Spatial activity participation in childhood and adolescence: consistency and relations to spatial thinking in adolescence

• Published in: Cognitive research: principles and implications 2020-09, Vol.5 (1), p.43-43, Article 43
• Main Authors: Peterson, Emily Grossnickle, Weinberger, Adam B., Uttal, David H., Kolvoord, Bob, Green, Adam E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescence; Adolescents; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Child development; Children; Cognitive Psychology; Early Experience; Everyday Activities; Experimental Psychology; Gender; Gender Differences; Learning; Neurosciences; Original; Original Article; Participation; Predictor Variables; Psychology; Sex differences; Skill Development; Spatial Ability; Spatial activities; Spatial cognition; Spatial skills; Teenagers; Thinking Skills; Why Spatial is Special in Education
• ISSN: 2365-7464; 2365-7464
• DOI: 10.1186/s41235-020-00239-0

Background Prior research has revealed positive effects of spatial activity participation (e.g., playing with blocks, sports) on current and future spatial skills. However, research has not examined the degree to which spatial activity participation remains stable over time, and little is known about how participating in spatial activities at multiple points in development impacts spatial thinking. In this study, adolescents completed measures of spatial thinking and questionnaires assessing their current and previous participation in spatial activities. Results Participation in childhood spatial activities predicted adolescent spatial activity participation, and the relation was stronger for females than for males. Adolescents’ current participation in spatial activities predicted spatial thinking skills, whereas participation in childhood spatial activities predicted adolescents’ spatial habits of mind, even when accounting for factors such as gender and academic performance. No cumulative benefit was incurred due to participating in spatial activities in both childhood and adolescence, and a lack of spatial activities in childhood was not made up for by later spatial activity participation. Conclusions These findings reveal a consistently positive relationship in spatial activity participation between childhood and adolescence. Results highlight the importance of participating in spatial activities during childhood, and underscore the differential impact that participation in spatial activities during childhood versus adolescence has on different facets of adolescents’ spatial thinking. Implications for the timing of interventions is discussed.