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Diversity of spatial activities and parents' spatial talk complexity predict preschoolers' gains in spatial skills |
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| Authors: | Danielle S. Fox Leanne Elliott Heather J. Bachman Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal Melissa E. Libertus |
| Affiliation: | 1. Learning Research and Development Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA;2. Learning Research and Development Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA Department of Psychology, Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA;3. Learning Research and Development Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA Department of Health and Human Development, School of Education, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Abstract: | Children's spatial activities and parental spatial talk were measured to examine their associations with variability in preschoolers' spatial skills (N = 113, Mage = 4 years, 4 months; 51% female; 80% White, 11% Black, and 9% other). Parents who reported more diversity in daily spatial activities and used longer spatial talk utterances during a spatial activity had children with greater gains in spatial skills from ages 4 to 5 (β = .17 and β = .40, respectively). Importantly, this study is the first to move beyond frequency counts of spatial input and investigate the links among the diversity of children's daily spatial activities, as well as the complexity of parents' spatial language across different contexts, and preschoolers' gains in spatial skills, an important predictor of later STEM success. |
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