Is Early Spatial Skills Training Effective? A Meta-Analysis
Spatial skills significantly predict educational and occupational achievements in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). As early interventions for young children are usually more effective than interventions that come later in life, the present meta-analysis systematically includ...
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Published in | Frontiers in psychology Vol. 11; p. 1938 |
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Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Frontiers Media S.A
27.08.2020
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Spatial skills significantly predict educational and occupational achievements in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). As early interventions for young children are usually more effective than interventions that come later in life, the present meta-analysis systematically included 20 spatial intervention studies (2009–2020) with children aged 0–8 years to provide an up-to-date account of the malleability of spatial skills in infancy and early childhood. Our results revealed that the average effect size (Hedges's
g
) for training relative to control was 0.96 (
SE
= 0.10) using random effects analysis. We analyzed the effects of several moderators, including the type of study design, sex, age, outcome category (i.e., type of spatial skills), research setting (e.g., lab vs. classroom), and type of training. Study design, sex, and outcome category were found to moderate the training effects. The results suggest that diverse training strategies or programs including hands-on exploration, visual prompts, and gestural spatial training significantly foster young children's spatial skills. Implications for research, policy, and practice are also discussed. |
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Bibliography: | content type line 23 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 Reviewed by: Jana Patricia Millonado Valdez, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; Sara Marie Scharoun Benson, University of Windsor, Canada This article was submitted to Developmental Psychology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Psychology Edited by: Hui Li, Macquarie University, Australia |
ISSN: | 1664-1078 1664-1078 |
DOI: | 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01938 |