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Diversity of spatial activities and parents' spatial talk complexity predict preschoolers' gains in spatial skills

Year: 2023

Type: article

Abstract: Children's spatial activities and parental spatial talk were measured to examine their associations with variability in preschoolers' spatial skills (N = 113, M age = 4 years, 4 months; 51% female; 80% White, 11% Black, and 9% other). Parents who reported more diversity in daily spatial activities and used longer spatial talk utterances during a spatial activity had children with greater gains in spatial skills from ages 4 to 5 (β = .17 and β = .40, respectively). Importantly, this study is the first to move beyond frequency counts of spatial input and investigate the links among the diversity of children's daily spatial activities, as well as the complexity of parents' spatial language across different contexts, and preschoolers' gains in spatial skills, an important predictor of later STEM success.

Source: Child Development

DOI: 10.1111/cdev.14024

Authors: Danielle S Fox, Leanne Elliott, Heather J Bachman, Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal, Melissa E Libertus

Institution: University of Pittsburgh

Language: English

Topic: Spatial Cognition and Navigation

Subfield: Automotive Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Quality education

Open Access status: green

Funders: James S. McDonnell Foundation, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development