Spatial Skills, but Not Spatial Anxiety, Mediate the Gender Difference in Number Line Estimation.

Recently, there has been increasing evidence showing that males estimate whole numbers more accurately than females on the number line. However, relatively little is known about what factors contribute to this gender gap. The current study explored potential mediators of the gender difference in num...

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Publicado en:Developmental Psychology Vol. 58; no. 1; pp. 138 - 152
Autores principales: Jing Tian, Su Dam, Gunderson, Elizabeth A.
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: American Psychological Association Jan2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Jan2022
      vid: 58
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      pub: American Psychological Association
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        157672410
        10.1037/dev0001265
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        atl: Spatial Skills, but Not Spatial Anxiety, Mediate the Gender Difference in Number Line Estimation.
      aug:
        au:
          Jing Tian
          Su Dam
          Gunderson, Elizabeth A.
        affil: Department of Psychology, Temple University
      su:
        Task performance
        Cognition
        Sex distribution
        Anxiety
        School children
        Reading
        Thought & thinking
        Mathematics
        Short-term memory
        Space perception
      sug:
        subj:
          Task performance
          Cognition
          Sex distribution
          Anxiety
          School children
          Reading
          Thought & thinking
          Mathematics
          Short-term memory
          Space perception
      keyword:
        gender difference
        mental rotation
        number line estimation
        proportional reasoning
        spatial anxiety
        gender difference
        mental rotation
        number line estimation
        proportional reasoning
        spatial anxiety
      ab: Recently, there has been increasing evidence showing that males estimate whole numbers more accurately than females on the number line. However, relatively little is known about what factors contribute to this gender gap. The current study explored potential mediators of the gender difference in number line estimation, including spatial skills and spatial anxiety. In the Fall (time-point 1 [T1]), 490 children from kindergarten through fourth grade (274 girls) completed age-appropriate measures of number line estimation, spatial skills (including proportional reasoning, mental rotation, mental transformation, and visuospatial working memory), and spatial anxiety. About 5 month later in the Spring (time-point 2 [T2]), children completed the same measure of number line estimation again. Boys were more accurate on number line estimation, proportional reasoning, and mental rotation than girls, whereas girls showed higher levels of spatial anxiety. Critically, spatial skills (a latent variable constructed from proportional reasoning, mental rotation, mental transformation, and visuospatial working memory) at T1 mediated the gender difference in T2 number line estimation whereas spatial anxiety was not a significant mediator. These relationships held even after controlling for T1 number line estimation, reading achievement, and reading anxiety. Among the four spatial skills, proportional reasoning and mental rotation (but not mental transformation or visuospatial working memory) were mediators of the gender difference in T2 number line estimation. These findings constitute, to our knowledge, the first evidence regarding factors contributing to the gender difference in whole number line estimation.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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