Spa$alSkillsPredictMathema$cs

KnowledgeinPreschool

BethanyRi;le-Johnson

AyzitDoydum

NCTMResearchConference2017

1

Fundedby:

TryTheseTasks

•  Picktheobjectwhichshowsjusthowthepieceofflatmetalwilllook

whenitisfoldedatthedo;edlines.Whenitisfolded,nopieceofmetal

overlapsanyotherpieceorisenclosedinsidetheobject.

•  Choosetheonedrawingwhich,whenturnedaroundorrotated,isexactly

likethebasicdrawingattheleT.

2

FromWai,Lubinski&Benbow(2012)

WhatAreDifferentComponentsof

Spa$alSkills?•  Largevarietyoftypesandmeasuresofspa$alskills.

Twoverycommontypesare:

•  Spa$alvisualiza$on-theabilitytoimagineand

mentallytransformspa$alinforma$on(U;aletal.,

2013).Tasksyoujustdidfithere.

•  Visual-spa$alworkingmemory-theabilitytoholdtheloca$onsofdifferentobjects,landmarksetc.in

memory(Raghubar,Barnes,&Hecht,2010).Popular

game“Simon”tapsthisskill.

3

Spa$alSkillsandSTEMSuccess

•  Highschoolstudentswithhighspa$alskillsaremuchmorelikelytoearnadegreeand

haveajobinmathema$cs,computerscience,

engineeringorthephysicalsciences,

controllingforverbalandmathabili$es(Wai,

Lubinski&Benbow,2009)

4

Spa$alSkillsandMathKnowledgein

School-AgeChildren

•  Spa$alskillsarerelatedtomathknowledgein

school-agechildren(Gundersonetal.,2012;Mix&Cheng,

2012;NRC,2009)

–  Limitedevidencethat

improvingspa$alskills

improvesmathknowledge

(Cheng&Mix,2013;Lowrie,

Logan&Ramful,2017;butsee

Hawes,Moss,Caswell&

Poliszczuk,2015).Other

studiesinprogress.

5

Spa$alSkillsandMathKnowledge:

Rela$onsinYoungChildren

•  Emergingevidenceindicatesrelatedvery

early:

– Spa$alskillatage3relatedtomathknowledgeat

age5(Verdineetal,2017).

– Spa$alskillininfancyrelatedtomathknowledge

atage4(Lauer&Lourenco,2017)

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WhyDoSpa$alSkillsRelatetoEarly

Mathema$csDevelopment?

•  A;endingtowhichspa$alskillsaremoststronglyrelatedtoearly

mathknowledgeofferssomecluestopoten$almechanisms.

•  Spa$alvisualiza$on,theabilitytoimagineandmentallytransformspa$al

informa$on,mayhelpchildrenmentallyrepresentquan$$esand

rela$onshipsbetweenthem.

–  E.g.,Placingnumbersonnumberlines,whichisaspa$alrepresenta$onof

number(Gundersonetal.,2012)•  Visual-spa$alworkingmemory-theabilitytoac$velymaintainand

manipulatetheloca$onsofdifferentobjectsinmemory,isoTenrequiredfor

spa$al-basedsolu$onstomathproblems.Mayalsohelpchildrenprocess

instruc$onthatincludesvisualandspa$alinforma$on,allowingthemtolink

newinforma$ontoinforma$ontheyalreadyknow.

•  FormPercep$on:theabilitytocopyanddis$nguishshapesfromother

shapesandtodecomposethemintoparts,islikelyinvolvedinlearningabout

geometricshapes,visualpa;ernsandwri;ennumerals.

–  E.g.,Iden$fyingpa;ernsandthepa;ernunitinvisualpa;ernsisstronglyrelatedtoformpercep$onskill(Ri;le-Johnson&Zippert,inprepara$on)

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DoSpa$alSkillsVaryAcrossGroupsin

YoungChildren?

•  Differencesbysexorfamilysocio-economic

status(SES)inpreschool?

– SexDifference:Maybeginlateinpreschool

•  Boysandgirlsdidnotdifferinspa$alvisualiza$onskillatage3(Verdineetal.,2017)

•  Boyssubstan$allybe;erinspa$alvisualiza$onstar$ngatage4.5(Levineetal,1999)

– Higher-SESgrouphadhigherspa$alskillsthanlower-SESgroupatage3(Verdineetal.,2017)

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CurrentResearch

•  Goals–  Confirmrela$onbetweenspa$alandmath

knowledgeinpreschool

–  Explorewhichspa$alskillshavethestrongestrela$onwithmathknowledgeinpreschool

–  Exploredifferencesbasedonsexandfamilyincome

•  Studies–  Study1:Spa$alskillspredic$ngmathknowledgeat

same$mepoint.Diversesampleofchildren,so

examinesexandSESdifferences.

–  Study2:Spa$alskillspredic$ngmathknowledge3

monthslater.

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Study1

•  77preschoolers,ages4.0to5.2months(mean=4.5yrs)

–  From6preschools(3publicschool,1headstart,2private)

–  Sex:37boysand40girls–  53%Ethnicminori$es

–  FinancialAssistance:•  35(45%)none•  15(20%)someassistance

•  27(35%)fullassistance(qualifyforfreeorreducedpricedlunch)•  3Spa$alTasks:

–  Formpercep$on

–  Spa$alvisualiza$on–  Visual-Spa$alworkingmemory

•  MathAssessment

•  Verbalintelligenceascontrolvariable

Ri;le-Johnson&Zippert,inprep

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Spa$alAssessments

•  FormPercep$on:

Posi$oninSpacefrom

DTVP-2:

–  Iden$fytheimagein

thesameposi$onas

themodelimage

•  Spa$alVisualiza$on:BlockDesignfrom

WPSSI-IV

–  Reproducethemodel

orpictureusing

coloredblocks

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Spa$alAssessmentsCont.

•  Visual-Spa$alWorkingMemory:

PathSpaneCorsitask– Reproducethepathinthesameorderor

inreverseorder

•  Createdcomposite

spa$alscoreaswell

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MathKnowledge

Research-BasedEarlyMathema6csAssessment(REMA)–ShortForm(Weiland,Wolfe,Hurwitz,Clements,Sarama&Yoshikawa2012).

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MathTopic SampleItem

Non-symbolicQuan0tyShowntwocards,with4dotsand3dots:‘Which

onehasmore?’

Coun0ngShown4objectsinaline:“’I’mgoingtoshowyou

somefoodboxes.PleasetellmehowmanyIhave.”

SymbolicMappingMatchthenumerals1-5totheappropriatenumber

ofgrapes.

ShapeSelectalltrianglesfromacollec$onof24shapes;

someareprototypicshapesandsomearenot.

Spa$alSkillsDidNotDifferbySex

-0.8

-0.6

-0.4

-0.2

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

Boys Girls

MeanCompositeSpa$alScore

F(1,75)=0.71,p=.40

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Trueevenifexcludeyoung4yearolds

Spa$alSkillsDifferedbyFinancial

AssistanceLevel

-0.8

-0.6

-0.4

-0.2

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

Full Some None

MeanSpa$alCompositeScore

F(1,75)=3.80,p=.06

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Spa$alSkillsDifferedMostfor

Visual-Spa$alWorkingMemory

-0.8

-0.6

-0.4

-0.2

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

Full Some None

MeanVisual-Spa$alWorkingMemory

F(1,75)=3.42,p=.07

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Spa$alSkillandMathKnowledge

•  Mathknowledgedid

notdifferbasedonsex

orfinancialassistance.

•  Spa$alskillswererelatedtomath

knowledge,r(76)=.62,evenaTercontrolling

forageandverbal

intelligence,r(76)=.49.

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WhichSpa$alSkills?

Variable β tAge .17 1.69τVerbal intelligence .13 1.18Form Perception .24 2.10*Spatial Visualization .18 1.77τVisual-Spatial Working Memory .19 1.51*p<.05,τp<.10

Formpercep$onandspa$alvisualiza$onwereuniquelyrelatedto

mathknowledgeatthesamepointin$me.

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Study1Summary

•  Boysandgirlsdidnotdifferinspa$alskillsinpreschool,butchildrenfromhigher-income

familieshadhigherspa$alskills,esp.visual-

spa$alworkingmemory

•  Spa$alskillsinpreschoolstronglycorrelatedwithmathknowledgeatsame

$mepoint.

– Formpercep$onandspa$alvisualiza$on

skillsinpar$cularwereuniquepredictorsofmathknowledge.

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Study2:Spa$alSkillsandLaterMath

Knowledge

•  42preschoolers,ages4.0to5.7months

–  Recruitedfromprivatepreschools

–  Sex:25boysand17girls–  16%Ethnicminori$es;Financialassistanceunknown

(butrare)

•  3Spa$alTasksgiveninwinter:–  Formpercep$on

–  Spa$alvisualiza$on–  Visual-Spa$alworkingmemory

•  MathAssessmentgiven3monthslater

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Results

•  Spa$alskillsandmathknowledgedidnot

differbasedonsex.

•  Spa$alskillswererelatedtomathknowledge,

r(32)=.78,evenaTercontrollingforageandverbalintelligence,r(29)=.73.

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Results

Variable β tAge .20 1.53Verbal intelligence .11 0.91Sex .05 0.35Form Perception .34 2.43*Spatial Visualization .28 2.17*Visual-Spatial Working Memory .25 1.76τ*p<.05,τp<.10

Eachspa$alskillswasauniquepredictorofmathknowledge3

monthslater.

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AnsweringOurResearchQues$ons

•  Confirmedrela$onbetweenspa$alandmathknowledgein

preschool

•  Exploredwhichspa$alskillshavethestrongestrela$onwithmathknowledgeinpreschool:

–  Consistentlyrelated:•  Formpercep$on-theabilitytocopyanddis$nguishshapesfromother

shapesandtodecomposethemintoparts.

•  Spa$alvisualiza$on-theabilitytoimagineandmentallytransform

spa$alinforma$on(U;aletal.,2013)

–  Lessconsistentlyrelated•  Visual-spa$alworkingmemory-theabilitytoholdtheloca$onsofdifferentobjects,landmarksetc.inmemory(Raghubar,Barnes,&Hecht,2010)

•  Exploredifferencesbasedonsexandfamilyincome

–  Boysandgirlsinpreschooldidnotdifferinspa$alskillsinourstudies.–  Childrenfromhigher-incomefamiliesdidhavehigherspa$alskills,

esp.visual-spa$alworkingmemory

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Educa$onalImplica$ons:

DevelopingSpa$alSkills

•  Playingwithblocks,puzzlesandvideogamesand

exposuretospa$allanguageseemtosupportspa$al

skills(Levine,Ratliff,Hu;enlocher,&Cannon,2012;Newcombe,2010;Verdine,

Golinkoff,Hirsh-Pasek,&Newcombe,2014;Verdine,Golinkoff,Hirsh-Pasek,

Newcombe,etal.,2014).

•  Spa$alskillscanbeimprovedwithtargetedtraining(U;al

etal.,2013)!

–  Forexample,kindergartenchildrenimprovedintheirspa$al

visualiza$onskillaTerguidedblockplaywithateacher(Caseyetal.,2008).

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Educa$onalImplica$ons:

Spa$alSkillsandMathema$cs

Inturn:

•  FormPercep$onmayhelpchildrenlearnaboutgeometric

shapes,visualpa;ernsandwri;ennumerals,whicheach

requiredis$nguishinganddecomposingvisualforms.

•  Spa$alvisualiza$onmayhelpchildrenmentallyrepresent

quan$$esandrela$onshipsbetweenthem.

•  E.g.,Supportdevelopmentofmentalnumberline(Gundersonetal.,2012)

•  Visual-spa$alworkingmemorymayhelpchildrenprocess

instruc$onthatincludesvisualandspa$alinforma$on,

linkingnewinforma$ontoinforma$ontheyalreadyknow,

growingtheirmathema$csknowledgeover$me.

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Acknowledgements

Children’sLearningLab

FundingSources

IESgrantR305A160132toRittle-Johnson

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Spa$alAssessments

•  FormPercep$on:

Posi$oninSpacefrom

DTVP-2:

–  Iden$fytheimagein

thesameposi$onas

themodelimage

•  Spa$alVisualiza$on:Children’sMental

Transforma$onTask

(Levineetal.,1999)

–  Pointtothepicturethepiecesmake.

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Spa$alAssessmentsCont.

•  Visual-Spa$alWorkingMemory:

CorsiBlocktask

(Pagulayan,etal.,2005)

– Reproducethepathinthesameorderor

inreverseorder

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