Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA.
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA.
J Exp Child Psychol. 2021 Dec;212:105251. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2021.105251. Epub 2021 Jul 30.
Decades of research have established that spatial skills correlate with numerical skills. However, because both spatial and numerical skills are multidimensional, we sought to determine how specific spatial skills relate to specific numeracy skills. We used a cohort-sequential design, assessing a large diverse sample of students (N = 612, initially in pre-kindergarten [pre-K]-3rd grade, 4-9 years of age) at four time points spanning 2 years. We examined how initial levels of five spatial skills (visuospatial working memory [VSWM], mental transformation, mental rotation, proportional reasoning, and analog magnitude system [AMS] acuity) related to initial levels and growth rates in exact and approximate calculation skills, and we further investigated number line estimation as a potential mediator. We found unique patterns of relations between spatial skills and numeracy. Initial levels of mental rotation, proportional reasoning, and AMS acuity related to initial levels of exact calculation skill; initial levels of AMS acuity related to initial levels of approximate calculation; and initial levels of proportional reasoning related to initial levels of number line estimation. VSWM and mental transformation did not relate to numeracy skills after controlling for other spatial skills. Initial levels of number line estimation related to both exact and approximate calculation after controlling for spatial skills. Notably, neither spatial skills nor number line estimation predicted growth in exact or approximate calculation skills. These results indicate that there is specificity in the time-invariant relations between spatial skills and numeracy, and they suggest that researchers and educators should treat spatial skills and numeracy as multidimensional constructs with complex and unique interrelations.
几十年来的研究已经证实，空间技能与数字技能相关。然而，由于空间技能和数字技能都是多维的，我们试图确定特定的空间技能与特定的计算能力之间的关系。我们使用了队列序列设计，评估了一个由 612 名学生组成的大型多样化样本（最初在幼儿园前班[pre-K]-3 年级，年龄在 4-9 岁之间），在 2 年的时间内进行了四次测试。我们考察了五种空间技能（视空间工作记忆[VSWM]、心理转换、心理旋转、比例推理和类比数量系统[AMS]敏锐度）的初始水平如何与精确和近似计算技能的初始水平和增长率相关，我们还进一步研究了数字线估计作为潜在的中介。我们发现空间技能和计算能力之间存在独特的关系模式。心理旋转、比例推理和 AMS 敏锐度的初始水平与精确计算技能的初始水平相关；AMS 敏锐度的初始水平与近似计算技能的初始水平相关；比例推理的初始水平与数字线估计的初始水平相关。在控制了其他空间技能后，VSWM 和心理转换与计算能力技能无关。在控制了空间技能后，数字线估计的初始水平与精确和近似计算都相关。值得注意的是，空间技能和数字线估计都不能预测精确或近似计算技能的增长。这些结果表明，空间技能和计算能力之间存在时间不变的关系特异性，并且它们表明研究人员和教育者应该将空间技能和计算能力视为具有复杂而独特相互关系的多维结构。
