The Transfer Effect of Mental Rotation Training on Arithmetic Skill: The Role of State Anxiety and Arithmetic Strategy Use.
Spatial skills in early childhood are key predictors of mathematical achievement. Previous studies have found that training mental rotation can transfer to arithmetic skills; however, some studies have failed to replicate this transfer effect, or observed transfer effects only in certain types of ar...
| Publicado en: | Developmental Psychology Vol. 62; no. 9; pp. 1834 - 1847 |
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| Autores principales: | , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
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American Psychological Association
Sep2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=195791705&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 195791705 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00121649 DPS jtl: Developmental Psychology issn: 00121649 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Sep2026 vid: 62 iid: 9 pid: 34 pub: American Psychological Association artinfo: ui: 195791705 10.1037/dev0002040 ppf: 1834 ppct: 13 formats: tig: atl: The Transfer Effect of Mental Rotation Training on Arithmetic Skill: The Role of State Anxiety and Arithmetic Strategy Use. aug: au: Zhang, Xinhe Gunderson, Elizabeth A. affil: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University–Bloomington su: United States Elementary schools Task performance Psychology of school children Rating of students Blind experiment Randomized controlled trials Problem solving Academic achievement Psychological tests Children Anxiety prevention Statistical power analysis Mathematics Research funding Statistical sampling Transfer of training Analysis of covariance Descriptive statistics Control groups Pre-tests & post-tests Learning strategies Comparative studies Factor analysis Data analysis software Thought & thinking Student assignments sug: subj: Elementary schools Task performance Psychology of school children Rating of students Blind experiment Randomized controlled trials Problem solving Academic achievement Psychological tests Children United States Elementary and Secondary Schools Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling Anxiety prevention Statistical power analysis Mathematics Research funding Statistical sampling Transfer of training Analysis of covariance Descriptive statistics Control groups Pre-tests & post-tests Learning strategies Comparative studies Factor analysis Data analysis software Thought & thinking Student assignments keyword: arithmetic skill arithmetic strategy mental rotation training Spatial skills transfer effect arithmetic skill arithmetic strategy mental rotation training Spatial skills transfer effect ab: Spatial skills in early childhood are key predictors of mathematical achievement. Previous studies have found that training mental rotation can transfer to arithmetic skills; however, some studies have failed to replicate this transfer effect, or observed transfer effects only in certain types of arithmetic problems. Even in studies where transfer effects were observed, the underlying mechanisms of this transfer have not been explored. This study focused on the effect of short-duration (i.e., single-session) spatial training on arithmetic skills, and tested two underlying mechanisms. First, based on the spatial modeling account, short-duration spatial training may prime spatial processing, leading to a reduction in the use of counting strategies and an increase in spatially related strategies following spatial training. Second, from a social–psychological account, short-duration spatial training may reduce children's state anxiety, thus allowing them more cognitive resources in spatial and arithmetic tasks. We tested these mechanisms among 80 U.S. second and third graders using a pretest–intervention–posttest design, with 40 children in the spatial training group and 40 in an active control group. Short-duration spatial training improved children's overall arithmetic performance; this effect did not differ by problem type (conventional, missing-term, or two-step problems). Spatial training also reduced children's use of counting strategies. However, we did not find a significant increase in spatially related strategies, nor did we observe a significant reduction in state anxiety. This study makes an important contribution to understanding the mechanisms underlying the transfer effects of short-duration spatial training on arithmetic skills, providing partial support for the spatial modeling account. Public Significance Statement: This study found that brief spatial training improved 2nd- and 3rd-graders' accuracy on arithmetic problems and reduced children's reliance on counting strategies, suggesting that spatial skills support math problem solving through mental modeling. This study highlights the potential value of incorporating spatial training into early math education to support children's math learning. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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