ERIC Number: ED577151
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2016-Sep
Pages: 85
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Separate but Correlated: The Latent Structure of Space and Mathematics across Development
Mix, Kelly S.; Levine, Susan C.; Cheng, Yi-Ling; Young, Chris; Hambrick, D. Zachary; Ping, Raedy
Grantee Submission
The relations among various spatial and mathematics skills were assessed in a cross-sectional study of 854 children from kindergarten, third, and sixth grades (i.e., 5 to 13 years of age). Children completed a battery of spatial mathematics tests and their scores were submitted to exploratory factor analyses both within and across domains. In the within domain analyses, all of the measures formed single factors at each age, suggesting consistent, unitary structures across this age range. Yet, as in previous work, the 2 domains were highly correlated, both in terms of overall composite score and pairwise comparisons of individual tasks. When both spatial and mathematics scores were submitted to the same factor analysis, the 2 domain specific factors again emerged, but there also were significant cross-domain factor loadings that varied with age. Multivariate regressions replicated the factor analysis and further revealed that mental rotation was the best predictor of mathematical performance in kindergarten, and visual-spatial working memory was the best predictor of mathematical performance in sixth grade. The mathematical tasks that predicted the most variance in spatial skill were place value (K, 3rd, 6th), word problems (3rd, 6th), calculation (K), fraction concepts (3rd), and algebra (6th). Thus, although spatial skill and mathematics each have strong internal structures, they also share significant overlap, and have particularly strong cross-domain relations for certain tasks. [This paper was published in "Journal of Experimental Psychology" v145 n9 p1206-1227 Sep 2016.]
Descriptors: Spatial Ability, Mathematics Skills, Kindergarten, Grade 3, Grade 6, Mathematics Tests, Scores, Factor Analysis, Correlation, Age Differences, Regression (Statistics), Cognitive Processes, Predictor Variables, Mathematical Concepts, Cognitive Development, Visualization, Visual Perception, Developmental Stages, Measures (Individuals), Perceptual Motor Coordination, Children, Intelligence Tests, Maps, Perspective Taking, Achievement Tests
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: Kindergarten
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Institute of Education Sciences (ED); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Vandenberg Mental Rotations Test; Beery Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration; Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children; Woodcock Johnson Tests of Achievement
IES Funded: Yes
Grant or Contract Numbers: R305A120416; SBE1041707; SBE0541957
Author Affiliations: N/A