Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, China.
School of Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, China.
Br J Educ Psychol. 2021 Sep;91(3):793-810. doi: 10.1111/bjep.12403. Epub 2020 Dec 24.
Mental rotation is positively related to arithmetic ability; however, the mechanism underlying this relationship remains unclear. The possible roles of working memory, place-value concept, and number line estimation in the correlation between mental rotation and whole-number computation were investigated. One hundred and fifty-five first-grade students were tested to determine their mental rotation ability, arithmetic ability, and non-verbal intelligence. One year later, their working memory, place-value concept, number line estimation, and overall arithmetic ability were assessed. After controlling for age, gender, and prior arithmetic ability, we found that mental rotation uniquely predicted arithmetic ability after one year. Further mediation analyses demonstrated that number line estimation significantly mediated the relationship between mental rotation and arithmetic ability. In contrast, neither working memory nor place-value concept significantly mediated the relationship between mental rotation and arithmetic ability. This study highlights that mental number line estimation is the most important element explaining the influence of a dynamic spatial skill, that is, mental rotation, on arithmetic ability among young Chinese children.
心理旋转与算术能力呈正相关；然而，这种关系的潜在机制尚不清楚。本研究旨在探讨工作记忆、位值概念和数字线估计在心理旋转与整数运算之间的相关性中的可能作用。155 名一年级学生接受了心理旋转能力、算术能力和非言语智力的测试。一年后，评估了他们的工作记忆、位值概念、数字线估计和整体算术能力。在控制年龄、性别和先前的算术能力后，我们发现心理旋转在一年后可以独特地预测算术能力。进一步的中介分析表明，数字线估计显著中介了心理旋转与算术能力之间的关系。相比之下，工作记忆和位值概念都不能显著中介心理旋转与算术能力之间的关系。本研究强调了心理数字线估计是解释动态空间技能（即心理旋转）对中国儿童算术能力影响的最重要因素。
