Abstract
Mental rotation skill has been constantly shown to reliably predict science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) achievements, and is a major component of spatial ability. Previous studies have documented that mental rotation capacity develops rapidly in early years and can be enhanced through training. However, few studies have estimated the training effects of video games on the mental rotation performance of preschoolers, particularly with respect to gender differences and ability levels. This study, therefore, aimed to examine whether video game training can facilitate the mental rotation development of young children, and whether gender- or ability-based discrepancies can be moderated via intervention. We randomly assigned 40 five- to six-year-olds to one of two treatment conditions: an intervention group (playing My Little Pony Rotate Puzzle) or a control group (receiving no training). The former played the allocated video game for six min/day for five consecutive days, while the control group continued with their routine activities. Video game training led to significant improvements in mental rotation ability, and the training effects gradually became larger as the degree of rotation increased. Boys outperformed girls at pre-test but gender differences were remarkably lessened by training. Initial ability differences in the intervention group also disappeared after training, and children who scored low at pre-test improved most through the intervention. Our findings imply that video game training can reduce gender and ability disadvantages in mental rotation, and may serve as an effective alternative to traditional intervention programs.
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This research was funded by the National Social Science Fund of China (18BSH130).
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Liu, X., Huang, H., Yu, K., Dou, D. (2020). Can Video Game Training Improve the Two-Dimensional Mental Rotation Ability of Young Children?. In: Fang, X. (eds) HCI in Games. HCII 2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12211. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50164-8_22
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