Spatial Skills Associated With Block-Building Complexity in Preschoolers

Frontiers in Psychology

Xiaoxia Zhang¹  Chuansheng Chen²  Xiaohui Xu²  Tao Yang³ 

[1] Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment for Basic Education Quality, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China;School of Education, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China;Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States;School of Preschool Education, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China;

关键词: block building complexity;    form perception;    spatial visualization;    spatial skill;    preschooler;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2020.563493

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Block building is a popular play activity among young children and is also used by psychologists to assess their intelligence. However, little research has attempted to systematically explore the cognitive bases of block-building ability. The current study (N = 66 Chinese preschoolers, 32 boys and 34 girls; mean age = 4.7 years, SD = 0.29, range = 3.4 to 5.2 years) investigated the relationships between six measures of spatial skills (shape naming, shape recognition, shape composition, solid figure naming, cube transformation, and mental rotation, with the former four representing form perception and the latter two representing visualization) and block-building complexity. Correlation results showed that three of the four measures of form perception (shape naming, shape recognition, and shape composition) were significantly and positively correlated with block-building complexity, whereas the two measures of visualization were not. Results from regression models indicated that shape recognition and shape composition, as well as shape-recognition-by-gender interaction, were unique predictors of children’s block-building complexity. These findings provide preliminary evidence for the basic spatial skills underlying children’s block-building complexity and have implications for classroom instructions aimed at improving preschoolers’ block-building complexity.

【 授权许可】

CC BY