Claudia Quaiser-Pohl

Correlation of motor skill, mental rotation, and working memory in 3- to 6-year-old children

A relationship between motor processes and mental rotation has been suggested by current research; however, the influence of working memory on this relationship has not yet been determined. Therefore, a correlation between motor tests, paper–pencil and chronometric mental rotation tests, and working memory tests were conducted in 3- to 6-year-old children. A stepwise multiple-regression showed that 55.5% of the variance was explained by the working memory tests: digit span forward and Corsi forward. This indicates that working memory and executive functions may play an important role in mental rotation and motor processes.

Factors Influencing the Development of Mental-Rotation Ability The Role of Socio-Cultural Background

It is hypothesized that the fact whether female and male students were socialized in East or West Germany influences their development of spatial ability differently. In this study 357 students from a West German University (Koblenz) and an East German University (Magdeburg) majoring either in computational visualization (CV) or in non-technical fields (NTF) were examined with the Mental-Rotation Test (MRT). In addition they completed questionnaires on experiences and attitudes related to spatial abilities. At both universities males scored higher on MRT than females and CV students higher than NTF students. However, there were significant interactions between major and gender, and major and university. Males and females, students of different majors and from both universities also differed in their ability-related self-concept, in relevant experiences, in attitudes towards math and physics, and in gender-role attitudes. Linear regression analyses revealed that different attitudinal and experiential variables predict MRT performance in male and female students and that the variance explained by them is higher in females than in males. Our results support the “biological-environmental-interactionist” approach of gender differences in spatial abilities.

Influence of rotational axis and gender-stereotypical nature of rotation stimuli on the mental-rotation performance of male and female fifth graders

The male advantage in the mental rotation of two- or three-dimensional objects in mind is well documented across various age groups. The current study examined the influence of task characteristics on this gender difference by comparing the mental rotation performance of 148 fifth-grade boys and girls in three stimulus conditions (male-stereotyped objects, female-stereotyped objects, Shepard and Metzlers cube figures) and two rotational-axis conditions (rotations in picture plane only vs. rotations in depth). In line with the hypotheses, boys slightly outperformed girls in the in-depth condition, but not in the picture-plane condition. Unexpectedly, however, boys tended to outperform girls in the female-objects task. Overall, results suggest that rotational axis is more influential in determining the gender difference than the stereotyped nature of the stimuli. Findings are discussed with regard to the influence of working memory on mental rotation.

Is the Male Advantage in Mental-Rotation Performance Task Independent? On the Usability of Chronometric Tests and Paper-and-Pencil Tests in Children.

This article presents a reanalysis of the data of 862 second and fourth graders collected in two previous studies, focusing on the influence of method (psychometric vs. chronometric) and stimulus type on the gender difference in mental-rotation accuracy. The children had to solve mental-rotation tasks with animal pictures, letters, or cube figures, either in a chronometric condition (computerized) or in a psychometric condition (paper-and-pencil). Results show a slight male advantage in mental-rotation accuracy, which is neither influenced by method nor by stimulus type. However, mental-rotation accuracy differed between the stimulus types, with the highest accuracy in animal pictures and the lowest accuracy in cube figures, and between age groups, with better performance in fourth graders than in second graders in both conditions. Results show that psychometric and chronometric mental-rotation tests with all the stimulus types are more or less similarly usable with children of that age.

Is there a relationship between the performance in a chronometric mental-rotations test and salivary testosterone and estradiol levels in children aged 9-14 years?

The consistent gender differences favoring males in some spatial abilities like mental rotation have raised the question of whether testosterone or other gonadal hormones contribute to these differences--especially because such gender differences seem to appear mainly from the age of puberty on. Studies generally suggest that spatial ability is facilitated by moderately high testosterone levels (i.e., levels that are relatively high for females and relatively low for males). However, the role of sex steroids for mental-rotation performance of (pre-) pubertal children has not been the focus of research, yet. In our study, the relationships between different aspects of mental-rotation performance (accuracy, reaction time, rotation speed) and salivary testosterone and estradiol levels were investigated. Subjects were 109 children (51 boys and 58 girls) aged between 9 and 14 years (M = 11.41, SD = 1.74). They performed a chronometric mental-rotations test, in which the stimuli consisted of three-dimensional drawings of Shepard and Metzler cube figures. In addition, saliva samples were gathered for the analysis of free testosterone and estradiol levels. Results showed a significant gender difference in reaction time and rotational speed in favor of boys, and a significant age, but no gender difference in testosterone and estradiol levels. We found no significant relationships between hormonal levels and any measure of mental-rotation performance.

The gender effect in 3D-Mental-rotation performance with familiar and gender-stereotyped objects – a study with elementary school children

ABSTRACT The study examined the influence of gender-stereotyped stimuli rotated in depth on children’s mental-rotation performance. Participants included 321 elementary school children who completed three-dimensional mental-rotation tasks with either male- or female-stereotyped stimuli (M-MRT-3D/F-MRT-3D). Results suggest that in-depth tasks are very difficult for second graders. No gender effect was found in the mental-rotation performance of 7- to 9-year-old children; however, task understanding indicates gender differences. For fourth graders, a significant interaction of gender and stimulus type could be demonstrated. Furthermore, results indicate that fourth-grade boys tend to guess more often in tasks with stimuli consistent to the respective own gender. In addition, regression analyses showed that next to grade and perceptual speed, the perceived level of stimulus familiarity predicted performance. Considering a possible link between dimensionality and familiarity, the influence of the gender-stereotyped stimuli on children’s confidence and task understanding as well as on transformational processes and strategy efficiency is discussed.

Pellet Figures, the Feminine Answer to Cube Figures? Influence of Stimulus Features and Rotational Axis on the Mental-Rotation Performance of Fourth-Grade Boys and Girls

Various studies have demonstrated the male advantage in mental-rotation tests. With the Shepard and Metzler [1] “Mental Rotation Test” the largest gender effect has been found. The present study investigated if gender differences in the MRT might be due to male characteristics of the cube figures. Therefore, 136 fourth graders solved a mental-rotation test with cube-figure items (C-MRT) and 150 fourth graders solved a novel test with pellet-figure items (P-MRT) in one of two rotational-axis conditions (rotations in picture plane vs. rotations in depth), respectively. In line with hypotheses, cube figures were male-stereotyped and pellet figures were female-stereotyped. Boys significantly outperformed girls only in tasks with cube figures rotated in-depth, while there was no significant gender effect found in the picture-plane conditions and for pellet figures rotated in-depth. So, there seems to be an influence of both, stimulus content and rotational axis on mental-rotation performance.

Diversity Management in „diversen“ Bildungskontexten in Deutschland und Europa

Der Beitrag gibt einen Uberblick uber Ursachen und Auswirkungen von individuellen Voraussetzungen fur den Bildungsprozess und uber die daraus resultierende Diversitat in Bildungskontexten. Dabei wird sowohl auf unterschiedliche Bildungsphasen (primare, sekundare, tertiare Bildung) eingegangen als auch auf verschiedene Diversitatsmerkmale (Geschlecht, Alter, kulturelle, soziale Herkunft). Diese werden nicht nur in ihrer Relevanz fur das deutsche Bildungssystem erortert, sondern auch im internationalen, insbesondere im europaischen Vergleich thematisiert.

How They Became Different

One issue of concern with respect to gender differences in educational and occupational systems in almost all European societies is the frequently claimed horizontal segregation – the fact that women and girls are considerably underrepresented in science and technological education, fields and jobs (EURYDICE/EACEA, 2010).