Does training mental rotation transfer to gains in mathematical competence? Assessment of an at-home visuospatial interv
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Does training mental rotation transfer to gains in mathematical competence? Assessment of an at‑home visuospatial intervention Chi‑Ngai Cheung1,2,3 · Jenna Y. Sung1,4 · Stella F. Lourenco1 Received: 2 November 2018 / Accepted: 17 May 2019 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2019
Abstract The current study examined whether the effect of spatial training transfers to the math domain. Sixty-two 6- and 7-year-olds completed an at-home 1-week online training intervention. The spatial-training group received mental rotation training, whereas the active control group received literacy training in a format that matched the spatial training. Results revealed near transfer of mental rotation ability in the spatial-training group. More importantly, there was also far transfer to canonical arithmetic problems, such that children in the spatial-training group performed better on these math problems than children in the control group. Such far transfer could not be attributed to general cognitive improvement, since no improvement was observed for non-symbolic quantity processing, verbal working memory (WM), or language ability following spatial training. Spatial training may have benefitted symbolic arithmetic performance by improving visualization ability, access to the mental number line, and/or increasing the capacity of visuospatial WM.
Introduction From maximizing the space inside a suitcase to interpreting figures in technical documents, spatial reasoning is known to impact both everyday functioning and expertise in a technological society. Indeed, accumulating evidence suggests that students’ spatial abilities predict their aptitude and success in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-019-01202-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Chi‑Ngai Cheung [email protected] * Stella F. Lourenco [email protected] Jenna Y. Sung [email protected] 1
Department of Psychology, Emory University, 36 Eagle Row, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
2
Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, 4202 E Fowler Ave, Tampa, FL 33620, USA
3
Jiann‑Ping Hsu College of Public Health, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA 30458, USA
4
Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794‑2500, USA
(STEM) careers (Shea, Lubinski, & Benbow, 2001; Wai, Lubinski, & Benbow, 2009). With increasing demands for STEM workers in the United States and abroad (European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, 2014; Fayer, Lacey, & Watson, 2017), it is paramount that we better understand how to inspire students’ interests in STEM, as well as cultivate their abilities in STEM. A good starting point is to study whether, and how, mathematical development—the foundation of STEM disciplines—is related to children’s spatial abilities. Seminal longitudinal research has revealed a uniquely predictive role o
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