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Building Blocks for Developing Spatial Skills: Evidence From a Large, Representative U.S. Sample
Abstract
There is evidence suggesting that children's play with spatial toys (e.g., puzzles and blocks) correlates with spatial development. Females play less with spatial toys than do males, which arguably accounts for males' spatial advantages; children with high socioeconomic status (SES) also show an advantage, though SES-related differences in spatial play have been less studied than gender-related differences. Using a large, nationally representative sample from the standardization study of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Fourth Edition, and controlling for other cognitive abilities, we observed a specific relation between parent-reported frequency of spatial play and Block Design scores that was invariant across gender and SES. Reported spatial play was higher for boys than for girls, but controlling for spatial play did not eliminate boys' relative advantage on this subtest. SES groups did not differ in reported frequency of spatial play. Future research should consider quality as well as quantity of play, and should explore underlying mechanisms to evaluate causality.
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“At the school-age level, the most consistent findings on specific abilities are as follows: (1) males outperform females in visual processing (Kaufman and Kaufman 2004;Keith et al. 2011;Jirout and Newcombe 2015;Palejwala and Fine 2014);”
From Is the Cattell–Horn–Carroll-based factor structure of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Fifth Edition (WISC-V) construct invariant for a representative sample of African–American, Hispanic, and Caucasian male and female students ages 6 to 16 years? (2016) · cites this paper as Jirout and Newcombe 2015
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Metadata
- Authors
- Jirout, J. J., & Newcombe, N. S.
- Affiliations
- Rhodes College (US)
- Temple University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Jirout, Jamie J.
- Venue
- Psychological Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2015-01-27
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 302-310
- ISSN
- 0956-7976 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-9280
- OpenAlex
- W2154372402
- Cited by
- 301
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 30 · 2025: 37 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 40 · 2021: 31 · 2020: 30 · 2019: 28 · 2018: 21 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 2
- FWCI
- 19.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Spatial Cognition and Navigation
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
- Keywords
- spatial ability, spatial play, gender differences, socioeconomic status, block designs, Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, children, spatial development
- MeSH terms
- Games, Recreational, Child, Child Development, Child, Preschool, Female, Humans, Male, Parent-Child Relations, Sex Factors, Socioeconomic Factors, Space Perception, United States, Wechsler Scales
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