999;Stannard, Wolfgang, Jones, & Phelps, 2001;Verdine et al., 2014;. The broad use of block construction to capture cognitive ability (e.g., Brosnan, 1998;Caldera et al., 1999;Casey et al., 2008;Groth-Marnat & Teal, 2000;Nath & Szücs, 2014;Richardson, Hunt, & Richardson, 2014) may lie in its apparent simplicity as an activity, combined with its actual complexity as a cognitive task, whose solution is realized through action. Like assembling furniture, driving a car, or preparing a meal, block construction tasks require serialized step-by-step motor actions that are guided by complex cognitive skills. ...
Spatial construction—the activity of creating novel spatial arrangements or copying existing ones—is a hallmark of human spatial cognition. Spatial construction abilities predict math and other academic outcomes and are regularly used in IQ testing, but we know little about the cognitive processes that underlie them. In part, this lack of understanding is due to both the complex nature of construction tasks and the tendency to limit measurement to the overall accuracy of the end goal. Using an automated recording and coding system, we examined in detail adults’ performance on a block copying task, specifying their step‐by‐step actions, culminating in all steps in the full construction of the build‐path. The results revealed the consistent use of a structured plan that unfolded in an organized way, layer by layer (bottom to top). We also observed that complete layers served as convergence points, where the most agreement among participants occurred, whereas the specific steps taken to achieve each of those layers diverged, or varied, both across and even within individuals. This pattern of convergence and divergence suggests that the layers themselves were serving as the common subgoals across both inter and intraindividual builds of the same model, reflecting cognitive “chunking.” This structured use of layers as subgoals was functionally related to better performance among builders. Our findings offer a foundation for further exploration that may yield insights into the development and training of block‐construction as well as other complex cognitive‐motor skills. In addition, this work offers proof‐of‐concept for systematic investigation into a wide range of complex action‐based cognitive tasks.
... Le abilità spaziali coinvolgono l'abilità di generare immagini mentali, di tenerle in mente mentre si stanno processando altre informazioni con il supporto della memoria di lavoro, di manipolare e trasformare tali immagini, di applicare questi tipi di processi multi-spaziali al ragionamento e alla soluzione di problemi (Nath & Szücs, 2014). ...
Playing represents a fundamental activity for children’s growth. Games consisting in manipulating blocks, especially, seems to have an important role in the child’s cognitive development. Many studies have been conducted for investigating the various aspects of playing with blocks, in order to understand its actual effectiveness in relation to different cognitive skills. A first area of research regards the relationship between playing with building blocks and visual-spatial ability; a second one examines the relationship between playing with building blocks and mathematic skills; a third one explores the relationship between buil�ding blocks, visual-spatial skills, numerical intelligence in its various components and mental imagery. These studies suggest that playing with blocks represents an important recreational and educational tool with a high capacity to enhance the overall cognitive development and specific skills like the mathematical ones. This narrative review offers an analysis of the existing empirical evidence on playing with building blocks in order to understand its actual effectiveness. In an historical period where electronic devices are gradually replacing the manual games that have always accompanied human development, knowing the state of this kind of research may represent a source of reflection for reconsidering scholastic programs with the aim of a possible return to specific manual playing activities, in order to enhance cognitive functioning and specific school skills.
... In the school year of 2019 in the School, a doctoral research project is developed in which different learning [13], to strengthen the learning of mathematics in the seventh grade, during that time execution different activities are carried out applying instruments to see some topics contemplated for the course according to the Mathematics Area Plan [15], by the institution. With the realization of this experience, the students of the seventh-grade groups had the opportunity to handle the LEGO Education Kit 9686: Simple and Motorized Machines and kit of the Reference Fischer Technik L2 and D2 with which small constructions of prototypes of real-life objects that are in their environments such as models of cars, boats, swings, scales or any known [16][17][18][19]. For the participation of seventh grade students in the fair, it was established that the development and construction of a project would be used using the STEAM methodology [2,11], which helps to strengthen and promote the teaching-learning processes of students in an interdisciplinary way through different processes in which research, exploration and their interest lead to new concepts in different areas. ...
This article explains details of the participation in the Science Fair that took place in
the 2019 school year by some seventh-grade students from “Colegio Isidro Caballero Delgado”,
Floridablanca, Colombia. This event is a space established by the institution, which takes place
once a year to show different projects and experiments carried out by students from each of the
school grades. The seventh-grade students for their participation took as their theme an
Amusement Park; with this theme, they built different prototypes that resemble mechanical
attractions using LEGO Education cards and applying STEAM. The aim is to explain different
themes seen in the mathematics course during the year playfully and amusingly to the
participating public through the operation of each of these prototypes and physics topics in its
structure or operation. The structure of the document contains a first section, the introduction in
which the context of the educational institution, the development of the science fair, and the use
of LEGO Education cards for the 2019 version are addressed; a section II where the methodology
and the applied strategy are detailed; in section III the results obtained are mentioned, and finally,
in section IV the conclusions and possible recommendations are presented.
... The most widely used model of WM is the one by Baddeley and Hitch (1974) that divides WM into several components, among which are two simple buffer components (visuospatial sketchpad and phonological loop) and a core component that was dubbed the central executive. However, a strong research tradition exists in which WM is divided into verbal and visuospatial WM (e.g., Jarvis & Gathercole, 2003;Nath & Szűcs, 2014), which adequately describes children's WM performance according to factor analyses (Jarvis & Gathercole, 2003;Swanson, 2017). This distinction has also been adopted in the two studies presented in this paper. ...
Number sense and working memory contribute to mathematical development throughout primary school. However, it is still unclear how the contributions of each of these predictors may change across development and whether the cognitive contribution is the same for children with and without mathematical difficulties. The aim of the two studies in this paper was to shed light on these topics. In a cross-sectional design, a typically developing group of children (study 1; N = 459, Grades 1–4) and a group with mathematical difficulties (study 2; N = 61, Grades 4–6) completed a battery of number sense and working memory tests, as well as a measure of arithmetic competence. Results of study 1 indicated that number sense was important in first grade, while working memory gained importance in second grade, before predictive value of both predictors waned. Number sense and working memory supported mathematics development independently from one another from Grade 1. Analysis of task demands showed that typically developing children rely on comprehension and visualization of quantity-to-number associations in early development. Later in development, pupils rely on comparing larger numerals and working memory until automatization. Children with mathematical difficulties were less able to employ number sense during mathematical operations, and thus might remain dependent on their working memory resources during arithmetic tasks. This suggests that children with mathematical difficulties need aid to employ working memory for mathematics from an early age to be able to automatize mathematical abilities later in development.
... Some studies have shown that the intervention or training on general cognitive ability, such as spatial ability, can improve the mathematics performance of hearing children (Cheng & mix, 2014;Clements et al., 2011;Sorby et al., 2018). For example, educators and teachers can use conventional activities such as paper folding, paper cutting (Burte et al., 2017), and Lego construction (Nath & Szücs, 2014) to develop children's spatial ability. Passig and Eden (2001) found that the three-dimensional spatial rotation training of virtual games could be used to improve the spatial rotation ability of deaf children. ...
Spatial ability has been shown the positive correlations with the mathematics achievement of typically developing children. However, whether there is a relationship between spatial ability and mathematics achievement in deaf children and the mechanisms that underlie the relationship remain unknown. 256 deaf children in Grades 3 to 9 in two special education schools in China performed a series of cognitive and mathematical tests. After controlling for age and gender, we found that spatial ability, processing speed (both accuracy and reaction time), and intelligence were significantly related to mathematics achievement. Moreover, processing speed and intelligence were found to mediate the relationship between spatial ability and mathematics achievement in deaf children. The mediating effect of intelligence was significantly greater than the serial mediating effect of processing speed (accuracy) and then intelligence; both the mediating effect of processing speed (reaction time) and the mediating effect of intelligence were significantly greater than the serial mediating effect of processing speed (reaction time) and then intelligence. These findings suggest a process through which processing speed can decrease intelligence and identify the mediating effects of processing speed (both accuracy and reaction time) and intelligence in the relationship between spatial ability and mathematics achievement in deaf children.
... Playing with blocks not only offers children many opportunities to develop and practice their mathematical knowledge and skills through sorting, classifying, comparing and constructing, but also has a positive effect on their future mathematical achievement (Casey and Bobb 2003;Nath and Szücs 2014;Trawick-Smith et al. 2017). To maximize the benefits of unit block play for math teaching and learning, teachers should provide children with appropriate guidance, such as posing problems, using open-ended prompts, and offering challenges, to extend children's mathematical knowledge and thinking (Cohen and Emmons 2017). ...
In China, a shift in early math teaching from a teacher-directed approach to a child-centered approach has been recommended. This study explored Chinese teachers' beliefs about early math teaching and learning, math teaching efficacy, and math-related practices in the context of unit block play. Early childhood teachers (N = 391) from Ningbo, Zhejiang province, participated in this study. The results of a questionnaire-based survey indicated that teachers' beliefs about math teaching and learning and math teaching efficacy were significant predictors of their math teaching practices during unit block play. Math teaching efficacy mediated the positive relationship between constructivist beliefs and child-centered practices, but not between traditional beliefs and teacher-directed practices. The results have implications for early childhood teacher education in China and future studies on early math teaching and learning.
... They conclude that children's numerical and spatial abilities are related at the level of shared underlying processes across development and remain functionally distinct on each occasion. In addition, they mention several studies which show that spatial skills are correlated with performance in mathematics and that they can be improved via interventions in the classroom, above all in early education like primary school and preschool contexts (e.g., Cheng & Mix, 2014;Levine, Ratliff, Huttenlocher& Cannon, 2012;Lowrie, Logan & Ramful, 2017;Nath & Szücs, 2014;Witt, 2011). Young et al. (2018a) provide evidence that "forms of early intervention, which help to get children's spatial and numerical skills on track early, are especially important to closing later gaps in achievement across STEM areas" (p.139). ...
Spatial ability is considered a major factor of intelligence and is increasingly important in times of digitization. This article explores the fostering of spatial ability through computer-aided design software. Different notions of spatial ability will be discussed, and, finally, a concept consisting of five aspects will be described. In addition, literature reviews on the connection between the use of computers and the fostering of spatial ability, as well as on the use of 3D printing technology in mathematics education, are given. Building on this, a case study is presented which examines the work of two middle-school students using computer-aided design software within a workshop at the University of Siegen. From the data material, basic possible actions within such software are derived. These are, based on theory, connected with the five aspects of the specific concept of spatial ability used. The results show various perspectives for the fostering of spatial ability with computer-aided design software.
... Les jeux de construction nécessitent qu'un lien soit fait entre la connaissance de l'objet, l'emplacement de l'objet et l'organisation structurelle. Ceci expliquerait pourquoi les jeux de construction sont liés à un certain nombre de compétences spatiales à un âge plus avancé, notamment concernant la rotation mentale (Brosnan, 1998), la visualisation spatiale (Jirout & Newcombe, 2015), la transformation spatiale (Verdine et al., 2014), les mathématiques (Nath & Szücs, 2014) et le langage spatial (Marcinowski & Campbell, 2017). ...
Le jeu de la naissance à l’âge de 2 ans connaît un regain d’intérêt récent. Les prémices du jeu sont abordées à travers l’importance de l’intégration multisensorielle. Cet article présente ensuite le développement du jeu avec les objets et ses prérequis sensori-moteurs, ainsi que le développement du jeu social et l’influence de l’attention conjointe. À travers le jeu, le nourrisson acquiert et consolide de nombreuses compétences sensori-motrices, langagières, sociales, émotionnelles et visuo-spatiales.
Optimizing indoor thermal environments is crucial for enhancing human comfort, particularly in the context of global warming.
Executive functions are crucially important for helping to explain children’s mathematical performances. We investigated the relationships between components of executive functions and different aspects of mathematical ability in young school-aged Taiwanese children. In a cross-sectional design, a typically developing group of 122 sixth-grade students completed tests battery of working memory (WM), inhibition, and set-shifting tests, and a measure of achievement competence in mathematical concepts, computation, and applied problems. We found significant associations between general intellectual ability, working memory, inhibition, and set-shifting, and between these abilities and different mathematical skills. Verbal and spatial WM was positively correlated with different mathematical skills, and inhibition and set-shifting were positively correlated with mathematical performance to a lesser extent. We conducted partial correlation analyses to control for participants’ age, socioeconomic status, and processing speed, and we then found that verbal and spatial WM was related to the math domains of concepts, computation, and applied problems. Meanwhile, inhibition was correlated with the domain of applied problems. Regression analyses revealed that varied domains of mathematical skills were best predicted by a general intelligence index (GAI) and verbal working memory (WM). Inhibition predicted better performance in applied problems. We discuss the limitations and implications of these findings, as they provide important information about the specific associations between aspects of executive function and components of mathematics performance in middle childhood.
In understanding the nature of mathematical skills, the most influential theories suggest that mathematical cognition draws on different systems: numerical, linguistic, spatial, and general cognitive skills. Studies show that skills in these areas are highly predictive of outcomes in mathematics. Nonetheless, the strength of these relations with mathematical achievement varies, and little is known about the moderators or relative importance of each predictor. Based on 269 concurrent and 174 longitudinal studies comprising 2,696 correlations, this meta-analysis summarizes the evidence on cognitive predictors of mathematical skills in children and adolescents. The results showed that nonsymbolic number skills (often labeled approximate number sense) correlate significantly less with mathematical achievement than symbolic number skills and that various aspects of language relate differently to mathematical outcomes. We observed differential predictive patterns for arithmetic and word problems, and these patterns only partly supported the theory of three pathways—quantitative, linguistic, and spatial—for mathematical skills. Concurrently, nonsymbolic number and phonological skills were weak but exclusive predictors of arithmetic skills, whereas nonverbal intelligence quotient (IQ) predicted word problems only. Only symbolic number skills predicted both arithmetic and word problems concurrently. Longitudinally, symbolic number skills, spatial ability, and nonverbal IQ predicted both arithmetic and word problems, whereas language comprehension was important for word problem solving only. As in the concurrent data, nonsymbolic number skill was a weak longitudinal predictor of arithmetic skills. We conclude that the candidates to target in intervention studies are symbolic number skills and language comprehension. It is uncertain whether the two other important predictors, nonverbal IQ and spatial skills, are actually malleable.
El desarrollo de habilidades motoras, cognitivas y competencias comunicacionales es esencial para el crecimiento integral de los niños, asegura un desarrollo armónico y equilibrado en la infancia. En la actualidad, el uso de nuevas tecnologías ha transformado la manera en que se abordan y resuelven las tareas educativas. Una de ellas, es la fabricación aditiva o también conocida como impresión 3D, brinda la posibilidad de crear materiales didácticos personalizados e innovadores, permite a los educadores enriquecer el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje en la educación. En este proyecto se presenta el diseño e implementación de materiales didácticos personalizados, que tienen como objetivo promover el desarrollo de habilidades motoras, cognitivas y competencias comunicacionales en niños de 6 a 8 años. Estos materiales didácticos se probaron en un centro psicopedagógico con 15 alumnos entre niños y niñas. A partir del desarrollo de distintas actividades se pudo evaluar la usabilidad y el interés de trabajar con este tipo de recursos personalizados.
The importance of geometry has been highlighted since antiquity. Studies show that we have geometric knowledge from infancy age. Some geometric skills are innate and are not taught in school. However, cultivating them can be achieved in many ways at a very young age and has positive academic results in the future. Unfortunately, nowadays students do not show the necessary interest in the subject and as a result they have not developed their geometric thinking and encounter difficulties both in everyday life and at school.
Bu araştırmada, oyun becerilerini değerlendirmeye yönelik bir dereceli puanlama anahtarının geliştirilmesi ve hafif düzey zihinsel yetersizliği olan ve normal gelişim gösteren çocukların oyun becerilerinin değerlendirilmesi amaçlanmıştır. Değerlendirmelerde tutarlılığı sağlamak ve yorum yapma gücünü arttırmak amacıyla oyun becerilerini değerlendirmede yapı inşa oyun türünde çocukların oyun süreci gözlenmiştir. Araştırmacılar tarafından yapı inşa oyununa yönelik ölçütler ve alt boyutlarının yer aldığı bir dereceli puanlama anahtarı geliştirilmiştir. Dereceli puanlama anahtarının güvenirliği ve geçerliliği uzman görüşüne dayalı olarak ve farklı değerlendiriciler arasındaki tutarlılığın araştırılması yoluyla incelenmiştir. Dereceli puanlama anahtarından elde edilen sonuçlar hem normal gelişim gösteren çocuklarda hem de hafif düzey zihinsel yetersizliği bulunan çocuklarda incelenmiştir. Normal gelişim gösteren çocukların yapı inşa oyununda gerçek yaşamla ilişki kurmada, karşılaştığı problemi çözmede, dikkatini odaklamada, kullandığı materyalde düzenlemeye gitmede, sembolik anlamlar yüklemede, materyalin özelliklerini dikkate almada, düzenli ve sıralı bir yapı kurmada, yapıları düzenlemede ve esnek düşünmede ortalama puanlarının yüksek olduğu belirlenmiştir. Hafif düzeyde zihinsel yetersizliği bulunan özel gereksinimli çocuklar ise düzenli ve sıralı yapı kurmada, karşılaştığı problemleri çözmede, dikkatini odaklamada diğer alanlara göre daha yüksek ortalama puanlara sahiptir.
Lego construction ability is associated with a variety of spatial skills and mathematical outcomes. However, it is unknown whether these relations are causal. We aimed to establish the causal impact of Lego construction training on: Lego construction ability; a broad range of spatial skills; and on mathematical outcomes in 7-9-year-olds. We also aimed to identify how this causal impact differs for digital versus physical Lego construction training. One-hundred and ninety-eight children took part in a six-week training programme, delivered twice weekly as a school lunch time club. They completed either physical Lego training (N = 59), digital Lego training (N = 64), or an active control condition (crafts; N = 75). All children completed baseline and follow-up measures of spatial skills (disembedding, visuo-spatial working memory, spatial scaling, mental rotation, and performance on a spatial-numerical task, the number line task), mathematical outcomes (geometry, arithmetic, and overall mathematical skills) and Lego construction ability. Exploratory analyses revealed evidence for near transfer (Lego construction ability) and some evidence for far transfer (arithmetic) of Lego training, but overall transfer was limited. Despite this, we identified key areas for further development (explicit focus on spatial strategies, training for teachers, and embedding the programme within a mathematical context). The findings of this study can be used to inform future development of Lego construction training programmes to support mathematics learning.
Mounting longitudinal evidence demonstrates that young children's numeracy knowledge before kindergarten determines their mathematics achievement path in primary grades and high school graduation. Mathematics education and children's play do not have to be binary and compete for time in early learning and childcare learning environments. Indeed, researchers demonstrate that play and planned mathematical activities enrich one another and ultimately contribute to children's learning outcomes. Guided play, in which educators combine planned learning experiences with the child-directed nature of play, focuses on learning outcomes through adult scaffolding. This chapter synthesizes research on how play experiences can be an organic but powerful process for scaffolding and elevating young children's mathematical understanding in light of current evidence from early numeracy research. In the conclusion of this chapter, evidence-based recommendations are introduced for facilitating children's developing numerical competencies and activating existing knowledge through guided play.
A child’s early years are widely recognized as a critical stage in life in which social, motor, emotional, language, cognitive, and perceptual skills develop. This study aimed to examine the influence of physical learning resources on learner’s educational outcomes in public pre-primary schools in Mombasa County, Kenya. The study embraced Bronfenbrenner’s (1997) Theory of Human Development and a mixed methods research design for the study. Stratified, simple random and purposive sampling techniques were used to select a sample of 78 head teachers, 116 teachers, and 7 ECE Sub County supervisors from a target population of 97 head teachers, 388 teachers, and 7 Sub County ECE supervisors. A questionnaire, an interview schedule and an observation guide were used to collect data. The pilot study was done in two schools to enhance instruments validity and reliability. Percentages, mean, and standard deviation were run to answer research questions. With a t-test of t = 5.298, and p < .05, the study concluded that public pre-primary schools in Mombasa County that had adequate physical resources had higher learner’s educational outcomes than those with inadequate physical resources.
Research Findings: Although the importance of block play to children’s spatial ability has been recognized globally, little is known about children’s use of spatial frames of reference during spatial processing. This study investigated the intervention with guided block play to promote children’s use of their intrinsic frame of reference, an identified effective frame of reference for spatial information. Participants included 42 kindergarten children (Mage=67.12 months, SD = 3.91, 48% girls) and 42 pre-kindergarten children (Mage=55.80 months, SD = 3.63, 57% girls) from one public kindergarten in Shanghai, China. A quasi-experiment method was used with a four-month intervention program designed for the experiment groups. Statistically significant differences were identified in the performance of the spatial tasks between the experiment and control groups in both kindergarten and pre-kindergarten children after the intervention. The results revealed that block-play interventions can effectively increase children’s ability to use their intrinsic frame of reference and their preference in using this frame for spatial representations. Practice or Policy: These findings provided a new perspective on analyzing children’s spatial competence and supported the benefits of block play interventions with empirical evidence.
Gender differences in children’s play behaviors are large and consistent across the psychological literature. These play behaviors include children’s toy interests, play styles, and peer preferences during play. Contemporary research has investigated the biological, social, and cognitive influences on children’s gender-typed toy play including the role of prenatal androgens, parental and peer socialization, gender cognitions, and gender stereotypes. Contemporary research also suggests that children’s gender-typed play behaviors may lead to gender differentiation throughout development. Specifically, the large differences in boys’ and girls’ play behaviors may lead to gender differences in children’s physical, social, and cognitive development. Theoretical implications are discussed as well as limitations of the current literature that necessitate future research.KeywordsGenderChildrenToysPlayGender rolesGender stereotypes
Academic skills, such as reading, spelling and arithmetic, are central to meaningful engagement with society throughout adolescence and into adulthood. The disruption caused by on-going seizure activity places children with drug-resistant epilepsy at a particularly high risk of poor academic attainment. Though epilepsy surgery during childhood has long-been associated with various cognitive changes, less is known of the extent to which pediatric epilepsy surgery impacts academic attainment. The aim of the present systematic review was to identify the nature of the effect of pediatric epilepsy surgery on the core academic skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic. The electronic databases Embase, Medline, PubMed, PsychInfo, OpenAire, and the ISRCTN registry were searched for studies examining academic attainment following epilepsy surgery in childhood, over the last three decades. Two thousand three-hundred and sixty-eight articles were screened for relevance. Thirteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Study quality and reliability were independently assessed by two reviewers. Results indicate that academic attainment primarily stabilizes in the first year following epilepsy surgery. Though changes to learning ability would not be expected in this early recovery phase, this review indicates that children do not, at least, lose the academic skills they have acquired before surgery. Postoperative declines in performance were most notably recorded in assessments of arithmetic, suggesting an area of potential vulnerability in this cohort. These declines were noted in cohorts with the longest periods between seizure onset and surgery. While older age at onset and seizure freedom correlated with improved academic attainment, further research is necessary to fully understand the specific effect of epilepsy surgery on academic attainment. Still, the present review provides valuable information regarding the likely academic outcomes in the early years following surgical treatment for drug-resistant epilepsy.
「實作學習」和「遊戲學習」兩個關鍵詞，是博物館用以描述專門為兒童及家庭所設計的互動式學習環境。以台北蘇荷兒童美術館⟨CAMIT⟩「角度大不同⟨A Vastly Different Perspective⟩」展覽做為個案進行研究，本研究檢視此兒童美術館如何設計互動式展覽，以及參觀者的學習經驗。本研究顯示，對CAMIT設計團隊而言，最具挑戰性的問題是如何將美術教室中呈現的藝術概念加以轉譯成為互動美術展場的經驗。本研究進一步顯示，家長在展場中擔任「 學習者」和學習「促進者」角色，這兩個角色在參觀過程中會彈性地轉換。 本研究結論建議兩個面向，值得CAMIT及與其相似的兒童互動展場在未來加以關注: 第一，測試新的展覽設計策略，幫助兒童與其家庭能夠在展場中更投入參與。第二，實驗新的輔助方式，幫助家長能夠促進他們的孩子在互動展場中的學習。
The present study sought to understand parents’ perspectives on the ease with which they felt they could play with their children during the initial period of social distancing. Seven hundred and five participants answered a 48-item questionnaire. This manuscript is focused on one Likert-type scale question and an open-ended follow-up question. Almost two thirds of participants indicated they felt indifference or that it was difficult to play with their children during social distancing. Five hundred and nine participants provided feedback for their answers. Thematic analysis was used to code and categorize these comments. Participants provided varied reasons for how they viewed playing with their children during social distancing, which were used to create five themes: Work and Professional Role, Mental & Physical Health, Time, Access to Resources, and Parenting Factors. The researchers offer implications for promoting play during times of social distancing.
Block building—a prevalent play activity—allows children to practice and develop spatial skills, including learning about the intrinsic properties and extrinsic spatial relations of blocks. Performance on block building taps individual differences in spatial skill and relates to later science and math skills. However, studies of block building typically ignore moment-to-moment block-building behaviors, and rarely target children from diverse backgrounds. We observed the real-time block-building behaviors of 120 5-year-olds from African American, Dominican, Mexican, and Chinese backgrounds as they attempted to replicate 3D block structures built by a researcher. For each structure, we coded time spent building, attention to the target structure, alignment of structure with the target, intrinsic and extrinsic errors, and final success. Alignment and checking related to low errors and high success, with Chinese children showing the most alignment, checking, and success. Shifting attention from “performance” to “process” sheds light on real-time learning during spatial tasks.
“Hands‐on learning” and “learning through play” are key terms that museums use to describe the interactive learning environments designed for families with young children. Using A Vastly Different Perspective exhibition at the Children's Art Museum in Taipei (CAMIT) as a case study, this research examines how interactive exhibition is designed and the learning experiences that occur that distinguishes it from other museums. The research shows that the most challenging issue for the CAMIT design team was to translate artistic concepts from the art studio environment into experiences in interactive galleries. It reveals that children engage in different types of play and that the roles of “learners” and “facilitator” interchange flexibly within family interactions. Conclusions of the research suggest two areas for further attention. First, museums like CAMIT need to test new strategies for engaging children and families through exhibit design and second, CAMIT and other museums of its kind may need to experiment with new ways of helping parents facilitate their children's learning in interactive exhibits.
Through a 48-item questionnaire shared via social media, 546 participants from 47 American States reported on their children’s (ages 0–8) play activities during early social distancing efforts as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. Results from the questionnaire indicate participants took social distancing guidelines seriously by keeping children at home and away from other children during the period of social distancing, thus affecting play behaviours. The study’s findings are significant in that they document some parents’ perspectives of their children’s play during a unique period in American history. The authors discuss implications for parent and child play behaviours including the need for more unstructured play time, realities of parents working from home with children present, and the effects of children having a lack of access to peers to play with for sociodramatic and symbolic play. Recommendations for future research are provided.
Understanding children’s emotional perceptions of creative tasks can contribute to the optimal design of music programs. Little is known of how young children perceive vocal tasks, and whether music training changes their emotional perceptions. This research examined children’s facial expressions while performing vocal imitation and improvisation tasks before and after music training. Young children ( N=79) aged four to six years were randomly assigned to a multimodal music program, Lego training, or a no-treatment control group. Their facial expressions while performing the tasks were analyzed, and learning outcomes were assessed by measuring participants’ pitch accuracy and improvisation skills at pre-and post-training. The results yielded no significant differences among the groups’ facial expressions. There was, however, a significant main effect of time such that participants showed more Surprise while performing vocal improvisation tasks. While participants in the multimodal music program scored higher on measures of pitch accuracy and improvisation skill, it may be necessary to increase the duration of early childhood music programs to reduce their feelings of apprehension when performing vocal improvisation tasks.
This study examined the relationships among visuospatial working memory (WM) executive functioning, and spatial abilities. One hundred sixty-seven participants performed visuospatial short-term memory (STM) and WM span tasks, executive functioning tasks, and a set of paper-and-pencil tests of spatial abilities that load on 3 correlated but distinguishable factors (Spatial Visualization, Spatial Relations, and Perceptual Speed). Confirmatory factor analysis results indicated that, in the visuospatial domain, processing-and-storage WM tasks and storage-oriented STM tasks equally implicate executive functioning and are not clearly distinguishable. These results provide a contrast with existing evidence from the verbal domain and support the proposal that the visuospatial sketchpad may be closely tied to the central executive. Further, structural equation modeling results supported the prediction that, whereas they all implicate some degree of visuospatial storage, the 3 spatial ability factors differ in the degree of executive involvement (highest for Spatial Visualization and lowest for Perceptual Speed). Such results highlight the usefulness of a WM perspective in characterizing the nature of cognitive abilities and, more generally, human intelligence.
Investigations of the cognitive processes involved in adults’ mental arithmetic have shown the importance of phonological rather than visual codes in performance (e.g. Logie, Gilhooly & Wynn; 1994). However, children’s subjective descriptions of their strategies in arithmetic reveal much more variable strategy use, suggesting that both slave systems of working memory may be involved in arithmetical performance in this age group. This experiment tested children in two age groups (6 to 7 and 8 to 9 years) on a simple mental arithmetic task under three conditions; baseline, phonological disruption and visuospatial disruption, in an attempt to determine the cognitive processes and strategies being used in arithmetic at various points throughout development. The results showed significant and marked lowering of performance in the younger children with concurrent visuospatial disruption, a smaller effect being observed in the older children. Conversely, while the younger children were unaffected by concurrent phonological disruption the older children were. These results support the hypothesis that children use different strategies at different ages; younger children utilise almost exclusively visuospatial strategies in mental arithmetic, whereas older children use a mixture of phonological and visual-spatial strategies.
A study was conducted in which 133 participants performed 11 memory tasks (some thought to reflect working memory and some thought to reflect short-term memory), 2 tests of general fluid intelligence, and the Verbal and Quantitative Scholastic Aptitude Tests. Structural equation modeling suggested that short-term and working memories reflect separate but highly related constructs and that many of the tasks used in the literature as working memory tasks reflect a common construct. Working memory shows a strong connection to fluid intelligence, but short-term memory does not. A theory of working memory capacity and general fluid intelligence is proposed: The authors argue that working memory capacity and fluid intelligence reflect the ability to keep a representation active, particularly in the face of interference and distraction. The authors also discuss the relationship of this capability to controlled attention, and the functions of the prefrontal cortex.
In this article, we attempt to distinguish between the properties of moderator and mediator variables at a number of levels. First, we seek to make theorists and researchers aware of the importance of not using the terms moderator and mediator interchangeably by carefully elaborating, both conceptually and strategically, the many ways in which moderators and mediators differ. We then go beyond this largely pedagogical function and delineate the conceptual and strategic implications of making use of such distinctions with regard to a wide range of phenomena, including control and stress, attitudes, and personality traits. We also provide a specific compendium of analytic procedures appropriate for making the most effective use of the moderator and mediator distinction, both separately and in terms of a broader causal system that includes both moderators and mediators. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This study examined the contributions of the different components of the working memory (WM) model to a range of mathematical skills in children, using measures of WM function that did not involve numerical stimuli. A sample of 148 children (78 Year 3, mean age 8 years and 1 month, and 70 Year 5 pupils, mean age 9 years and 10 months) completed WM measures and age‐appropriate mathematics tests designed to assess four mathematical skills defined by the National Curriculum for England. Visuo‐spatial sketchpad and central executive, but not phonological loop, scores predicted unique variance in children's curriculum‐based mathematical attainment but the relative contributions of each component did not vary much across the different skills. Subsequently, the mathematics data were re‐analysed using cluster analysis and new performance‐related mathematics factors were derived. All three components of WM predicted unique variance in these performance‐related skills, but revealed a markedly distinct pattern of associations across the two age groups. In particular, the data indicated a stronger role for the visuo‐spatial sketchpad in the younger children's mathematics performance. We discuss our findings in terms of the importance of WM in the development of early mathematical ability.
We determined how various cognitive abilities, including several measures of a
proposed domain-specific number sense, relate to mathematical competence in nearly 100 9-
year-old children with normal reading skill. Results are consistent with an extended number
processing network and suggest that important processing nodes of this network are
phonological processing, verbal knowledge, visuo-spatial short-term and working memory,
spatial ability and general executive functioning. The model was highly specific to predicting arithmetic performance. There were no strong relations between mathematical achievement
and verbal short-term and working memory, sustained attention, response inhibition, finger
knowledge and symbolic number comparison performance. Non-verbal intelligence measures
were also non-significant predictors when added to our model. Number sense variables were
non-significant predictors in the model and they were also non-significant predictors when
entered into regression analysis with only a single visuo-spatial WM measure. Number sense variables were predicted by sustained attention. Results support a network theory of
mathematical competence in primary school children and falsify the importance of a
proposed modular 'number sense'. We suggest an 'executive memory function centric' model
of mathematical processing. Mapping a complex processing network requires that studies
consider the complex predictor space of mathematics rather than just focusing on a single or a
few explanatory factors.
Fifty-one preschoolers’ play preferences, skills at assembling block structures, and spatial abilities were recorded in this study. There were no sex differences in children’s visual-spatial skills, and play with art materials and children’s free and structured play with blocks were related to spatial visualisation. Two patterns emerged from the findings: (1) activity and performance representing skills in spatial visualisation and visual-motor coordination; and (2) creativity, or the ability to break set and to produce varied solutions using visual materials. Future research might examine the extent to which children’s play activities and experiences predict these types of skills.
The study of developmental disorders can provide a unique window into the role of domain-general cognitive abilities and neural systems in typical and atypical development. Mathematical disabilities (MD) are characterized by marked difficulty in mathematical cognition in the presence of preserved intelligence and verbal ability. Although studies of MD have most often focused on the role of core deficits in numerical processing, domain-general cognitive abilities, in particular working memory (WM), have also been implicated. Here we identify specific WM components that are impaired in children with MD and then examine their role in arithmetic problem solving. Compared to typically developing (TD) children, the MD group demonstrated lower arithmetic performance and lower visuo-spatial working memory (VSWM) scores with preserved abilities on the phonological and central executive components of WM. Whole brain analysis revealed that, during arithmetic problem solving, left posterior parietal cortex, bilateral dorsolateral and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, cingulate gyrus and precuneus, and fusiform gyrus responses were positively correlated with VSWM ability in TD children, but not in the MD group. Additional analyses using a priori posterior parietal cortex regions previously implicated in WM tasks, demonstrated a convergent pattern of results during arithmetic problem solving. These results suggest that MD is characterized by a common locus of arithmetic and VSWM deficits at both the cognitive and functional neuroanatomical levels. Unlike TD children, children with MD do not use VSWM resources appropriately during arithmetic problem solving. This work advances our understanding of VSWM as an important domain-general cognitive process in both typical and atypical mathematical skill development.
Developmental dyscalculia is thought to be a specific impairment of mathematics ability. Currently dominant cognitive neuroscience theories of developmental dyscalculia suggest that it originates from the impairment of the magnitude representation of the human brain, residing in the intraparietal sulcus, or from impaired connections between number symbols and the magnitude representation. However, behavioral research offers several alternative theories for developmental dyscalculia and neuro-imaging also suggests that impairments in developmental dyscalculia may be linked to disruptions of other functions of the intraparietal sulcus than the magnitude representation. Strikingly, the magnitude representation theory has never been explicitly contrasted with a range of alternatives in a systematic fashion. Here we have filled this gap by directly contrasting five alternative theories (magnitude representation, working memory, inhibition, attention and spatial processing) of developmental dyscalculia in 9-10-year-old primary school children. Participants were selected from a pool of 1004 children and took part in 16 tests and nine experiments. The dominant features of developmental dyscalculia are visuo-spatial working memory, visuo-spatial short-term memory and inhibitory function (interference suppression) impairment. We hypothesize that inhibition impairment is related to the disruption of central executive memory function. Potential problems of visuo-spatial processing and attentional function in developmental dyscalculia probably depend on short-term memory/working memory and inhibition impairments. The magnitude representation theory of developmental dyscalculia was not supported.
The first purpose of this study was to investigate whether the visuospatial working memory (VSWM) skills of 15–16‐year‐old pupils with difficulties in mathematics differ from those of their normally achieving peers. The goal was to broaden the view of the complex system of VSWM. A set of passive and active VSWM tasks was used. The study’s second purpose was to investigate whether pupils with mathematical difficulties differed in their VSWM skills based on whether they had signs of reading deficits or not. Results indicate that the pupils with poor performance in maths showed poorer performance on certain VSWM tasks. The group with deficits only in maths had less capacity for storing passive visual simultaneous information, while the group with difficulties both in maths and reading had deficits in both storing (passive visual and visuospatial information) and processing, and had less ability to control irrelevant visuospatial information compared to their peers of the same age. The results indicate a general VSWM deficit in pupils with both mathematics and reading problems and a specific VSWM deficit in pupils with only mathematics problems.
Having good spatial skills strongly predicts achievement and attainment in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields (e.g., Shea, Lubinski, & Benbow, 2001; Wai, Lubinski, & Benbow, 2009). Improving spatial skills is therefore of both theoretical and practical importance. To determine whether and to what extent training and experience can improve these skills, we meta-analyzed 217 research studies investigating the magnitude, moderators, durability, and generalizability of training on spatial skills. After eliminating outliers, the average effect size (Hedges's g) for training relative to control was 0.47 (SE = 0.04). Training effects were stable and were not affected by delays between training and posttesting. Training also transferred to other spatial tasks that were not directly trained. We analyzed the effects of several moderators, including the presence and type of control groups, sex, age, and type of training. Additionally, we included a theoretically motivated typology of spatial skills that emphasizes 2 dimensions: intrinsic versus extrinsic and static versus dynamic (Newcombe & Shipley, in press). Finally, we consider the potential educational and policy implications of directly training spatial skills. Considered together, the results suggest that spatially enriched education could pay substantial dividends in increasing participation in mathematics, science, and engineering. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).
In this study we examined the effects of skill training, in particular mental abacus and music training, on working memory. Two groups of participants—children who had received mental abacus training and their controls—participated in Experiment 1. All participants performed the following span tasks: forward digit span, backward digit span, non-word span, operation span, simple spatial span, and complex spatial span tasks. Children (mean age: 12 years) who had received training exhibited greater simple spatial spans, but not other spans. In Experiment 2, the same span tests were given to groups of children (mean age: 12 years) and adults (mean age: 22 years) who had received music training and to their controls. For adults, the experimental group performed better than the control group with respect to both the digit span and non-word span tests. For children, the experimental group performed better than did the control group in all of the span tests. We discuss our results in terms of the domain-specific effects of skill training on working memory.
The aim of the present study was to investigate the construct stability and diagnostic validity of a standardised computerised tool for assessing working memory: the Automated Working Memory Assessment (AWMA). The purpose of the AWMA is to provide educators with a quick and effective tool to screen for and support those with memory impairments. Findings indicate that working memory skills in children with memory impairments are relatively stable over the course of the school year. There was also a high degree of convergence in performance between the AWMA and the WISC-IV Working Memory Index. The educational implications are discussed.
In this article, we attempt to distinguish between the properties of moderator and mediator variables at a number of levels. First, we seek to make theorists and researchers aware of the importance of not using the terms moderator and mediator interchangeably by carefully elaborating, both conceptually and strategically, the many ways in which moderators and mediators differ. We then go beyond this largely pedagogical function and delineate the conceptual and strategic implications of making use of such distinctions with regard to a wide range of phenomena, including control and stress, attitudes, and personality traits. We also provide a specific compendium of analytic procedures appropriate for making the most effective use of the moderator and mediator distinction, both separately and in terms of a broader causal system that includes both moderators and mediators.
Sex differences in spatial ability have been argued to originate from sex differences in children's play preferences. Child (30 boys and 20 girls) were asked to construct a specific three-dimensional model using Lego blocks and were also given the Shepard and Metzler test of mental rotation. Those who completed the Lego model scored significantly higher in spatial ability than those who did not. Constructional ability was also related to errors made during the construction of the model, but spatial ability was the best predictor of completion of the model.
Evidence from a number of sources now suggests that the visuo-spatial sketchpad (VSSP) of working memory may be composed of two subsystems: one for maintaining visual information and the other for spatial information. In this paper we present three experiments that examine this fractionation using a developmental approach. In Experiment 1, 5-, 8-, and 10-year old children were presented with a visuo-spatial working memory task (the matrices task) with two presentation formats (static and dynamic). A developmental dissociation in performance was found for the static and dynamic conditions of both tasks, suggesting that the activation of separable subsystems of the VSSP is dependent upon a static/dynamic distinction in information content rather than a visual/spatial one. A highly similar pattern of performance was found for a mazes task with static and dynamic formats. However, one strategic activity, the use of simple verbal recoding, may also have been responsible for the observed pattern of performance in the matrices task. In Experiments 2 and 3 this was investigated using concurrent articulatory suppression. No evidence to support this notion was found, and it is therefore proposed that static and dynamic visuo-spatial information is maintained in working memory by separable subcomponents of the VSSP.
This study examined the relationships among visuospatial working memory (WM) executive functioning, and spatial abilities. One hundred sixty-seven participants performed visuospatial short-term memory (STM) and WM span tasks, executive functioning tasks, and a set of paper-and-pencil tests of spatial abilities that load on 3 correlated but distinguishable factors (Spatial Visualization, Spatial Relations, and Perceptual Speed). Confirmatory factor analysis results indicated that, in the visuospatial domain, processing-and-storage WM tasks and storage-oriented STM tasks equally implicate executive functioning and are not clearly distinguishable. These results provide a contrast with existing evidence from the verbal domain and support the proposal that the visuospatial sketchpad may be closely tied to the central executive. Further, structural equation modeling results supported the prediction that, whereas they all implicate some degree of visuospatial storage, the 3 spatial ability factors differ in the degree of executive involvement (highest for Spatial Visualization and lowest for Perceptual Speed). Such results highlight the usefulness of a WM perspective in characterizing the nature of cognitive abilities and, more generally, human intelligence.
There is a general lack of understanding as to what issues affect assembly task performance when using diagrammatic instructions because few of the task variables contributing to assembly complexity have been identified. Using a task analysis of a range of self-assembly products, seven task variables hypothesized to predict assembly complexity were identified and studied in the instruction comprehension phase of assembly. Experiment 1 took nine real world assembly instructions and described each in terms of the seven task variables. Seventy-two participants gave a subjective rating of assembly difficulty for each assembly, showing a clear relationship between the task variables and perceived assembly difficulty. As real world assemblies provide little control a second experiment used an orthogonal design to systematically vary the values of each of the assembly task variables in 16 abstract assemblies. Forty-two participants compared the 16 assembly instructions to a final assembly. There was a clear relationship between the task variables and the time taken to view the instructions. Further, it was found that it is possible to predict the complexity of assembly tasks based upon the levels of the task variables identified. The task variables identified are a significant step towards identifying the factors that influence assembly complexity, together with providing progress towards a tool for predicting assembly complexity.
This study explored the structure of verbal and visuospatial short-term and working memory in children between ages 4 and 11 years. Multiple tasks measuring 4 different memory components were used to capture the cognitive processes underlying working memory. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the processing component of working memory tasks was supported by a common resource pool, while storage aspects depend on domain-specific verbal and visuospatial resources. This model is largely stable across this developmental period, although some evidence exists that the links between the domain-specific visuospatial construct and the domain-general processing construct were higher in the 4- to- 6-year age group. The data also suggest that all working memory components are in place by 4 years of age.
Developmental dyscalculia is thought to be a specific impairment of mathematics ability. Currently dominant cognitive neuroscience theories of developmental dyscalculia suggest that it originates from the impairment of the magnitude representation of the human brain, residing in the intraparietal sulcus, or from impaired connections between number symbols and the magnitude representation. However, behavioral research offers several alternative theories for developmental dyscalculia and neuro-imaging also suggests that impairments in developmental dyscalculia may be linked to disruptions of other functions of the intraparietal sulcus than the magnitude representation. Strikingly, the magnitude representation theory has never been explicitly contrasted with a range of alternatives in a systematic fashion. Here we have filled this gap by directly contrasting five alternative theories (magnitude representation, working memory, inhibition, attention and spatial processing) of developmental dyscalculia in 9–10-year-old primary school children. Participants were selected from a pool of 1004 children and took part in 16 tests and nine experiments. The dominant features of developmental dyscalculia are visuo-spatial working memory, visuo-spatial short-term memory and inhibitory function (interference suppression) impairment. We hypothesize that inhibition impairment is related to the disruption of central executive memory function. Potential problems of visuo-spatial processing and attentional function in developmental dyscalculia probably depend on short-term memory/working memory and inhibition impairments. The magnitude representation theory of developmental dyscalculia was not supported.
This chapter is divided into two parts. The first describes the effect of Pat Rabbitt's influence in encouraging the first author to use the increasingly sophisticated methods of ageing research to answer questions about the fundamental characteristics of working memory, together with reflections on why so little of this work reached publication. The second part presents a brief review of the literature on working memory and ageing, followed by an account of more recent work attempting to apply the traditional method of experimental dissociation to research on normal ageing and Alzheimer's disease. The discussion suggests that even such simple methods can throw light on both the processes of ageing and the understanding of working memory.
The primary goal of this study was the broad assessment and modeling of scientific reasoning in elementary school age. One hundred fifty-five fourth graders were tested on 20 recently developed paper-and-pencil items tapping four different components of scientific reasoning (understanding the nature of science, understanding theories, designing experiments, and interpreting data). As confirmed by Rasch analyses, the scientific reasoning items formed a reliable scale. Model comparisons differentiated scientific reasoning as a separate construct from measures of intelligence and reading skills and revealed discriminant validity. Furthermore, we explored the relationship between scientific reasoning and the postulated prerequisites inhibitory control, spatial abilities and problem-solving skills. As shown by correlation and regression analyses, beside general cognitive abilities (intelligence, reading skills) problem-solving skills and spatial abilities predicted performance in scientific reasoning items and thus contributed to explaining individual differences in elementary school children's scientific reasoning competencies.
This study focuses on three main goals: First, 3-year-olds' spatial assembly skills are probed using interlocking block constructions (N = 102). A detailed scoring scheme provides insight into early spatial processing and offers information beyond a basic accuracy score. Second, the relation of spatial assembly to early mathematical skills was evaluated. Spatial skill independently predicted a significant amount of the variability in concurrent mathematical performance. Finally, the relation between spatial assembly skill and socioeconomic status (SES), gender, and parent-reported spatial language was examined. While children's performance did not differ by gender, lower SES children were already lagging behind higher SES children in block assembly. Furthermore, lower SES parents reported using significantly fewer spatial words with their children.
Two studies were conducted on block building in adolescents, assessing middle school (Study 1) and high school students (Study 2). Students were asked to build something interesting with blocks. In both samples, the same pattern of gender differences were found; boys built taller structures than girls, and balanced a larger number of blocks on a small base of upright blocks (a new measure developed for this study). Gender differences in the height of structures were fully mediated by this measure of structural balance. These findings suggest that balance elements are key to understanding gender differences in block building. In Study 2, high-school students were given a second task, requiring them to apply structural balance principles (only four upright blocks were provided on which to build), and instructing them to build a tall, complex, well-balanced structure. Gender differences again were found, suggesting that gender differences in block building may be skill-based as well as stylistic. A separate question was whether block-building characteristics at this age have any relevance to math achievement. In both studies, the measure of structural balance was the only block-building characteristic that predicted math achievement. Additional research is needed to understand the cognitive underpinnings of this new spatial measure, how malleable it is, and its further practical significance for adolescent learners.
2 sets of scales were developed designed to measure the strength of sex typing in children's play patterns in a naturalistic setting. Over a 12-week observational period, the scales based upon those activities showing a sex difference in play preferences appeared to be more stable than those scales based upon adult ratings of masculine and feminine activities. Masculine and feminine activity preferences, as measured by the more stable scales, were correlated with observational measures of other classroom behavior and performance on 3 cognitive tests. These results suggested that (a) many children have already learned to avoid opposite-sex activities by the time they enter nursery school; (b) sex-role learning during the preschool period appears to involve increasing attention to same-sex activities; and (c) the development of visual-spatial ability in boys is related to involvement in masculine activities. The advantages of a behaviorally based definition of masculine and feminine activity preference are discussed.
The purpose of this study was to explore the predictive relationship between the level of symbolic representation in block constructions of preschoolers and reading and mathematics abilities and rate of growth in early elementary school for children with and without disabilities. Fifty‐one children participated, 22 of whom had identified disabilities. No predictive relationship between representational level of block constructions and maths abilities was found. However, growth curve analysis documented that preschoolers, who had higher levels of representation in their block constructions, had higher reading abilities and a faster rate of growth in reading abilities in the early elementary years. This predictive relationship held true for children with and without disabilities. Findings are discussed in relation to the importance of early experiences that are physically and socially organised to provide young children with the foundation for later learning.
An experiment is reported which explored the possible dissociation between visual and spatial working memory in children. Children aged 5-6, 8-9 and 11-12 years were given a recognition memory test for visual patterns or for sequences of movements to targets. Memory for patterns was better than memory for movement sequences and this difference was largest in the eldest group, and larger in the middle group than in the younger group. In a contrasting condition, the same groups of children were tested using immediate recall rather than recognition. A similar advantage for visual pattern memory over movement sequence memory appeared, and again this difference became more prominent with the age of the children. The results are interpreted as supporting the fractionation of visuo-spatial working memory into a temporary visual cache for storing visual form and an inner scribe for temporary retention of spatial information.
This longitudinal study began in 1982 with 37 four year old children who attended the same child care center for at least one year. The participants were assessed on their construction play products of blocks, Legos, and carpentry using the Lunzer Five Point Play Scale. An IQ score was obtained using The McCarthy Scales of Children's Mental Abilities. Gender was also used as a control variable.In 1998, 27 of these participants were found and standardized test scores in mathematics for grades 3, 5, 7, and high school were correlated with play scores. The California Acheivement Test as well as high school higher mathematics classes and honors format classes were noted.Results showed that grades 3 and 5 had little significance found between a participant's play performance and mathematical achievement. At grade 7 and in high school each area of construction play and standardized test scores were found to be significant.
Construction tasks form a major part of children's play and can be linked to achievement in maths and science. However there is a lack of understanding of construction task ability and development. Therefore, there is little foundation for the applied use of construction tasks, such as in teaching or research, as there are no apparent methods for assessing difficulty. This empirical research identifies four construction task characteristics that impact on cognition and predict construction task difficulty in children aged 7–8 and 10–11 years and adults. The results also reveal a developmental trajectory in construction ability. The research provides a method to quantify, predict and control the complexity of construction tasks for future research and to inform applied use. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
http://derby.openrepository.com/derby/bitstream/10545/292620/1/richardson_jones_croker_brown_preprint.pdf
This cross-sectional study explored whether participation, from early childhood, in play involving different cognitive abilities predicts visuo-spatial achievement at ages 9, 12, and 15. Based on parental assessment, prior and present practice of spatial manipulation play was found to be consistently more frequent in boys than in girls; the reverse held true for verbal expression play. Whereas boys did not significantly outperform girls in three visuo-spatial tasks, girls were superior on a contrastive vocabulary task. In general, with IQ statistically controlled, regression analyses showed that estimated past and present spatial manipulation play predicted both genders' proficiency in the water-level task and Embedded Figures Test, as did mothers' socioeconomic status for Block Design performance. Contrastingly, a negative relation was established between spatial manipulation play and vocabulary scores. Similar to the activity-ability association often identified among adults, the relation established here between spatial play experience and visuo-spatial ability was only modest. Further research should aim at more definitive conclusions through augmenting both diversity in the visuo-spatial skills measured and sophistication in play behaviour appraisal. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Working memory refers to a mental workspace, involved in controlling, regulating, and actively maintaining relevant information to accomplish complex cognitive tasks (e.g. mathematical processing). Despite the potential relevance of a relation between working memory and math for understanding developmental and individual differences in mathematical skills, the nature of this relationship is not well-understood. This paper reviews four approaches that address the relation of working memory and math: 1) dual task studies establishing the role of working memory during on-line math performance; 2) individual difference studies examining working memory in children with math difficulties; 3) studies of working memory as a predictor of mathematical outcomes; and 4) longitudinal studies of working memory and math. The goal of this review is to evaluate current information on the nature of the relationship between working memory and math provided by these four approaches, and to present some of the outstanding questions for future research.
The contribution of the three core components of working memory (WM) to the development of mathematical skills in young children is poorly understood. The relation between specific WM components and Numerical Operations, which emphasize computation and fact retrieval, and Mathematical Reasoning, which emphasizes verbal problem solving abilities in 48 2nd and 50 3rd graders was assessed using standardized WM and mathematical achievement measures. For 2nd graders, the central executive and phonological components predicted Mathematical Reasoning skills; whereas the visuo-spatial component predicted both Mathematical Reasoning and Numerical Operations skills in 3rd graders. This pattern suggests that the central executive and phonological loop facilitate performance during early stages of mathematical learning whereas visuo-spatial representations play an increasingly important role during later stages. We propose that these changes reflect a shift from prefrontal to parietal cortical functions during mathematical skill acquisition. Implications for learning and individual differences are discussed.
This study examines visual and spatial working memory skills in 35 third to fifth graders with both mathematics learning disabilities (MLD) and poor problem-solving skills and 35 of their peers with typical development (TD) on tasks involving both low and high attentional control. Results revealed that children with MLD, relative to TD children, failed spatial working memory tasks that had either low or high attentional demands but did not fail the visual tasks. In addition, children with MLD made more intrusion errors in the spatial working memory tasks requiring high attentional control than did their TD peers. Finally, as a post hoc analysis the sample of MLD was divided in two: children with severe MLD and children with low mathematical achievement. Results showed that only children with severe MLD failed in spatial working memory (WM) tasks if compared with children with low mathematical achievement and TD. The findings are discussed on the basis of their theoretical and clinical implications, in particular considering that children with MLD can benefit from spatial WM processes to solve arithmetic word problems, which involves the ability to both maintain and manipulate relevant information.
The paper studies whether visuospatial working memory (VSWM) and, specifically, recall of sequential-spatial information, can be improved by metacognitive training. Twenty-two fourth-grade children were involved in seven sessions of sequential-spatial memory training, while twenty-four children attended lessons given by their teacher. The post-training evaluation demonstrated a specific improvement of performances in the Corsi blocks task, considered a sequential-spatial working memory task. However, no benefits of training were observed in either a verbal working memory task or a simultaneous-spatial working memory task. The results have important theoretical implications, in the study of VSWM components, and educational implications, in catering for children with specific VSWM impairments.
Hypotheses involving mediation are common in the behavioral sciences. Mediation exists when a predictor affects a dependent variable indirectly through at least one intervening variable, or mediator. Methods to assess mediation involving multiple simultaneous mediators have received little attention in the methodological literature despite a clear need. We provide an overview of simple and multiple mediation and explore three approaches that can be used to investigate indirect processes, as well as methods for contrasting two or more mediators within a single model. We present an illustrative example, assessing and contrasting potential mediators of the relationship between the helpfulness of socialization agents and job satisfaction. We also provide SAS and SPSS macros, as well as Mplus and LISREL syntax, to facilitate the use of these methods in applications.
A study was conducted in which 133 participants performed 11 memory tasks (some thought to reflect working memory and some thought to reflect short-term memory), 2 tests of general fluid intelligence, and the Verbal and Quantitative Scholastic Aptitude Tests. Structural equation modeling suggested that short-term and working memories reflect separate but highly related constructs and that many of the tasks used in the literature as working memory tasks reflect a common construct. Working memory shows a strong connection to fluid intelligence, but short-term memory does not. A theory of working memory capacity and general fluid intelligence is proposed: The authors argue that working memory capacity and fluid intelligence reflect the ability to keep a representation active, particularly in the face of interference and distraction. The authors also discuss the relationship of this capability to controlled attention, and the functions of the prefrontal cortex.
In 1974, Baddeley and Hitch proposed a three-component model of working memory. Over the years, this has been successful in giving an integrated account not only of data from normal adults, but also neuropsychological, developmental and neuroimaging data. There are, however, a number of phenomena that are not readily captured by the original model. These are outlined here and a fourth component to the model, the episodic buffer, is proposed. It comprises a limited capacity system that provides temporary storage of information held in a multimodal code, which is capable of binding information from the subsidiary systems, and from long-term memory, into a unitary episodic representation. Conscious awareness is assumed to be the principal mode of retrieval from the buffer. The revised model differs from the old principally in focussing attention on the processes of integrating information, rather than on the isolation of the subsystems. In doing so, it provides a better basis for tackling the more complex aspects of executive control in working memory.
The paper describes the performance of three children with specific visuospatial working memory (VSWM) impairments (Study 1) and three children with visuospatial (nonverbal) learning disabilities (Study 2) assessed with a battery of working memory (WM) tests and with a number of school achievement tasks. Overall, performance on WM tests provides evidence of a double dissociation between spatial-simultaneous processes, underpinning the memorization item positioning in a spatial configuration, and spatial-sequential processes, which allow memorization of the presentation order. In both groups of children of the two studies, a selective impairment either on spatial-sequential or on spatial-simultaneous working memory tasks was observed. These data support the existence of -simultaneous and -sequential modality-dependent processes in visuospatial working memory and confirm the importance of distinguishing between different subtypes of visuospatial (nonverbal) learning-disabled children.
The present longitudinal study was designed to investigate precursors of mathematics achievement in children. A total of 72 children were tested at both the beginning and end of first and second grades on measures of the following cognitive abilities: phonology, counting skills, short-term memory, working memory, and verbal and performance IQ. Path analysis models revealed differences in the variables predicting mathematics skills of first and second graders. Specifically, in first graders both short-term and working memory measures mediated the role of verbal IQ in predicting mathematics skills. Also, there was a direct relationship between performance IQ and mathematics at first grade. In contrast, in the longitudinal model, working memory measured both in first and second grades predicted mathematics achievement, whereas the relationship between performance IQ and mathematics disappeared. In conclusion, the results demonstrated that mathematics learning is predicted not by phonology or counting skills and that working memory is a plausible mediator in predicting mathematics achievement in primary school age children.
Visual tasks require recognition of form, shape and colour of objects, whereas spatial tasks require the recognition of location, position and configuration of objects, while processing them simultaneously or sequentially
- Passolunghi & Mammarella Pickering
- Gathercole
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Passolunghi & Mammarella, 2012; Pickering, Gathercole, Hall, & Lloyd, 2001). Visual tasks require recognition of form, shape and colour of objects, whereas spatial tasks require the recognition of location, position and configuration of objects, while processing them simultaneously or sequentially (Mammarella et al., 2006).
Spatial ability in children's play with Lego blocks Children's play preferences, construction play with blocks, and visualespatial skills: are they related?
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My macros and code for SPSS and SAS
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Building blocks of mathematics: Understanding children's construction play as a basis for educational and cognitive assessment
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