1-199 - The Relationship between Spatial Thinking and Mathematics in Early Childhood

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

An emerging body of research suggests that spatial thinking plays a foundational role in the early learning of mathematics. However, the nature of this relationship is not well understood. The purpose of this symposium is to share and discuss four papers that further reveal the relationship between spatial and mathematical cognition in early childhood.

The first paper is a longitudinal study demonstrating that spontaneous block play in the preschool years is associated with arithmetic and geometry knowledge four years later. The second paper presents data from a large-scale (N=853) factor analysis of spatial and mathematics tasks across three grade levels (Kindergarten, 3rd grade, 6th grade). While a two-factor model provided the best fit, the spatial factor also recruited certain mathematics tasks and the mathematics factor recruited certain spatial tasks. The recruitment of different tasks varied by grade, suggesting that the relative importance of certain skills shifts over development. The third paper demonstrates that preschool children’s spatial scaling ability can be improved through a brief intervention involving the presence of grid lines. Children who entered training with higher mental transformation skills improved the most – a “rich-get-richer” effect, suggesting the importance of early intervention. The fourth paper presents findings from a yearlong intervention designed to develop young children’s spatial thinking. Children in the intervention classrooms demonstrated significant gains in spatial thinking and symbolic magnitude comparison. Taken together, these four papers contribute to a better understanding of the nature and nurture of spatial thinking and its importance in children’s mathematical development.

Sub Unit

• Cognitive Processes

Chairs

• Nora S Newcombe, Temple Univ

• Zachary Hawes, University of Toronto

Individual Presentations

• The Role of Spontaneous Block Play on Children’s Math Knowledge - Presenting Author: Lori Petersen, University of Chicago; Susan Cohen Levine, University of Chicago

• The Relation between Space and Math: An Exploratory Factor Analysis - Presenting Author: Kelly Sue Mix, Michigan State Univ; Susan Cohen Levine, University of Chicago; Yiling Cheng, Counseling, Educational Psychology and Special Education; Christopher J Young, Univ of Chicago

• Improving Spatial Scaling in Preschool: Effects of Training and Prior Skill - Presenting Author: Elizabeth A Gunderson, Temple University; Jamie Jirout, Rhodes College; Nora S Newcombe, Temple Univ

• A ‘Spatial’ Approach to Early Mathematics Instruction: Effects of a Yearlong Intervention Study - Presenting Author: Zachary Hawes, University of Toronto; Joan Moss; Beverly Caswell, University of Toronto; Sarah Naqvi, University of Toronto; Catherine Bruce; Tara Flynn, Trent University