Experimental But Not Sex Differences of a Mental Rotation Training Program on Adolescents.

Antonio Rodán,Patricia Gimeno,M Rosa Elosúa,María José Contreras

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01050

Antonio Rodán, Patricia Gimeno + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01050

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Abstract

Given the importance of visuospatial processing in areas related to the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) disciplines, where there is still a considerable gap in the area of sex differences, the interest in the effects of visuospatial skills training continues to grow. Therefore, we have evaluated the visuospatial improvement of adolescents after performing a computerized mental rotation training program, as well as the relationship of this visuospatial ability with other cognitive, emotional factors and those factors based on the experience with videogames. The study, which was performed on students aged 14 and 15 years old, showed a significant improvement in this visuospatial skill for a training group (n = 21) compared to a control group (n = 24). Furthermore, no significant sex differences were obtained for spatial ability or for any of the other tasks evaluated, either before or after training. Regarding the relationship between skills, a significant correlation between experience with video games and spatial ability was found, as well as between mathematical reasoning and intelligence and with spatial ability in the initial phase for the total sample. These findings are discussed from a cognitive point of view and within the current sociocultural context, where the equal use of new technologies could help reduce the visuospatial gap between sexes.

Highlights

Visuospatial processing is a key tool necessary to achieve a good performance in certain everyday activities, academic work and professional areas (Halpern et al, 2007), and predicts the success in the STEM disciplines – Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics – (Wai et al, 2009)
The main aim of our study was to evaluate whether an intervention program in mental rotation (MR) improved this skill in a group of adolescent students
We designed a mental rotation training program and we applied it to an experimental group (EG), comparing the degree of improvement in a different spatial ability task in relation to a control group (CG)

Summary

Introduction

Visuospatial processing is a key tool necessary to achieve a good performance in certain everyday activities, academic work and professional areas (Halpern et al, 2007), and predicts the success in the STEM disciplines – Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics – (Wai et al, 2009). Several meta-analyses have reported that repeated practice and training with visuospatial material can improve performance of this skill (Baenninger and Newcombe, 1989, 1995; Marulis et al, 2007; Uttal et al, 2013). Adolescence is a key stage of development and learning that can be decisive in a person’s options for a future academic career. In this stage, the development of spatial vision helps the acquisition of knowledge and the interaction with the physical world

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